I'm too tired to argue on................................but read this
from oppression rules ok
Scottish History
Scottish history, like everything about Scotland, is subject to the Scots proclivity for embroidery. The author makes no claim regarding accuracy. This is mostly just for fun, although there are some serious and true facts (particularly with reference to the Highland Clearances). Serious historians should undertake their own research! When I eventually get round to writing more I'll split it into separate pages.
There are good historical reasons why almost all Scots hate the English and why Highlanders hate not only the English, but also Lowlanders and almost everyone else, except the French.
THE ENGLISH - Why the Scots in general hate the English:
The Act of Union etc.
The Battle of Culloden
why lowlanders hate the English:
The Scots language:
Originally in the Lowands of Scotland, and eventually in most of Scotland the language generally spoken for the last couple of hundred years has been Scots (see language page). However the 'British' government's insistence that all teaching in schools should be in English (an act of Parliament to this effect was passed in 1872) led to the language being denigrated. Scots speakers were made to feel that they were inferior to English speakers. They still used Scots at home but were told in school that this was not "talking properly" and there was a decline in writing in Scots. Received pronunciation or "the Queen's English" ruled, and anyone who spoke this way was seen as cleverer and superior to those who used Scots words. I grew up in Aberdeen being told that the way Aberdonians talked was 'common' and that I would never get on in life if I talked like that - yet at the same time I was awarded prizes for reciting poetry in this 'forbidden' language! This was but one of the many contradictions in my upbringing.
Why highlanders hate the English even more than lowlanders do:
The highland clearances
The Gaelic language:
In the Highlands of Scotland, until around 100 years ago, the language generally spoken was the Gaelic. The Gaelic was virtually wiped out by the 'British' government's insistence that all teaching in schools should be in English. To illustrate this point; my great grandmother had virtually no English, my grandparents were bilingual and my mother had none of the Gaelic worth mentioning. The outcome of this has been that Highlanders speak better English than the English themselves, especially in Inverness, and hate the English even more than they would otherwise. The higlanders, however (knowing themselves to be superior to the English and pretty well anyone else), were never cowed in the way that lowlanders were by things imposed from London.
HIGHLANDERS AND LOWLANDERS
Why Highlanders hate Lowlanders almost as much as they hate the English:
1) Some treacherous lowland Chieftains colluded with the English for profit, helping the English to defeat the Scots. This enabled the English to annexe Scotland and create the act of union, thus giving the English control over Scotland's affairs to this day; though now that Scotland has a parliament this may begin to change.
2) Many of the landowners involved in the highland clearances were lowlanders
McDonalds and Campbells
Why the McDonalds hate the Campbells:
The Massacre of Glencoe
THE FRENCH
Why the Scots (mostly) like the French:
Bonnie prince Charlie
Jacobite rebellion
The Auld Alliance
and of course the fact that the French don't much like the English or the Germans.
Some general historical bits and bobs:
Hadrian's Wall
Contrary to popular belief Hadrians wall was built by the Romans to protect the cissy English from straying into Scotland and being hammered by the Scots, not to stop the Scots from getting into England. Most Scots to this day don't think much of England. Scots only go south to extract money from the English to make up for everything the English stole from Scotland.
The Black hand
Everyone has heard of Sinn Feinn and the IRA in Ireland but few seem to know that Scotland also had freedom fighters, called the Black Hand, who used terrorist tactics in their fight for an independent Scotland. Attempts to gain an independent Scotland are now pursued through the democratic process by politicians. Some in Scotland hope that the recent devolution of some power to a Scottish parliament will eventually lead to independence.
The Massacre of Glencoe
The notorious incident in which the Campbells, having accepted the hospitality of the McDonalds, then opened the doors during the night and allowed the McDonalds to be massacred in their beds. The McDonalds offered the Campbells hospitality, sharing salt with them at the table and allowing the Campbells stay the night. Salt was an expensive commodity in those days and to share it was a sign of friendship. As the McDonalds slept the Campbells sealed off their escape route and the McDonalds were murdered in their beds. This betrayal has not only never been forgiven by the McDonalds, it also led to the Campbells being viewed with suspicion by most other Scots.
The Highland clearances
Most highlanders were self sufficient until relatively recently, in historical terms. They were small - scale farmers who rented land from the local landowner on which they grew their own crops and kept their own animals, selling any extra food they produced. This was the general way of life for most people in the north until the highland clearances.
During the Highland Clearances of the late 18th and early 19th centuries thousands families were evicted, often violently, from their homes. This was done to make way for large scale sheep farming, which was more profitable for the landowners (mostly sassenachs). Homes were burnt and tenants forced to leave at the point of a sword or musket, carrying little or nothing as they headed towards a life of poverty and hunger. Small scale tenant farmers were forced onto smaller plots of barren land. The crofts, as these plots of land were known, had very poor agricultural potential and it was well nigh impossible for the crofters to make a living from the land.
Most of these small plots of land failed to produce a living for the crofters, even when combined with fishing, kelping (gathering kelp - a type of seaweed) or other work. It was a hopeless situation for many. Huge rent increases, over-fishing and over-kelping resulted in destitution and starvation. When, in 1846, the potato crop failed (with devastaing effect, particularly in Ireland) many were left with no alternative but to migrate south or emigrate to the colonies. I suspect that the film actors, the Sutherlands, are descendants of my cousins' family the (tattie) Sutherlands who were potato farmers. Donald looks so much like uncle Ian and cousin Jim, and Kiefer looks so like my cousin Uisdean did before he put on weight and started loosing his hair (Uisdean not Keifer) that they've got to be related.
Prior to the clearances my great grandparents were able to support their family through small-scale farming but those of my grandparents generation who wished to keep up the crofting had to find additional work elsewhere. Some members of my family managed to hang on to crofting until after the First World War by taking up other work in the local villages and towns.
My Grandfather was the last crofter in our family. In the early years of their marriage my grandmother cleaned for the local doctor and my grandfather became the village Bobby to support their young family whilst still working on the croft. For anyone from Golspie who remembers him, he was Hugh Mackay and was known as "Old Kruger" (don't know if I've spelt that right as I've never seen it written down). I understand that the nickname had something to do with the Boer War but I can't remember what now.
Eventually he gave up the crofting and moved into a house in the village (in the 1930's I think) and became a full time policeman. Some members of my family emigrated to Canada around the turn of the century as there seemed little option. Reminders of the days when my mother's family were farmers now remain for me only in a few old photographs, and for my cousins (who were from Dornoch) in their collective nickname of "Tattie" which dates back to the time when their father's family were potato farmers.
In Sutherland the clearances were particularly violent. Even today, generations later, arguments around this issue still rage and the scars remain. In Golspie, the village from which my mother's family came, there are moves to remove the statue of the hated Duke of Sutherland from the top of the hill overlooking the village and replace it with a memorial to the victims of the clearances and a great deal of argument surrounds this issue in the area.
