Scotland the Brave

wild are the winds to meet you
staunch are the friends that greet you
kind as the love that shines from fair maidens eyes.

Scotland is a place like no other.  Over ben and through glen, the pulse the land and the people who have inhabited it beats strongly.  Scottish blood runs thick.

And run it has.  Scotland's history is full of blood, war, treachery - but above all, I would like to think, valiance.

The idea of a Scotland unable to stand on its own two feet on any field among friend or foe defies the imagination; every single symbol of the nation represents the opposite.

Hadrian's wall wasn't built to help the Scots stay in and hidden; it was built to keep them out.

So why, then the separatist furor?  Why the wild-eyed notion that tuning out the winds of change and cleaving from your friends is wise counsel?

It's got nothing to do with Scotland being brave, nor free.  

It's got everything to do with the fear that one's identity cannot stand on its own.  

Scotland is a founding stone of the British commonwealth.  Scots have boldly shaped nations.  This is not a people who looks inward, but looks outward - the legacy of Scotland is what it gives, not what it hoards.

It is neither a mark of strength nor a testament to individuality to turn your back on your friends.  It's rather the opposite.

And a wee reminder, folks - borders have been drawn across the isle before; they never last.  

You can choose which side of a wall you stand upon, but history offers no such choice.