An Anti-Scottish, Scottish Establishment? Part One

What makes Scotland unique? What highlights its place in the world and within history? What establishes the basis of Scotland’s civic and national pride? Three answers come to the fore: its unique culture, its history, and its landscapes. These fundamental merits, ie., ‘Scottishness’ transcend all transitional; politics, ideologies, popular trends, religious perspectives and the changing constitution and ethnicity of Scotland’s society.

Scotland has always been a sum of disparate parts, clans, Highlanders, Lowlanders, Gallovidians, Hebrideans. Orcadians, Outlanders, etc, etc. What binds them together is a universal Scottish identity and a common pride in a country’s legend—and a desire to live in Scotland.

For six years, Digger and I have attempted to add to Scotland’s remarkable qualities and its legend—reattach loose and missing threads of its extraordinary history—to prevent, not provoke the rot that threatens its treasured historic environment—to broadcast to the world, Scotland’s historical contribution; the mettle and resoluteness of its medieval peoples and their leadership.

However, instead of Scotland’s mentorship and support for the authentication of an extraordinary medieval discovery, we have experienced nothing but a widespread environment of indifference, deceit, ignorance, avoidance and idiocy. We have been subjected to an incredibly imperceptive academic, professional and public sector—an establishment failing to promote and protect Scotland’s history from loss and degradation—an establishment big on rhetoric but failing to provide understanding, sustainability and dynamic public engagement in both the celebration and safekeeping of Scotland’s heritage and its historical legend.

If we had presented a meritless understanding of our Knights Templar find, then we should expect censure. But this is not the case. No qualified supportable or credible disavowal of our discovery has ever been presented. Instead, institutional equivocation replaces support, and so any good news has been irrevocably tainted by the betrayal of Scotland’s heritage and political governance.

Originally the article was envisaged to be an illustration of the ‘lack of Scottish concern’ across the board for a far reaching Scottish mediaeval historical discovery. A review of the behaviour that had been presented to us during our campaign—a belligerent, prejudiced, ignorant and incredibly injudicious attitude demonstrated by the Scottish government and its agencies matched with an ignorant, indifferent and facile response by the local authority and even the local community—through to superficial and miserable engagement from Scottish heritage charities and public interest groups—those that should care but apparently do not.

However, since the article was originally envisaged—primarily as a way of recording responses from the government, the public, and heritage charities and interest groups—and as the campaign progresses—with a greater reveal of demonstrable poor behaviour, evidence from whistle-blowers and insiders, and further correspondence—it was thought, even though common threads of misbehaviour run throughout—three articles were needed, rather than one, in the name of greater comprehension and wider consideration.

Therefore, the following article: An Anti-Scottish, Scottish Establishment? Part One, allows public interrogation of our individual petitions to over twenty Scottish politicians—people who have been elected by the public to represent their local and national interests—representatives that are mandated to ensure Scotland and its parts remain unique, prosperous and relevant in terms of presenting Scotland as a vibrant and unique environment.

What the first part allows—is the reader to evaluate, for themselves, the responses from the government, guided by its agencies—which in turn reveals a deeply prejudiced and detrimental viewpoint—making the government’s policy, of care and promotion of the nation’s history, within an environment of public inclusion nothing but a sham.

We illustrate why Digger and I are having to shout to be heard to ensure the protection and promotion of an extraordinary piece of Scottish history—a huge, good news story—of world interest. And how faced with an unresponsive community, avoidant heritage agencies, and the inaction and disinterest of its political leadership, we are having to publicly condemn Scotland in order to goad prudent recognition and celebration of its own history and heritage.

[Full article to follow]