Arriving at an identity (cont)

The influence of historical culture and tradition is paramount to the formation of Scottish national identity. From the plagiarised poetry of ‘Ossian' Macpherson 60 to the wearing of the ‘traditional' Highland dress 61, Scotland's history has largely been written off as ‘invented'. Hugh Trevor-Roper dismisses the entire Highland tradition in this manner 62, maintaining it was designed to create a definable identity for Scotland. David McCrone claims that Scottish heritage is manufactured 63 by the agencies of the Scottish Tourist Board, the National Trust and Historic Scotland. The National Trust and Scottish Tourism are largely responsible for the promotion of rural Scotland as a cultural norm, as referred to above. Historic Scotland's remit includes some of institutions of Scottish culture: the museums and gallerys. Benedict Anderson in particular has noted the cultural significance of museums in defining national culture 64. ‘One of the first acts of the recently freed Eastern European countries', observed journalist Lawrence Donegan,

was to commission their own national museums, so it seems criminally negligent that Scotland's ruling elite preferred to spend most of the last 50 years squabbling over narrow political definitions of nationhood and the minutiae of devolution. 65

Donegan is referring to the National Museum of Scotland, to be inaugurated on St Andrew's Day, 30 November 1999. Donegan also asks ‘whose Scotland is being celebrated?', and ends the article with an important quote from the museum curator, David Clarke,

Most Scots have grown up not knowing very much about their past, and maybe that has affected their sense of being Scottish. 66

This view, that the past inevitably shapes national identity, reiterates what was stated in the first section, and illustrates the power of history and tradition, invented or not, in shaping self-perceived identities.

Another example of how national identity is unified is the lack of a self-governing state for the nation of Scotland, which has strengthened perceptions of a single ‘Scottishness',

Scotland is fortunate in having one of the clearest and least disputed borders in the world. The Scottish sense of identity, therefore, is fairly simple ... It is easier to create a sense of Scottishness which does not rely on ethnicity and/or language because the identity of the nation is not in question, only the location of its government. 67

These sentiments lend a flavour of anti-colonialism to Scottish nationalism, and have been utilised by the political nationalists, which I shall discuss below. The next section will show how a single national identity is projected, and I shall do this by examining the mechanisms and manifestations of Scottish national identity.