The students of the University of Aberdeen recently did me the very greathonour of electing me as their Rector. In my new post I cannot but beconscious of the long line of my predecessors which stretches back into theMiddle Ages and the glorious days when the North East of Scotland, thisNorth West corner of Europe, was in the lead in educational innovation.
Scotland's identity as a European nation
The story of Scotland's emergence as a nation and her constant search forrecognition from Europe does of course go back many centuries before thefoundation of the University of Aberdeen. Now "Scotland in Europe" is awell-known slogan today but I am not going to elaborate on a party politicaltheme. What I do want to underline however is that there is no point intalking about Scotland in Europe unless Scotland means something, unlessScotland has her own identity.
There are a number of points to make about a national identity. What isthat identity? Who defines it? How is it to be safeguarded and enhanced?These are questions which in most countries are rarely asked. TheAustrians, for instance, are not constantly involved in a debate about theiridentity. But because there are lingering self doubts in Scotland, andundoubted ambiguities about our place within a larger multi-national state,these questions arise.
Scots have traditionally, historically been a caring society, prizingeducation yes but also prizing equality of opportunity and opposingprivilege based on wealth or birth. Our record in relation to charity, notleast concerning the so-called Third World is distinctive and one of which Iam proud.
But in addition to these values - and the myriad of institutions unique toScotland from the national football team and the Scottish press to theimpressive institutions of the law and the kirk - there are some culturalaspects of Scottish identity which are important, and they are under threat.
Speaking your language!
In a world in which, thanks to commercial globalisation, Anglo-Americanculture is so powerful there is a danger to the smaller linguisticcommunities of Europe - or indeed, as my Francophone colleagues in theEuropean Parliament tell me, to major languages such as French. If Frenchis feeling the pressure how much more true is it of our Scottish indigenouslanguages!
In Scotland bilingualism was until fairly recent times the norm: in theHighlands and Western Isles Gaelic at home and English in the office and atschool; elsewhere, Scots in the playground and English in the classroom.
But regard for an indigenous language is not purely sentimental andromantic. Bilingualism is positively helpful, not least in acquiring otherlanguages. I have been particularly fortunate to have been brought upbilingually in more than one situation - speaking ciTumbuka in Zambia as asmall boy, but speaking English with my parents; learning West of ScotlandScots as a five year old at school, and then having to learn North EastScots pretty rapidly on arrival at Elgin West End school. Subsequently Ihad the good fortune of being able to spend a summer in the Netherlands andlater a whole year studying in Germany.
In 1932 Sir Compton Mackenzie told the audience at his rectorial installation:
"I speak to youth. Spend the richness of your heritage. Circulate itswealth all round the world. You have two languages. Use them. Gaelic isnot a mixture of philology and sentiment. It is still a vital tongue andexpresses a fundamental habit of thought. Through Gaelic you can reachSpanish and French by the same road as the Spaniard and the Frenchman trod.
Add to your English the strength and savour of the Doric. It is ludicrousthat Dutchmen and Russians should so far outrun Scotsmen as linguists."
I look at today's students and I urge them to think European, to thinkmutli-lingual, at home and abroad. Nobody should leave a Scottish schoolwithout at the very least a very basic and elementary acquaintance with thelanguage of our forefathers, or without a grasp of one of the other Europeantongues.
So who is going to preserve our indigenous languages and how? Tha answer tothe first question is clearly ourselves. To borrow the title of a famoussermon preached by the late principal Sir Thomas Taylor, "look to the rockfrom which ye are hewn". If we do not enhance our linguistic heritagenobody else in the world can do it for us. But whether it be Gaelic orDoric, the battle is on to preserve a mode of speech under graphic dailypressure from English-language media and youth culture.
Golden Age for Scotland
My vision is not for a new Dark Age for Scotland but a new Golden Age, withScotland again playing her part in European affairs. But the choice betweenDark Age and Golden Age is collectively ours.
We need to lift our eyes: we need vision.
If, as I firmly believe, our future will again be directly linked withContinental Europe, then we have to be right in there and theself-confidence this would bring would be reflected in cultural as well associo-economic regeneration.
The relatively new flag of Europe is the circle of 12 gold stars on blue.The number has always been 12. It is in effect a magic closed circle.Admission to the magic circle is open only to independent states: they arethe actors in the multi-national confederation of states which makes up theEuropean Union. There are of course policy pros and cons in Europeanpolitics. But transcending that there are grave drawbacks to outsiderstatus, great advantages to being inside the room when decisions are beingtaken.
I am in no doubt that when today's students are my age they will alreadyhave experienced decades of full Scottish participation as a member state inthe EU - a Union which will of course have a single currency - and they willask themselves "why did it take our elders so long?"
Dr. Allan Macartney MEP
SNP Deputy Leader
If you would like to know more about the SNP and HELP SCOTLAND contact snp.hq@snp.org.uk or visit the official the Scottish National Party web site.
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