This week I am joined by historian and Scottish Tour guide Roger Anderson. He gives his views on leaders from a historical and topical viewpoint. He asks are we wasting our best talent by sending them to the bear pit that is Wesyminster. Is Abstensionism Scotland’s best tactic? Later we are joined by the Paisley Mowhawk himself Iain Lawson. We discuss the weeks events in the political world of Scotland. COP26 or COP Out by Nicola Sturgeon. Westminster sleaze yet again.
Excellent discussion folks, probing and posing a number of important issues and questions. It raised a few issues for me, including:
1. Flags – there is always pressure put on the ‘national’ flag in a contested territory. However, interesting to note that the Danes were permitted to continue to fly their own national flag even under German occupation in WWII;
2. Fascism – the use of the forces of the state to hound political opponents, to destroy them and their reputations, and anybody else who does not ‘conform’, also in regard to oppressive laws brought in, is a common feature of oppressive/colonial regimes. Postcolonial literature tells us that fascism lies at the root of colonialism and will inevitably raise its head even more during the period of decolonisation. Here, Aime Cesaire reminds us: “that no one colonizes innocently, that no one colonizes with impunity either; that a nation which colonizes, that a nation which justifies colonization – and therefore force – is already a sick civilization, a civilization which is morally diseased, which irresistibly, progressing from one consequence to another, one denial to another, calls for its Hitler, I mean its punishment.”
3. Ferguson’s ferries – for those who may be interested, also following Kenny MacAskill’s recent speech in the HoC, I have an article on this subject here: https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2021/11/06/a-catastrophic-failure/#comments
Another great prism Roddy , entertainment and education in the one post , I was f***ing raging when you mentioned the snp crawlers getting up and walking out when K MacAskill got up to speak about the ferry fiasco TBH who the F do they think they are they are ELECTED by the PEOPLE to represent the PEOPLE not some perverted DIVA , I DEMAND to know what has happened and who is responsible for the debacle that took place , if there was any impropriety financially or otherwise the persons or person responsible should be held to account
This is hard earned TAX money that this ADMINISTRATION feels is unending and SHOULD have been used properly
You also mentioned at the end of your broadcast that laws had to be included in ANY CONSTITUTION to STOP any criminality being carried out by these parasites , this would have MASSIVE support from the body of the kirk but would be totally OPPOSED by the parasites so WE have to ensure it is included
I have posted numerous times on this and different blogs we MUST have a PROPER RECALL law where ALL public representatives , councillors , msp’s or any elected body that represents the public must be answerable to that electorate which should also include QUANGOS as they currently and previously have made some egregious decisions AGAINST the public’s opposition
No electricity all day so only now able to watch this programme. All I can say is that it has been well worth the wait. Excellent way to end a highly frustrating day. Thank you.
I was immediately interested in this podcast when the Darien scheme was mentioned. I well remember the history I was taught at school…in my case, at the now-defunct High School of Glasgow located at Elmbank St, with more the appearance and ambience of a house of correction, than a house of study and quiet contemplation.
Here’s what was dished out to us uncomplaining, amenable, young, receptive Scottish swine………
1) We were never told that the intention of Patterson was that the scheme, as originally conceived, was as a Scottish , English, Dutch and German combined operation.
2)The Scots were congenital numpties when it came to the serious business of colonisation.
3) The Scots had no friends and were on their own.
4)They chose a very bad site for their settlement, supposedly riddled with yellow fever, and hostile Indians.
30-40 years passed after absorbing this bilge.
2014 came along with the referendum and along with that came the resurrection of Darien, the failure of which was cited as a clear example of why Scots couldn’t run their own country…never mind a colony, or even a whelk
stall.
I did a bit of research, as one can do in retirement….and I found….courtesy of a Mr Samuel Barbour, something like a true account of Darien…..”A History of William Patterson and the Darien Company”…available for free on the internet.
This contradicts the history I received at school…..purportedly, one of the most elite of all Scottish educational establishments of its time.
1) The idea that this was originally conceived as a combined NW European venture was never , ever mentioned…..far less the reasons for its failure. Basically, emissaries were sent from the City of London saying that any, in Amsterdam, Hamburg or Lubeck who invested in Darien would never get a loan again. Any idea who those people could be?….those that had the money to grant loans? Well, many were heavily invested in the East India Company. Would they want a rival?….. Such as the Company of Scotland?…….Certainly not.
2) Congenital numpties as regards colonisation? No, no more than any other European power.
The English got wiped out on Roanoke Island. They were nearly wiped out twice at Jamestown by the indigenes….Not quite the all-conquering heroes that they like to portray to the world. Arguably, the French were more successful colonists than anybody else. Sweden was in there along with,Denmark, Holland and even little Lithuania. They were all at it.
3)”The Scots had no friends and were on their own”
Not quite. On arrival in the Caribbean, the Scots received assistance from Danish privateers. Later,at Darien,New Edinburgh, the local Indians were very friendly and offered all assistance to the Scots when they were satisfied that they(the Scots) were not slavers Indeed they went further and incited the Scots to attack the hated Spaniards. As for friends, little is mentioned of the rescue attempt by American colonists when they realised that the Scottish settlement was in trouble(from attacks by the Spaniards). King William might issue his edicts against the Scots, but even in those days, not all paid attention to them. God bless America.
4) “They chose a bad site.”
Very interesting. By chance, I happened upon a website of the Panamanian Caledonian society. By some whim or simple curiosity, they organised a yacht trip to ‘New Edinburgh’ …..not too far from Panama City
What did they find?
Well, by all accounts they found not some foetid, dank, mosquito-infested, swamp-hole, but rather a pleasant place.
The more one delves into the facts of the Darien Scheme, the more one is inclined to think, that all things considered, Scotland didn’t do too bad a job….on her little ownio. Imagine what would have happened ,,,,if as envisioned by Patterson, she had been supported by the commercial and military might of England, the Netherlands and Germany.
On the other hand, many in Scotland had observed that the power of Spain, the superpower of the time, could not be overlooked. Indeed, the mightiest fortress of that empire lay barely 60 miles distant from the new Scottish settlement. So mighty was that fortress that even the King of Spain complained that its building gobbled up a huge proportion of Spain’s wealth to the extent that it could bankrupt the empire.
IMHO, nothing less than a commercial and military onslaught by the combined powers of North West Europe could have achieved the objective of linking Pacific and Atlantic trade routes.
Scotland missed its chance, thanks to City of London chicanery and weak-kneed Holland and Germany, already in thrall to mammon, money and lucre, having renounced heroism, honour, grace and favour…..the old way of doing business,
We share the same Alma Mater, Sursum Semper!
Excellent prism show, Roger/BB. Lots of great food for thought.
Most of my knowledge of Scottish history comes from delving for myself. However, my old, late history teacher was an old-school Conservative, but he always encouraged us to think for ourselves, to dig and find out. It is true that Scottish history was not really taught as a separate subject from British history (actually, English history), but I do not think, personally, that old-style schooling was just rote learning. So many thinkers came from the old-school style that it is hard to keep up that myth. Nowadays, the biggest enemy of thinking for oneself, of delving, is the short attention span, although the modern school system will still throw up thinkers, I believe.