We've Been Away For A Few Days. This Is What We Did

[poliphilo]

On Sunday we drove to Scotland. It took us about four hours. They say this is an overcrowded island, but the only major town we came across between Greater Manchester and Edinburgh- and we didn't go through it, only saw it signposted off to the right - was Carlisle.  Otherwise that whole huge stretch of country- first the Lake District, then the Borders- is just hills and hills and hills. We booked into the Travel Lodge at Kinross That night we had been invited to have tea with an online friend of Ailz's in a nearby town. This is the first time either of us has sealed an online friendship with a real life meeting. I think it went OK. After tea she took us to the pub where she runs a late night karaoke session. Ailz and I both hate pubs, but she's better at hiding it. There were three pubs on the one street- the Rangers pub, the Celtic pub and this- which was the "non-sectarian" pub. After a few minutes Ailz turned to Carolyn and said "You've got to understand; he's a Southerner; this is a terrible culture shock for him." And it was. The noise was horrible, I could hear hardly anything that was said to me, and there was an elderly man dancing by himself with a bottle of WKD in his fist. We stayed about an hour and then Ailz's back started spasming from being sat on the hard settle- and we made our excuses and left. Peter, Carolyn's partner, insisted on walking us down the hill to our car because he was afraid someone might bottle us for being English.

It was a lovely clear night. Very little light pollution. For a while there was no-one on the road except us and the Great Bear.

Comments

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

My ancestors are Scottish. I thought for awhile about trying to live in Scotland, which I think is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. However, if I do that, in order to do that, I am going to have to learn to get along with Scots, which is highly suspect.

Every true Scot that I have met, I have immediately had an adversarial relationship with. Most of the Americans I know with very much Scottish ancestry I have a similar problem. I meet Scottish Americans on the street, and immediately we start sizing each other up. It seems like some sort of genetic predisposition to fight... like Australian Cattle dogs!

I know that not every Scot is like that. I understand that some are actually very sweet. But, this has been a source of much aggravation & heartache on my part over the year, since my Scottish ancestry is a very big part of my identity, both the positive aspects as well as the negative.

[nostoi.livejournal.com]

he was afraid someone might bottle us for being English.

Welcome to Scotland! Not changed any I see...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm English through and through. And when I cross the border into Scotland I feel like I'm in a foreign country.

There's a lot of tension between England and Scotland. Scotland has always- simply because of its much smaller population- been the junior partner in the relationship. The English take the Scots for granted- and patronize them- and the Scots resent this bitterly.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No. Seems not. It still feels like a foreign country.

[nostoi.livejournal.com]

Which it is. And why I am puzzled when anyone really believes otherwise.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well, it's all about the politics, isn't it- and trying to preserve the world-beating "Great Britain" brand. On the whole I think the Scots did very well out of the Union. By linking up with England they got to to be (a part) of a world power and help run an Empire. If it hadn't been for the Union, Scotland would have had a history much like Norway's.

Clearly two nations sharing a small island can't help but have their destinies intertwined. But I think the Union may have served its purpose. I suspect Scottish independence would ease the tensions between us, much as the relationship between England and Ireland has been eased by the establishment of the Irish Republic.

[nostoi.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. I think Scottish people need to have independence because currently they have an extremely unhealthy outlook that is holding them back. I don't just mean dislike/hatred of England and the English but everything that stems from that. To blame the crap on another country is to not take responsibility for yourself, but in order to really WANT to take responsibility you have to be given the freedom to do it, and not always feel some kind of second class inhabitant of a nation that holds the interests of another country above yours.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

The odd bit about Scotland being the junior partner in the relationship is that historically the union began when the King of Scotland took over England and Wales...

(I speak here as someone with both English and Scottish ancestry, and other things besides).

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that mindset takes a long time to uproot. In Ireland, we're just about starting now, and even then it's only superficial.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

sorry, reply to gorse wine's post above

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't think the Scots did badly out of the Union- and neither did England. I believe it has been a mutually beneficial arrangement.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

If the Scots vote for independence, I'd be happy. But equally happy if they choose to maintain the Union. I just wish they could lose that chip from off their shoulders. Of course they're the junior partner- their population is only a fraction of England's- but this hasn't prevented them from punching above their weight, both within the union and on the world stage.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

For a while there was no-one on the road except us and the Great Bear.

Lights: The bane of astronomy.

Welcome home, Tony. I've missed your posts.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's good to be back.