Scotland ~ St Andrew’s Day 2023
Scotland ~ St Andrew’s Day
1 December 2023
Our Nation comprises the ancient nations of Scotland, Wales and England. I speak of Great Britain, not of the United Kingdom. St Patrick’s Day is the time to write of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Our history is turbulent and not without bloodshed.
I look back across twenty-one centuries and further back too, and no side comes out too well.
Religion, as always, tends to be the angry taper to light the sleeping stack of wood. People live side by side with each other, with give and take, each understanding that the other might have a different viewpoint, but realising that friendship, even kinship, is more important.
Enter stage left that odious creature Religion. Or that even more odious creature, political ideology.
Through religion, through political ideology when either or both become warped, human nature reaches down to the very depths of depravity. Minds are swayed. Lies told, uprisings stirred, foul acts carried out upon one side that leads the other side to perpetrate even fouler acts. Vengeance and revenge is terrifying.
So, I have no time for religion. I have no time for dictatorships, either.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Catholic and Protestant each burned the other at the stake in these islands, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Nevertheless, my ancestry reaches far back, crossing the border beyond Hadrian’s Wall. It is, therefore, good to think of Scotland this day. Whilst I would like to think that we will remain as one, I am firmly of the view that if Scotland prefers independence, then Scotland has this Englishman’s full support, for starters.
I have so, so much for which to thank Scotland. To Scotland, as with the other nations, I owe the freedom I enjoy today.
Like what? You ask.
Read your history books, I thus reply.
1 December 2023
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2023 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Digital Artwork by KTW unless otherwise stated
It is good this day to wear Tartan and to reflect not only upon the meaning of St Andrew's Day, but to also think of the Nation and People of Scotland.
Their role in history, both in the world beyond our shores, and within these Islands, their determination to maintain the security of these Islands, their contribution to every sector of our society, every Institution, Parliamentary, the Rule of Law, Ecclesiastical, Health and Science, Medicine, Mathematics and Physics, Education and of Literature, the Arts and Theatre ~ to name but some, must never be overlooked.
The long robes and tartans catch in the wind, all stand resolutely on the Square. At first, it appears to be the wind, but then there is a rumbling as if in concert building to the point of sudden unison and the Bagpipes then Resound, the Drums beat the pace, and the Great March begins.
Yes, indeed, Scotland the Brave!
His Majesty The King, Charles III CR in procession behind Her Late Majesty The Queen, Elizabeth II ER as they commence their journey from Scotland to London.
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
