On the eve of Scotland's historic vote for independence, we gain a perspective on the referendum from one of our region's outstanding Scottish Americans, Robert Valentine, also a faculty member of the Murray State University Department of Journalism and Mass Communications. On Sounds Good, Todd Hatton speaks with Valentine about his thoughts on the vote and its implications for the UK and abroad.
Lord George Murray
Credit Wikimedia Commons
Today's vote brings Scotland closest to independence from the UK since the Battle of Culloden in 1746. One of the Scottish commanders of the battle was Lord George Murray, whose coat of arms one might recognize on City of Murray vehicles and on Murray State's campus. Robert Valentine says about the outcome, "nobody knows." The sentiment is that the vote is very close, in many polls between 52-48% and 51-49%. Pass or fail, Valentine says, the issue won't be dead because for the past 1,000 years there has always been a contentious relationship between Scotland and England.
"You only think that there is longstanding animosity in the South against the American North. That is nothing compared to how the sons of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce feel about the English."
Valentine says there are centuries of animosity towards the English, not the British. So far as Scots are concerned, he says, the Welsh and Irish are culturally and genetically linked, but the English are different. A lot of today's YES vote comes as a passionate response to centuries of cultural and economic repression, stemming back to the Battle of Culloden and battles prior.
If the YES vote wins, a monumental governmental challenge will occur from figuring out new currency to the nature of trade between the two countries. A lot of the people voting NO today are voting for current economic and social reasons rather than because they think 'we belong linked with England,' Valentine says. They would rather not be, but the pain of separation is something they don't want to endure. Valentine wonders if had the Scots won the Battle of Culloden, if today there would be two separate countries long linked as close allies despite a technical separation.
Scots in America are very proud of the Scottish devotion to family, education and the idea that individuals should be free. However, Valentine says, in his experience at gatherings across the country, many feel that the decision to be independent is a difficult one.
The Murray Highland Games are coming up in Murray at the end of October. However the vote goes, this year should be an especially interesting one for the games.
