They Can Never Take Our Freedom!

Stirling, with Wallace Monument in background

I love Scotland. I love its history. I love its landscape. I love it, and I'm not entirely sure why. Suffice it to say that "The heart has reasons that reason cannot know." (Blaise Pascal)

My essay this week for my medieval history tutorial is on Anglo-Scottish conflicts. One of my essay questions, and probably the one I'll end up writing on, is:

Why was Scotland not subjugated by English kings?

Now what I'd really love to do is write the world's shortest, sappiest, most un-scholarly essay ever. For obvious reasons, I won't do that. But I can post it here. ;)

So. My answer.

The kings of England didn't understand, as Burns would later clarify, that Scotland was 'the birthplace of valour', and that Scotland, as Hugh MacDiarmid said, didn't and doesn't see itself as small. They didn't understand that, as Arthur James Balfour stated, 'Scottish theory … is that every country has need of Scotchmen, but that Scotland has no need of the citizens of any other country.' Most importantly, they vastly under-estimated the Scot's love of freedom and belief that being under England was 'chains and slavery.' The Scots had spirit. And they had a David I and Malcolm IV and Alexander III, and most importantly, they had William Wallace. I'll let Wallace speak for himself: 'Tell your commander that we are not here to make peace but to do battle, defend ourselves and liberate our kingdom. Let them come on, and we shall prove this in their very beards.’

In short, the kings of England failed because of the sentiments captured in Burn's 'Scots Wha Hae':
"Who for Scotland's King and Law
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand or freeman fall,
Let him follow me.
...
Lay the proud usurpers low,
Tyrants fall in every foe,
Liberty's in every blow!
Let us do or die!"

In closing, "Go back to England and tell them... Scotland is free!"

~

Yeah, I'm totally not biased about this. At. All. :P

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,

The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth ;

Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Farewell to the mountains, high-cover'd with snow,

Farewell to the straths and green vallies below;

Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,

Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

-Robert Burns