TIES THAT BIND
Alexander McCall Smith examines the importance of Scottish culture and kinship.
T
he Homecoming is a bit of a mixed bag. It in their heritage that they may care to look at again
is about land and roots and being Scottish and restore to its place in their sense of who they are.
and … well, it’s about a lot of things really. We all came from somewhere, and if you come from
But one clear strand of it is Scottish culture, North America or Australia or any of the other places
and what that culture means to people. That is not where some human roots may be more recent, then
cultural bombast or braggadocio: it is the celebration it is surely quite understandable that one might wish
of that which binds one to another regardless of to have some sense of what went before. That is a
where we find ourselves, that which makes this world universal human urge – the desire to know one’s past
a less intimidating, impersonal place. and to incorporate some part of that past in one’s
Culture, of course, is one of those words that sense of self.
can be expanded and contracted like an accordion. The Gathering, then, and the cultural activities
Culture is a mixture of the material – how we ensure that go with it, are intended to link us with a cultural
our physical survival – and the immaterial – the way heritage that, in the noise and rub of modern life,
in which we see ourselves and the world about us. can be somewhat ignored. It is a truism that the
The Homecoming – and in particular The Gathering modern culture is international. The reasons for this
2009 – is about one particular group of people and are obvious – modern communications mean that
their culture. It is about those mental and spiritual images and sounds are bounced into our homes
goods that we use to understand ourselves and the from all over the world, entertaining and informing
world. These goods are manifold and various – they us according to an agenda of slick, corporate creators.
are music and song, stories written and unwritten, Authentic artistic experience has become a luxury;
painting, film – about all the things that makars do. what is more readily on hand is a bland international
These goods may be small or big – the first poem of a culture that threatens to overwhelm ancient national
child, his or her first drawing, are part of this as much cultures. It is a fact of cultural life that our view of
as the award-winning book or the tune that seizes the the world is now inordinately influenced by a very
imagination of thousands. The most amateur effort superficial popular culture that is the equivalent of
in a poetry competition will be as important, in a piped music: piped culture, perhaps.
way, as the most polished, in that it represents a work In such circumstances, the local and the particular
of the heart or an act of participation in a great public assume a new importance. National cultures
cultural act. incorporate a particular way of looking at the world.
But The Gathering 2009 is also about the traditions Scottish culture today includes both that part – the
of Scotland that have been kept alive through the inherited part, so to speak – and the modern part
clan organisations both at home and abroad and the that, as often as not, is garnered from elsewhere. The
important role that they play in passing on Scotland’s inherited part is the vulnerable element and calls for
traditional culture to new generations today. Over nurturing and support if it is to survive. It is something
one weekend, the majority of clan chiefs and many that those with Scottish roots living elsewhere in the
clan representatives will gather in Edinburgh from world are often better at than us Scots at home. And
around the globe. They are coming home to celebrate that is why we need to make sure that we pass on the
their roots. cultural inheritance of this country. Part of that must
The Gathering 2009 is a Scottish event, and for be done by schools – through ensuring that Scottish
some that might raise concerns of exclusivity and literature, music and history is given adequate room
cultural nationalism. Those concerns would be well- in the syllabus – but part can be done through major
placed if this were all about the wrong sort of pride cultural efforts such as The Gathering 2009 and the
– if it were intended to say that Scottish culture is community programme that runs alongside it.
something that we have and others do not, or that The Gathering is an opportunity for a bit of timely
it is in some way superior to the other cultural stock-taking – and celebration – of some of the things
offerings on the table. But it is not doing that; what that make the world more interesting, colourful, and
it is doing is telling people that there is something ultimately loveable.
21
SCOTS44.indd 21 28/3/09 4:30:25 PM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116