Performing Scots-European heritage, ‘For A’ That!’

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Scottish heritage and how this has contributed to, and drawn upon, Europe’s intellectual heritage through the medium of Scots. It examines the Scots-speaking community and, in particular, on its use of the Scots language as a means to assert political difference in the form of a ‘welcoming, inclusive civic nationalism’. The chapter draws on Scotland’s intellectual and ideological heritage which has roots in the notion of the ‘democratic intellect’ in education as well as in continental political thought. An egalitarian ideology has long been associated with Scotland. It has a long cultural history, with roots as far back as the Declaration of Arbroath, written in Latin, which has been described by Neal Ascherson as ‘Europe’s earliest nationalist manifesto’. Heritage is a dynamic concept. As Europe evolves, so does its heritage. Language is a crucial element of the heritage expressing local and transnational belonging at one and the same time.

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