Finding Scotland Down Under

Roddy Martine talks...

At the end of last year I was fortunate enough to travel down under for Sydney Scottish Week, where I was the guest of the Scottish-Australian Heritage Council. In 2002 it was a particularly auspicious occasion since the council was celebrating its 21st year.

Founded by a group of interested Australian Scots led by Rosemary Nicholson Samos, the primary aim of the SAHC and of Sydney Scottish Week since 1981 has been to assert the place of Scottish heritage in an emerging climate of Australian multiculturalism.

And today that message has gained an even greater momentum as the face of Australia, and indeed the world, undergoes radical change. The Irish, Jews, Chinese, Malays and Indians understand the importance of cultural identity abroad, and they work hard to encourage it.

Unfortunately, home-based Scots have, to their detriment, and to a very great extent, shown a singular disinterest in consolidating the worldwide network of goodwill and affection fostered through such initiatives as Sydney Scottish Week.

This worries me, because as Scotland itself becomes increasingly multicultural, and is inevitably sucked into the European millpond, we are in serious danger of losing sight of who the Scots really are and what they stand for.

Now this is not a cri de coeur for nationalism, nor a criticism of the multiculturalism that is today seen as essential to the wellbeing of all of us in a civilised society.

It is a cry for the preservation of a unique personal identity, and t...

To read the rest of this article you can do any of the following.

• By : Roddy Martine
• In : Roddy Martine's World
• Issue : 7
• Page : 7
• Words : 934