Rural Scottish identity

If to speak of a coherent ‘urban' identity within Scotland is problematic, then to try and portray a consistent ‘rural' identity is impossible. Rural Scotland is dissected by the conurbations of the Forth-Clyde rift valley, with the Lowlands being entirely separated from the Highlands. This separation has been manifested in numerous historical episodes where Lowlanders have assisted with English forces in oppressing the Highlanders, most infamously at Culloden (1746), and in the Clearances that followed. Another historical division within rural Scotland is clan differences, illustrated most clearly by the Glencoe massacare of 1692 where the Campbells slaughtered the MacDonalds, and bad feeling stemming from this incident is still present to this day.

The image of Scotland most often presented to the world by the media 42, and even by the Scottish Tourist Board 43, is that of rural Highland scenery and culture, even though this entirely disproportionate when one considers the population of the region compared to that of the cities. These processes have attracted the labels of ‘tartanry' and ‘kailyard', described as ‘regressive discourses' 44, and rely very heavily on tradition and myth, which I shall examine in more detail below. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that the hegemonic process of tartanry has helped elevate the rural identity of the Highlands to the status of a cultural norm recognisable by a majority of people, both inside and outside Scotland 45. However, even a coherent Highland identity is difficult to agree on. The Western Highlands and Isles owe their heritage to the Gaelic speaking Irish settlers, whereas the more northern areas, particularly the Orkney and Shetland Islands, consider themselves of Norse descent. Indeed the sentiments towards ‘Viking' separatism are so great that the SNP considered a contingency plan for self-determination for Shetland 46.

Historical Highland antagonism towards the Lowlands often extends to the cities, for despite the large concentration of Highland settlers, the cities are viewed as Lowland in attitude. The tension between the Gaelic Highlands and the English speaking Lowlands is a historical one rooted in territorial differences, and prejudices are still apparent, manifested in urban humour reminiscent of the anti-Irish jokes common in England 47. Not all Highland emigrants remained within Scotland, and many settled in England or overseas, giving rise to a sizeable Scottish ‘diaspora' population 48. This emigration did not end with the cessation of the Clearances, between 1950 and 1975 there were over 800,000 emigrants, mainly to England 49. Another destructive influence on Highland culture was the attitude towards the Gaelic language, spoken by 30% of Scottish families in 1707, but by 1975 this had fallen to 1.5% 50. Despite this linguistic difference, along with the clear cultural divide, it is possible to conceive a case for a movement supporting a separate Highland ‘nation', yet there is no real call for Highland separatism as such 51. In stark contrast to the proud Highland clan culture, so beloved by the exponents of tartanry, Lowland identity has largely been shaped by either English or urban Scottish influences, as the region lacks the linguistic distinctiveness of the Highlands.