Speak up if you're Scottish
With St Andrew's Day fast approaching, Scotland Now decided to ask some famous Scots what they'd be doing on November 30th. But, more than that, we found out about what being Scottish meant to them, from the things they liked to eat, to their views on Scottish history and culture to their favourite Scottish phrases and expressions.
SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has a busy St Andrew's Day in store – 'Yes, I've got five events on this year! Including a graduation ceremony, an academic lecture, a race meeting at Musselburgh, where I'll be awarding the St Andrew's Cup, and then the Ceilidh in Edinburgh in the evening. I hope that everybody takes advantage – not just on St Andrew's Day, but all through the Winter Festival period – of the wonderful range of events throughout Scotland.'
His views were echoed by comedienne Elaine C. Smith, who thinks the Scots don't make enough of St Andrew's Day: 'It should be more like St Patrick's Day,' she said, 'or Bastille Day in France. We should take a day to say 'We're all Scottish!' and where you welcome people from abroad into Scotland. A national holiday would be a good idea! There should be balls, dinners, families getting together. . .'
Like many celebrity Scots we interviewed she was very proud of her roots. 'I am very proud of the country I was born in, my heritage. The kind of Scottish people who have made it big – whether it's Andrew Carnegie, or Ewan McGregor, or Sean Connery – they have a great sense of where they've come from and what they want to put back. That makes me very proud to be Scottish.' And her favourite Scottish expression? 'A Glaswegian phrase I like is 'Yer Jaickets oan a shoogly nail.' It means 'Be careful, because your jacket is hanging on a loose nail!'
Radio presenter and comedian Fred MacAulay was more stumped for a favourite Scots word – 'Favourite Scottish word? 'Oh God . . . Jings, Crivens, Help ma boab . . . I can't think of one!' – but he had no hesitation in naming his favourite Scottish food. 'Porridge! At least four days a week!' Or in saying why he was proud to be a Scot – 'The number of inventions we've given the world. I couldn't list them all here, but our impact on the world has been phenomenal. That makes me proud.'
And what would he be doing this St Andrew's Day? 'Just going out and enjoying myself. I've been invited to a dinner on the Royal Yacht Britannia. In past years I've been all over the place. One of the best I ever had was in New York when a few Scots got together for a grand old night.'
Closer to home and the thing TV presenter and columnist Kaye Adams misses most about Scotland is simple – 'Byres Road! I live very close to it and it's my wee street! Just to wander along for a wee cappuccino . . . I love it!' And her perfect St Andrew's Day promises to be a simple affair. 'I like to feel like I really am in Scotland so, fingers crossed, it'll be a gorgeous day and I'll go for a nice long walk with the kids.' When it came to her favourite Scottish word or expression Kaye went for an old classic – 'Numpty!' 'You don't even need to know what it means!' She says. 'You can tell, can't you? Somebody who's just a bit daft, a bit stupid.'
Scottish singer/songwriter Sandi Thom lives in London now, but will be making sure she celebrates St Andrew's Day appropriately. 'I'm going to get all my friends around and have a good old celebration and introduce them all to what St Andrew's Day is all about. My family are all very proud of their Scottish heritage and it's been passed on through generations. Scotland is admired by a lot of people throughout the world because of how proud we are of where we come from.'
Something that several of the celebrities we interviewed touched upon was the warm welcome the Scots received abroad. 'Everywhere I visit in the world,' Thom says, 'America, Australia or wherever, there seems to be some Scottish heritage. Whenever you say you're Scottish . . . everyone loves Scotland!'
Her views were shared by fellow singer, 18-year-old Daisy Chute who said, 'When I tell people I'm from Scotland their faces just light up! I love being Scottish!' Daisy also had something in common with Fred MacAulay, 'Porridge! I love it too!'
Few Scots are prouder of their country than Scottish rugby captain Jason White. 'I think we should celebrate what a great country we have. In sports I think we've shown in the past how Scotland as a relatively small nation can go on and take on some of the bigger teams. In recent years we've beaten teams like England and France and when you stop to consider how many people play rugby in those countries compared to in Scotland. To play for your country is something I always dreamt about as a little kid. Pulling on the (Scotland) jersey is a great feeling.'
Scottish Formula One racing champion David Coultard, agreed. 'Scotland and its people will always unite in a common voice when facing sporting challenge from other nations with a passion and sportsmanship that has no relation to whether or not they realistically have a chance of victory. We are very proud of our never-surrender history.'
Indeed something all our celebrity interviewees had in common (apart from a love of porridge!) was a sense of pride in being part of the greatest small nation on earth. We should all be celebrating our national day – St Andrew's Day – on the 30th November. . .
