I've had two Celtic-nationalist manifestations in my life. The first, in Northern Ireland, led me into membership of a certain Catholic republican/nationalist groupnot in good odor with the local Protestant population, and resulted a year later in a hasty exodus to Scotland. Ever the chameleon, once there I transferred my allegiance seamlessly to the sister Celtic culture and, no doubt under the influence of the water of life and/or strong ale, I joined the Scottish National Party, then a small and somewhat ludicrous fringe group composed of wild-haired Highland bards and various other sentimental nutters (such as wandering Irish-Americans). Well, that was then. Last week, in elections for the Scottish regional parliament, the very same SNP swept into power under their energetic leader Alex Salmond, and they now stand as good a chance as they ever have of winning a referendum on independence, which will inevitably be held soon. An independent Scotland? In theory, why not? Norway manages, and it's similar in size, resources and topography. But we shouldn't disregard the attraction of Britishness; the Scots, after all, were the engineers and explorers who built the British Empire. Anyway, what would the new ex-UK be called? The Formerly United Kingdom? Lesser Britain? And would there be a Scottish Embassy in London and an English (or Anglo-Welsh) one in Edinburgh? It all sounds too absurd for words, but then not long ago so would the notion of a Slovenian Embassy in Belgrade, or a Slovak one in Prague. Plus รงa change.... .
