THAT I for Poor Auld Scotland’s Sake … Lik the feck o Scots patriots ah wis fully in support o Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement last week that there wid be anither independence referendum. It fairly left Theresa “Thatcher Lite” May stammygastert an pu’d the rug frae unner her Brexit shenanigans.

The road tae Scottish independence wis aye gaun tae be a rocky ane, but at least it wull no be duin wi the “ranked spears”

o Bruce at Bannockburn but wi a Sanct Andra’s-type cross in the box o a ballot paper. The Tories hae naebody but theirsels tae blame fir bringin this oan; promises brucken, vows forleetit, the usual twa-faced hypocrisy – OK fir thaim tae lea unions, but no OK fir Scotland tae lea unions.

An jist lik the last time thon auld corbie Gordon Broon is rolled oot tae croak his nonsense an try an fuil the Scottish people aince agane. He’d be better sittin wi Sarah oan the braw nest he’s feathert on the Isle o’ Man. Broon gien us a rerun o the haivers he ran oot at Loanheid Miners Club (tae twae auld men an a dug) – this eftir he hud the bress neck tae raid wir pension funds an left the kintra wi a multi-billion-pound PFI heidache that wull tak generations tae redd up!

Whan he cuid hae delivert oan federalism he hudnae the guts tae dae it – jist as he hudnae the guts tae cry a General Election an win his ain mandate (tak tent, Theresa!). Ye’ll mind he telt us the anely wey tae bide in Europe wis fir us tae vote No!? Taxi fir Broon, methinks!

Likesay, this is a road that’s weel kent tae Scots frae ither generations. Shortly eftir Winnie Ewing hud won the wattershed Hamilton by-election in 1967 – an event that aiblins pit the modren SNP pairty firmly oan the map – Hugh MacDiarmid gien a fawmous speech at Glesga University in April 1968 whaur he set oot his stall anent Scottish independence, “I believe they [the English] will be more determined to hang on to Scotland than ever, by fair means or preferably foul, since their world rule has diminished so greatly. Scotland never fought while it was independent any aggressive war, but since the Union, it has been dragged at the heels of England into scores of wars, none of which were of any value to Scotland itself.”

He then gangs oan tae talk aboot the differences in Scottish an English character (keep mind, MacDiarmid listit Anglophobia amang his hobbies in Who’s Who!): “There are not two nations under the firmament that are more contrary and different from each other than Englishmen and Scotsmen, howbeit they be within one island, and neighbours, and of one language. For Englishmen are subtle and Scotsmen are facile, Englishmen are ambitious in prosperity and Scotsmen are humane in prosperity, Englishmen are humble when they are subdued by force and violence, and Scotsmen are furious when they are violently subdued. Englishmen are cruel when they get victory (see the genocide o Culloden) and Scotsmen are merciful when they get victory.”

The full text o this byordnar speech o MacDiarmid’s is warth seekin oot an readin – it wid fire up the bluid o ony Scot, white’er their gender, creed or colour – tae support Scottish independence, bi the strength o oor ain determination!

Ah get oan fine wi aa ma English friens – but ye hae tae admit thair a wheen in the “Westmonster” Tory Pairty wha fit MacDiarmid’s template tae a tee!

The ink o Nicola’s deceesion hud haurdly dried when YouGov dutifully cam up wi ane o their opinion polls that allegedly kythed support for independence hitting new lows. Aye, right! These kind o fowk cuidnae predict Christmas frae an advent calendar!

Gif support fir independence is sae puir, why wid the Tories shy awa frae a vote that wid totally pit the maitter tae bed fir thaim fir aye? Cuid this be because the opposite micht be true? Gin May’s sae shair o herself, let’s pit it tae the test. The Tories are aa at sea, an sunk bi their ain backbench “bastards”. As auld Churchill cuid hae telt her, “The opposition occupies the benches in front of you, but the enemy sits behind you.”

Scotland is at a crossroads and there’s mony possible weys forrit; Scotland cuid haud an advisory referendum, that’s no binding, athoot the Section 30 permeesion frae Westminster (an ye’ll hae mind that Brexit wis anely an advisory referendum – but May has taen that as cairved in stane!). Else, caw fir a new Holyrood election; gin this gien us a pro-independence majority we cuid quite athin oor rights declare independence unilaterally. It’s whit the feck o new independent European kintras hae duin in raicent history – an it’s the internationally endorsed wey fir thaim tae secede, tho thair are kinches wi this road as weel.

Or we cuid cry a National Assembly? Kindae radical ah ken, but gin it wis recognised bi the United Nations General Assembly we’d be hame an dry. Oor airgument wid be that we’d bin swicked oot o evri normal channel that we’d tried tae reach a democratic solution an hud nae ither chyce left tae us; foreby, it warked fir ither EU members sic as Slovenia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. An it’s hou thay aa gained their independence.

Ach, ah’m shair the will o the Scottish people wull prevail tho an we’ll hae need o ony o these alternative means tae reach oor goal. The 2014 referendum hus bin pruiven an shown tae hae bin a pig in a poke, this time we ken the true state o affairs an whit we’re votin fir. Democracy wull no be denied. The vyce o thae Scottish people wull be whit decides this, no the vyce o Theresa May an a sack o screichin Tory cats fechtin in a bag at Westminster.

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PROVERB O THE WEEK

A toom purse maks a thrawn face.

Wrinkled empty purses make wrinkled (crabbit) faces.