BURNS, as ever, was right. If we had the gift of seeing “oorsels as others see us”, we would at least have a chance to break free from the blunders of the past.

Of course, telling the truth isn’t popular and particularly in a political environment when everything is claimed to be, despite all the evidence to the contrary, “world-beating”.

In fact, we currently live in an archaic, unequal, divided and declining society and telling that truth is why the foreign press has been so vilified by many of the British establishment in recent days.

First and foremost though, we shouldn’t lose sight that we are in this confusing place because of the important and affecting fact that a long-serving and much-respected Head of State has died and that a family have lost a dearly loved matriarch.

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Those facts should have instilled a dignified pause in the rhythm of our days and inspired some quiet reflection about what has passed and what may be to come.

Such would have been the mature way to go about things.

Instead, we have seen across society how far Scotland falls short of real modern democracy – and how desperately needed radical reform now is.

It is difficult to tease out all the pieces, but the BBC, for starters, is now nothing more than a mouthpiece for state conformity.

Their coverage has been virtually unwatchable, or rather, unlistenable.

It would have been better to have had the old Soviet Union approach of solemn music and still pictures been adopted.

What I could bear to see and hear confirmed the view that even the talents of broadcasters like Huw Edwards could not, in the end, rise above the swamp of idle chatter, punctuated with occasions of banal and even insulting ignorance – usually about Scotland – from many commentators who knew little and cared less.

Their message revealed the hollowness of the medium as it now is and its contempt for anything but the status quo.

The shouting down (and worse) of dissent and difference has also been disgraceful.

There are only around 40 countries in the world that still have a monarch as Head of State, which is around 20% of the total, and that number is declining. Our form of governance is far from being the norm.

Moreover, in most places now, a hereditary system does not also mean having an unelected and ennobled legislative chamber, nor does it mean treasuring titles and medals.

The so-called “bicycling monarchies” of Sweden and the Netherlands are not without their problems, but they demonstrate another way of ensuring continuity without building in the worst aspects of privilege and pomp.

In fact, Norway abolished titles in the early years of the 19th century, and it certainly does not have, at the heart of its process, a private club – unlike Scotland, where the Royal Company of Archers serves to demonstrate how wrong so many of the current arrangements are.

You can search the web, but you will find no means of applying to join this exclusive gathering of rich and privileged people because membership is by “invitation” only.

Nor will you be able to discover how they are funded or whether they have ever admitted a woman (their secretary said six years ago that they “might”).

Who is in it is also confidential, yet they collectively occupy and own a listed and very valuable – but also very private – building full of historic paintings and artefacts in the heart of Edinburgh.

Two hundred years ago, George IV made the Royal Company his bodyguard in Scotland, more out of his fondness for archery than anything else.

Its uniform reflected Walter Scott’s taste for pastiche tartanry and even then, the company was a slightly old-fashioned way of the Scottish unionist establishment getting together, rather than anything serious in the way of royal protection or sporting activity.

Yet a contingent of the company was still standing between the crowds and Lord Lyon when he read the accession proclamation on Sunday, led by their senior officers, including a duke and an earl.

Even more sinisterly, two ministers in the current Tory UK Cabinet were, as Royal Company members, on duty, “guarding” the Queen’s coffin on Thursday in full dress – bow and arrows and all – and in full view of the television cameras.

That fact alone suggests that a poll of the 400 Royal Company members would find a political complexion, to put it mildly, somewhat at odds with the wider Scottish picture.

I would also not be holding my breath for their application to affiliate with any new Yes organisation.

YET they will be seen worldwide as a symbol of Scotland and behind the scenes – for example, through the promotion of their leaders to positions in the Royal Household and elsewhere – they wield huge influence.

The police and the military are on the streets and in processions because, in a sense, they represent and are authorised by us all.

The Royal Company of Archers very clearly do not and are not. They speak for and are accountable only to themselves within their own – very narrow – wealthy and elitist circle.

No one elected them, and no representative body regulates or controls them.

They are not a harmless part of a costume drama, nor are they drawn from across Scottish society, as the public is led to believe.

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Yet, remarkably, they still occupy a central place within our constitutional process.

It will take time to make sense of the last week and the next few days.

It is in the interests of those who benefit from the way things are to make sure such a process gets, as usual, derailed.

Much of our media will, sadly, be a willing part of that deflection.

Yet, in recent days, we have seen what is behind the curtain, and we must not forget that lesson.

For, as a Gaelic proverb puts it, the people are – and always must be – “mightier than a Lord”.