We are providing information on the background of the movement for Scottish independence, its background and the issues involved. This article by Tony Seed was published in Mac-talla, the annual Gaelic edition of Shunpiking, Nova Scotia’s discovery magazine, May, 2002, No. 42, and is slightly revised by the author for this publication.

The massive ‘Scotland Demands Democracy’ demonstration at the European Summit held in Edinburgh, December 11 and 12, 1992. Over 25,000 people participated and endorsed the Democracy Declaration of Scotland, read by the actor Sean Connery | Photo courtesy of Alan Miller (Click to enlarge)
IN accordance with the September 1997 referendum, Scotland now has home rule. Nearly three hundred years after the abolition of the last Scottish parliament, the country again has its own elected legislative authority. But there is no knowing if this stage will be Scotland’s last.

Debating chamber of the Socttish parliament
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON reckoned that Calton Hill was the best place to view Edinburgh, “since you can see the Castle, which you lose from the Castle, and Arthur’s Seat, which you cannot see from Arthur’s Seat.” Here, below the hill in one of the city’s greatest buildings, the Grecian Old Royal High School, it was assumed for many years Scotland’s new Parliament would sit. Less than a year before the first elections, the Scottish Office unexpectedly announced that a new building would be commissioned. Empty docklands were proposed. Ultimately the ideal location chosen was a disused brewery – in Holyrood, at the foot of the Royal Mile, neighbour to the royal palace – a site that satisfied no-one except the land owners and the royals. The parliament, which has been sitting in the Church of Scotland Assembly Hall, will move into this £200 million home soon. Continue reading →