By Ian Carse
Below is a headline in the Daily Express on-line
“Sturgeon handed fresh blow: ‘Shetland Islands BRAINWASHED to think it’s part of Scotland’
NICOLA STURGEON has been delivered another blow after a Shetland Islands independence campaigner said Shetlanders have been “brainwashed” to think the rugged archipelago is part of Scotland.”
While the headline comes from Saturday’s Daily Express On-Line the paper notes that the quote about the brainwashing comes from a historian, Stuart Hill
The article goes on to say;
Stuart Hill, who believes the islands have never belonged to Scotland or Britain, blasted the Scottish National Party (SNP) and its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, as she rallied for an independence referendum. He told the Express.co.uk that residents on the Shetland Islands are “more capable” of running the community than “by diktat from Holyrood or Westminster’
None of this has ever been questioned, particularly in modern times, when oil was discovered in the North Sea.
However, for a historian to say this that Shetlanders ‘have been “brainwashed” to think the rugged archipelago is part of Scotland’ almost beggar’s belief as Shetland was handed over to Scotland, along with Orkney, as payment for a debt due to Scotland when the Danish Crown could not raise the hard cash to repay that debt . The transfer of both Orkney and Shetland to the Scottish Crown took place in 1472 and I would expect any historian worth their salt to know this before spouting forth and insulting others on this topic.
Of course the insult to the Shetlanders goes deeper when the Daily Express On-Line goes on to include a clip of Lord Lamont supporting this contention, which is surprising really given that he was born in Shetland. Norman Lamont was part of Conservative Party Government’s and held down cabinet posts, the most senior of which was as Chancellor of the Exchequer, in Margaret Thatcher and John Major governments.
When he was in government I don’t remember him, or any of his government colleagues, saying that he or they supported the idea of Shetland becoming an independent state although, patently, he would have known that this was quite feasible if Shetland opted for independence and took all the oil revenues that the then UK government was reliant upon, and still is!
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The Shetland Isles have been part of Scotland for much longer than e.g. Florida has been part of the United States. For those who don’t know; Florida was sold by Spain, to the United States. No Floridian I’ve ever met, subscribes to the view that Florida is actually Spanish. Same with Alaska, which ‘belonged’ to Russia, but was sold to the United States and in fact it was a pretty close-run thing when the United States agreed to the purchase and it certainly wasn’t seen as a great bargain. Nowadays, no one – not even the Russians – claim that Alaska is actually part of Russia.
If Shetlanders choose to be independent of anyone else, that is their right, but it is nonsense and historically VERY inaccurate to say it isn’t part of Scotland.
When I read the headline article in last week’s Orcadian, my response was…..
What’s wrong with Orkney being part of Scotland? Especially, part of an independent Scotland.
Same goes for Shetland.
My other response was – if Orkney, or Shetland, does want to be independent – well, so it goes, just as long as it isn’t an opportunity for Mr. Stockan to become Emperor of Orkney.
I then started thinking what would be a suitable name for him, in that position – Il Duce, Mien Fuhrer, El Supremo, or to paraphrase the official title of Idi Amin – who also claimed to be the uncrowned King of Scotland –
‘His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Stockan, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Scotland in General and Orkney in Particular’.
That is, genuinely, what I thought.
Personally – Orkney as part of an independent Scotland – suits me just fine. I’m not Orcadian – I just know a good thing when I see it.
And a bad one, too.
Oh – I also wondered at Mr Stockan requesting a consultation with the people of Orkney about this, as, as far as I can see, when OIC holds a consultation, they then mostly go ahead and do exactly what they wanted to do, anyway.
Yikes! I don’t know why it says that Mike wrote that – he doesn’t say inflammatory things – this is all down to me – Bernie Bell – bolshie wee person.
First the ‘Daily Distress’ is probably the top purveyor of ‘fake news’ and when it comes to Stuart Hill or to give him his dishonourable title which even said rag used, ‘Captain Calamity’. Said Mr. Hill having made his way from the south of England to Shetland by way of just about every Lifeboat and Coastguard station rescuing him from his own incompetence’s along the way. Hill is also a regular appellant in many Scottish Courts and is regarded by most as a total pain in the arse. But give him his due he does know how to appeal to the ‘gutter press’!!!
The Britnats are opening a can of worms with this line of argument.
What about the Channel Islands,Gibraltar,The Falklands……..
Look over here not over there, typical Britnattery