The Nationalism Project: Scottish Ethnic Nationalism by Eric G.E.

Zuelow

Towards an Understanding of Scottish Ethnic Nationalism: The 'Watch' Groups and 'Anti-Englishness' in Late Twentieth Century Scotland
by Eric G.E. Zuelow (1/25/98) AUTHOR'S NOTE: An edited version of this paper was delivered at the Third Annual Conference of the Upper Great Lakes Consortium for European Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, February 20, 1998. The version published here contains further background information and slightly more detail on the rhetoric used by the 'Watch Groups'. No changes have been made to the argument presented.

Over the past year in Scotland, anti-English vandalism, warning shots, and other forms of intimidation have become increasingly frequent. On 3 December 1997, the British government moved to stop this tide of violence by announcing a new Crime and Disorder Bill which would make anti-English activity illegal in Scotland. While there had been a certain amount of anti-English feeling dating as far back as the thirteenth century, it had always been directed at the ruling elite as opposed to the English people generally. It was in the fall of 1993 that anti-English "ethnic-nationalism" materialized in Scotland for the first time with the appearance of a small radical nationalist group called Scottish Watch following the 1992 general election. While the appearance of this and another quasi-organization known as "Settler Watch" produced a media storm and caused many Scottish intellectuals to ask for a clearer collective understanding of "Scottishness" to my knowledge nobody has attempted to place the "Watch Groups" in a broader understanding of Scottish nationalism. There has been no attempt to explain the development of these groups. I will argue that the Watch Groups are the product of the evolution of modern Scottish nationalism and the influx of an increasing number of English "white settlers" into Scottish villages. This argument will be divided into three parts. First, the case will be made for viewing the evolution of Scottish nationalism in three distinct phases. Second, the problems evolving from relatively large-scale urban-rural migration will be discussed. Finally, these two separate discussions will be drawn together to explain the appearance of ethnic nationalism in Scotland. The Three Phases of Scottish National Development Three assumptions have traditionally been made regarding the
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development of Scottish nationalism. The first is that nationalism is necessarily seperatist, that nations always seek to be coterminous with states. While there should be little doubt that nations frequently do strive to have their own state boundaries, this is not always the case. It is far more productive to realize that national leaders will take the nation in the direction viewed as being in the nation's "best interest" they are, to a greater or lesser degree, rational actors. The second assumption is that nationalism existed in Scotland during the Wars of Independence between 1296 and 1328. Over the past 30 years, Scottish medievalists have largely proven this to be incorrect. Already having made the first two assumptions, one is left trying to explain how supposidly nationalist Scots voluntarily signed away their independence in 1707. To solve this paradox, commentators have traditionally made a third assumption: Scottish nationalism disappeared at the beginning of the eighteenth century only to reemerge in the 1920s in the form of the Scottish National Party. While I cannot expand on this further for lack of space, this "here today, gone tomorrow" understanding of Scottish national identity is wholing inadequate. Further, it cannot explain the issue at hand - what caused the development of an ethnic breed of nationalism after no such form had existed in the previous 800 years of Scottish history and why now? To answer these questions, one should view the evolution of Scottish nationalism has having occured in three phases. The first began in the late eighteenth century and culminated in 1820 with George IV's visit to Scotland and the royal party thrown for him by Sir Walter Scott. While Scotland continued to suffer economically in the wake of the 1707 Treaty of Union, by the beginning of the nineteenth century, Scotland was rapidly becoming an economic cornerstone of the British Empire. The realization that Scotland was benefiting from Union was not lost on the country's economic and political elite and a Whiggish view of history which painted Union as the evolutionary zenith quickly developed. At the same time, changing perceptions of aesthetics, an aggressive road building campaign following the Jacobite up-rising of 1745 and the need to integrate Highlanders displaced by "the Clearances" made a reconstruction of the Scottish Highlands necessary. Where once had stood brutal, slavish savages, a process of "improvement and romance" left a noble, strong and almost Rousseauian "natural man." These twin developments made it possible for the Scottish elites to enshrine the Union while adopting Highland imagery to create an image of "difference" from England. While a part of the Union, Scotland was unique and so deserved special privilages and demographically disproportiate power. Scottish cultural nationalism was born.

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As long as Scotland benefitted from Union, "phase I" nationalism remained hugely successful. With the coming of the twentieth century, however, Scotland began an economic tailspin. Scottish industry failed to modernize and rapidly Scotland could not compete with products from Asia and the United States. Though the First World War temporaily stemmed the malaise, war's end left Scotland spinning relentless toward economic dispair. With the benefits of Union removed, British leadership was made the scapegoat by a small number of Scottish students and intellectuals. Phase II, or ressentiment, nationalism was the result. Initially, the Scottish National Party attained little support. This was primarily the result of widespread incompetance within Nationalist circles. At few points in the Party's history have they had more than a handfull of individuals who were capable of attaining popular support or leading a party which, at best, could serve as opposition. Even so, continued decline led to SNP success in the 1967 Hamilton bi-election and subsequent successes in the 1970s, late 1980s and the 1990s. Unfortunately for the Scottish nationalists, the Scottish National Party has never proved itself to be a potential ruling party. When an organization has, at best, five individuals capable of instilling confidence in the electorate, it is difficult to imagine voting for them. To their credit, the SNP proved capable of steering debate, especially within the Labour Party, but this has not been enough for more extreme nationalists. This was never more clear than after the 1992 General Election where a majority of Scots, according to one opinion poll, wanted outright independence. When the vote actually occured, the status quo remained firmly in place. More extreme nationalists were outraged and began looking for a cause of Scotland's "failure of nerve" - they found it in English "white settlers." Radical-ressentiment (ethnic nationalism) had come to Scotland. The roots of radical-ressentiment During the late 1960s and 1970s, at the same time that the Scottish National Party was demonstrating the electoral draw of ressentiment, increasingly large numbers of English moved north to small Scottish communities. Traditionally, "[a] declining and aging population has been regarded as the classic symptom of economic and social malaise in Northern Scotland..."(Jones, 1982, 5); the influx of English "white settlers" reversed this trend. Between 1951 and 1961, the number of English in Scotland increased by 14,582. Similarly, the next ten year period saw 13,621 English immigrants make the move. After this, the numbers increased markedly with 47,389 English moving into Scotland between 1971 and 1981 and an additional 56,484 entering between 1981 and 1991 (1961, 1971, 1981 & 1991: Census of Scotland). These migrants are predominantly "[d]issafected city
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dwellers" (Forsythe, 1980, 287). The reason for the increase is the surge of ecological-environmental concern in the late 1960's. What seems to have transformed this sympathy into an international counter-urban phenomenon has been the unparalleled expansion of affluence in the 1960's, providing the material conditions for a larger segment of the population to indulge its residential preferences (Jones, 1984, 442). One survey of non-Scot migrant families showed that "an environmentally-motivated retirement population" comprised 25% of the migrants, "an environmentally-motivated, economically active group" comprised 50% and the remaining 25% was comprised of "an employment motivated, economically active group" (Ibid, 439). Contrary to some early assumptions, very few of the incomers are associated with North Sea oil. While the immigrants' "age profile is somewhat younger than Great Britain's population as a whole, and appreciably younger than in the indigenous population of the survey areas" (Jones, 1985, 27), the net result has been to superimpose "a young, fertile, and largely middle class sector onto" the existing communities (Forsythe, 1983, 235). Incomers "invariably explain their move from city to country by asserting the superiority of rural over urban life. Rural life is described as peaceful, quiet, friendly, safe, and natural, in contrast to the noise, dirt, anonymity, danger and pressure of urban life" (Forsythe, 1980, 290). Not surprisingly, the large increase of English people into small rural communities - whose population had been decreasing, aging and had a death rate far exceeding the birth rate - could not go unnoticed; two principal areas of concern arose. The first was economic and centered on the rapid increase in land and house prices. The second included what will be referred to as cultural problems and included problems of social interaction, politics and the disappearance of traditional ways of life. On the economic side, the immigrants have "had a significant effect on boosting land prices to the extent that the local farmers who may have been contemplating expansion have had to shelve their plans as land prices have risen beyond their means" (Dallas, 1990, 3). "In Stormay, Orkney, property was sold by a system of closed bids... Urban migrants were richer than local people, had access to more sources of credit, and obviously expected to pay more for property. As a result, they submitted bids far exceeding those made by islanders, and thus won in competitive sales" (Forsythe, 1980, 293). The net result was that 15 acres which had sold for <>400 in 1972, increased in value to <>12,000 in six years. By 1980, it was on the market again and the market price was said to be <>24,000 (Ibid.).
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One study covering a number of rural areas listed the average resale value of property in 1984 at <>24,602 - by 1991, this had increased to <>47,611 (Twine & Nicholson, 1993, 29). Still, only 9% of the purchasers of resale housing were non-Scots (Ibid). "Three quarters of the purchasers of the dwellings were locals, only in Berwickshire, and in Skye and Lochalsh, did the proportion of local buyers fall below 50%"(Ibid., v). While there was a housing crisis in rural Scotland, Twine and Nicholson, who completed a major study of Scottish housing in 1993, argued that it was due to problems not related to English incomers:
Housing supply...faces particular constraints in rural areas. Land availability is often problematic because of planning constraints and servicing difficulties; building costs are high due to transport costs and site conditions, and sometimes higher than the market value of the completed property; and in most of rural Scotland there is a shortage of supplying agents (notably building companies and housing associations). In consequence, there are in many rural areas acute shortages of both rented properties and dwellings to buy, and these shortages are particularly severe for those on low to moderate incomes (Ibid, 1).

For some, the rising house costs were actually beneficial and "provided an opportunity for some Scottish farmers to leave the industry with some dignity" (Dallas, 1990, 3). Geographer Diana Forsythe points out that "[t]he inflation [was] favorable for Stormay folk who wish[ed] to sell their land and leave the island. But it [was] frustrating for Orcadians wishing to buy a first house or farm of their own" (Forsythe, 1980, 293). The perception was that incomers were raising house prices and forcing locals out and it is perception, far more than fact, which drives politics. The second major concern brought by the incomers was cultural. According to Forsythe: Stormay's incomers are behaving paradoxically: their self-presentation and their behavior are at odds. Having ostensibly moved to the countryside to enjoy the character of rural life, they immediately set about trying to reproduce many aspects of the environment they left behind in the city. Thus, the consequences of their actions are inconsistent with their own expressed goals (Forsythe, 1983, 241). They did this by ignoring the recreation activities that existed and replacing them with cinema clubs, libraries, diving clubs, and so forth:
Few migrants actively take part in the traditional contests and celebrations which continue to be held on the island. As the locally born population ages and declines in size, these events are increasingly difficult for the community to carry on: several traditional events have died out during the seventies because of a lack of participants, despite the overall rise in population ... The incomers are thus instrumental in the replacement of elements

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from an old and distinctive local culture with elements of a newer, much less distinctive general urban culture. In effect, they are helping destroy the rural way of life to which they have tried to escape (Forsythe, 1980, 298-9).

On another level, interaction works differently in a "face to face community." Instead of being confrontational, negotiations are done in a slow, low-key fashion. The incomers often see this as inefficient:
But in perceiving the islanders' slow deliberations as inefficient, the migrants are misunderstanding the nature of social interactions in a small face-to-face community. Coming from the city, they are used to 'single interest relationships'.... In an urban setting, one person may relate to another as a work-mate, a relative, a neighbor, or a fellow committee-member, but the two will rarely share more than one of these relationships at the same time. In Stormay, on the other hand, fellow committee-members are quite likely to be relatives, at least occasional work-mates, and possibly neighbors as well... social interactions between individuals involve maintaining relationships along several dimensions at once. The islanders cautious style of public interaction incorporates the diplomacy necessary to maintain such complicated relationships without causing offense (Forsythe, 1983, 240).

The end result has been conflict. Locals resent the incomers who they see as trying to take over the local institutions and clubs. In 1983, Forsythe predicted "self perpetuating conflicts between incomers and locals..." and that "friction between incomers and local people in Stormay will be especially divisive" (Ibid, 242). She found that "Some Stormay folk have suggested that the appropriate label for the type of change now taking place on the island is not development but colonialism. As one islander said, 'A new way of life is being imposed on Orcadians. It's just like the English in India'" (Ibid., 243) Aside from Forsythe's work, little research has been done on this issue and, as a result, Stormay has had to serve as representative of Scotland as a whole. The labels "incomer" and "local" have developed potent metaphoric value which has fueled the current situation. "In short, the vocabulary of 'locals' and 'incomers' is a complex and deeply embedded metaphor providing the terms through which people express and give meaning to the experiences which constitute their lives" (Jedrej & Nuttall, 1995, 116). These terms create a mythic past (implied by local) and an explanation for the change away from the old ideal. The metaphors "can be appealed to in order to interpret and bring meaning to events and experiences" (Ibid, 117). While large numbers of Irish had entered Scotland as a subordinate class in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and inspired a racial, though not nationalist, backlash, the English were not only on a higher economic level, but were also in control. The Thatcher government enjoyed little popularity in Scotland throughout the

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1980s. Scotland consistently voted Labour, yet repeatedly got a Tory government which exercised policies that couldn't have been less popular. Making the situation worse "[m]odern Conservatism spoke overwhelmingly with a southern English voice" (McCrone, 1992, 173) - the same voice that was cropping up in small rural communities. The mixture of "minority" government (in Scotland), immigration and the "Englishness" of British government combined to increase the feeling that Scotland was an internal colony of England. The "white settler issue" now took on a new dimension:
The use of the expression "white settlers" to describe usurping incomers is also an ironic but pointed self-reference by those who deliberately identify themselves not just as "locals" but particularly as "black natives", all of which is part of the imaging of a Scotland whose traditions and identity are threatened by a colonial relationship to a metropolitan England, or cosmopolitan Britain... (Jedrej & Nuttall, 1995, 118).

The idea of internal colonialism has led to increased dialogue about the "Englishing" of Scotland and includes claims that some of Scotland's "unique" heritage is being destroyed: particularly its languages (Scots and Gaelic) and educational system.
While Gaelic culture receives significant exposure and tends to be foremost in people's minds when thinking of Scottish culture, the Scots language has suffered equally and has been the source of at least as much frustration. One letter writer complained: At school in - - - - - - - we had to learn English and were taught that Doric (local language) was common and improper language. As we all know ridicule is the strongest form of oppression and this is how the Scots are cowed by the English. They believe theirs is the only proper language... The English here in Scotland are like a form of mafia and if we don't like it we have to shut up... (letter #2)

Meanwhile, through the 1980s, an increasingly larger number of English students have made their way to Scotland for university. According to prominante Scottish sociologist David McCrone:
Scots guard jealously what they regard as their heritage, one of the few remaining distinctive institutions which marks them off from their more powerful southern neighbour. Scottish education has tended to attract potent mythology about its content and its social appeal. . . By the 1980's, the issue of the ?englishing" of the Scottish universities had attracted media attention (McCrone, 1990).

Again, many Scots have been frustrated and argue that there is some sort of plot to undermine "Scottishness". Of course, the increased number of English coming to Scottish universities is actually the result of increased numbers of people seeking higher education. More people are going to University than in the days when higher education was the domain of the elites. Scottish universities have a strong
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reputation and it is not surprising that many middle class parents should want to send their children to them.
It would be incorrect to claim that it was English immigration that led to the striking poll results of 1992, but immigration became an issue afterwards. 1992 opinion polls were the result of a growing resentment towards Thatcherite policies. The January Scotsman/ITN poll which showed that 50% of Scottish voters wanted independence caused the Scottish political and media scene...[to go]...briefly berserk. Camera crews poured up from London, constitutional speculation sprawled across the commentary pages; and in the Great Debate at Usher Hall, Alex Salmond wiped the floor with his opponents, and was cheered to the echo of what seemed like an auditorium full of Scots on the brink of what the SNP calls "freedom" (SoS, 16/01/94). Meanwhile, the media "effectively ceased to gauge public opinion.... Constitutional change became fact, if only because everyone thought it must be; not because it was" (Smith, 1994, 18).

When the 1992 General Election results were in, there was a "bitter disappointment for the Scottish National Party" (Butler & Kavanagh, 1992, 341), instead of the predicted constitutional change. The election saw the SNP's support "increased by an average of 7.4%... leaving its share of the total Scottish vote just 0.4% short of the level achieved in February 1974, the first election at which it secured a substantial presence at Westminster. Yet it only held on to three of the seats it won in 1987..." (Ibid., 341-2). This disappointment gave rise, shortly thereafter, to the "Watch groups". While "freedom" had seemed within view, it slipped away and the defeat had to be explained. Rather than looking to tactical failings, or a simple desire by the majority to remain in the Union, more radical Nationalists explained it by referencing the "Englishing" of Scotland and the white settlers. The only "true" anti-English organization, Scottish Watch, argued that:
The rural areas with high English-born populations are Tory and Liberal heartlands into which the Scottish National Party has been making some headway. This is an indication that Scots are resentful of English dominance and marks an increased resistance to English takeover of property and business. It is not surprising that the Conservative Party welcomes English settlement in Scotland. Most settlers vote Tory for it is against their interests to do otherwise. As a foreign ethnic group with the right to vote, they are forming a political barrier to Independence. With the greed and cunning of true colonialists the English know they will be culturally isolated and financially depleted by a return to Scottish self-government. Would an independent Scotland really tolerate the presence of a wealthy and powerful nonnative ethnic-group within its borders? (New Scottish Clearances, 1993, 8-9)

The 1992 Election put into place the final straw of the
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radical-ressentiment house. Freedom would have happened in 1992, but the English settlers had taken it away. Indeed, Scottish Watch began to argue, the English had taken everything away - wealth, homes, culture, Scotland, freedom - everything. It wasn't long before the first moves were made towards forming the hitherto unknown anti-English organizations. Radical-ressentiment had come to Scotland. Settler Watch The first "anti-English group" to gain notoriety in Scotland, Settler Watch, wasn't a "group" at all, nor was it particularly anti-English. Settler Watch was simply a poster campaign invented at some point after the 1992 election by Louis Mair from the Bridge of Don area of Aberdeen. Mair wanted to raise awareness of what he perceived as the declining traditional culture of the North-east. He planned to do this by making posters and sending them to various people with a note asking the recipient to put them up. He claims that "Settler Watch was deliberately misinterpreted.... It was an attempt to show that the problems of the Central Belt and the North-east are quite different" (Aberdeen Independent, June 1994). He expands that he wanted to increase awareness that the North-east's language and culture was being destroyed by "white settlers." (Ibid.) The posters were very simple with the words "Settler Watch" prominently placed at the top, several Pictish symbols, taken from prehistoric standing stones, in the middle, and the name of the town in which the poster was to be placed at the bottom. There were never any "members" of Settler Watch and never a structure of "chieftains"(P&J, 10/12/93) - it was just a poster campaign which was "supposed to be funny" (Cameron interview). As the only "member," Louis Mair never received much press connecting him to his creation, even though he was arrested in August, 1993 - in connection with the Andrew McIntosh terrorism/conspiracy trial - with 800-900 Settler Watch posters in his possession (P&J, 30/3/94). Because there was no group and no clear set of issues being presented [some even believed that the posters advertised a folk-art group (P&J, 5/8/93)], it was up to each individual, and the media, to interpret what was being said. This, in turn, made it easy to paint the group as radical and dangerous. Indeed, Settler Watch would probably not have become the media draw that it was had it not been that one of two people arrested for putting up posters was a German immigrant named Sonja Vathjunker. Vathjunker first arrived in Scotland in 1985 as a student and later immigrated, changing her name to Sonja Cameron at the same time. She earned a Ph.D. in Scottish history from Aberdeen University, in
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the process achieving fluency in Gaelic. Her German birth made stereotyping her as a Nazi and linking Settler Watch with Nazism possible. Yet, for Cameron, white settlers were not racially defined. She says "white settlers are [p]eople who come into Scotland, live in Scotland, who basically make no effort to accept the Scottish culture, the Scottish way of life... and try to run things their own way... Basically people that have no respect of the culture and, therefore, are a danger to the culture... which is in danger anyway" (Cameron interview). Cameron steadfastly denies that, in her mind at least, the posters were anti-English in any way. The Settler Watch incident began when Cameron and a Scot named Lynn Conway were arrested in Banchory (about 10 miles west of Aberdeen) on 2 May 1993. A little over two months later, on 23 July 1993, The Aberdeen Press and Journal ran its first Settler Watch article. Over the subsequent eleven months no fewer than 160 articles/letters appeared in the P&J and no less than 52 in The Scotsman. The public response was noted by one letter, saying that it had "stirred up a hornet's nest. Even ministers in pulpits are finding it worth preaching about..." (P&J, 8/9/93). While there was very little known about the nature of Settler Watch, the Press and Journal assumed the worst and headlined their first article "Sinister anti-English signs appear in North, North East/Settler Watch poster riddle" (MacDonald, 23/7/93). The article painted the group as intelligent and "extremely sinister" creating an air of hysteria. The terms "sinister," "racism," and "xenophobia" continued to be the adjectives of choice throughout the episode. Having set this tone, when Cameron's case finally came to trial on 11 September, Settler Watch was widely viewed as the next most horrible thing next to Nazis and Serbian ethnic cleansers. It fit very nicely that the "Kick English out of Scotland campaign [was] led by a German" (The Sun, 11/9/93). Cameron was included in nearly every article on Settler Watch. Even a rectorial election campaign at Aberdeen University was not immune to her "sinister" influence. The Nationalist candidate, and eventual winner, was Ian Hamilton who had become famous by removing the Stone of Destiny from Westminster in 1950. As a result of the press coverage, Cameron voluntarily resigned her translation job at a Gaelic television station and was suspended from the Scottish National Party. In spite of public fascination with Cameron's German place of birth, the Settler Watch story could not go on forever. Still, it must have been clear to the press that the anti-English story had hit a Scottish nerve.13 The immense press coverage meant that
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radical-ressentiment arguments would automatically get space in every Scottish newspaper - paving the way for Scottish Watch to claim the headlines. The Evil Eye The "real" anti-English group, Scottish Watch, began receiving news coverage as the Settler Watch/Cameron story was breathing its last, yet Scottish Watch had been active throughout the episode. In their coverage, the Scottish press reported that Scottish Watch was "the less extreme of the organizations..."(Scotland on Sunday, 17/10/93). They could not have been more wrong, but Scottish Watch had the advantage of an actual membership which could respond to attacks, refute accusations of racism and attack the "sinister" tactics of Settler Watch. It is much harder to write about a real opponent than an imaginary one. According to the group's treasurer, Iain Sutherland, Scottish Watch was founded in urban Dumfries "as a reaction to the 1992 [general] election" (Sutherland interview). They adopted a manifesto and set of objectives on 9 April 1993 and began a membership drive soon afterwards. Scottish Watch declared themselves a nationalist group because "only nationalism can unite a social or cultural group in the war against imperialism of economic theories and dogma" (New Scottish Clearances, 1993, 2).14 By September 1993, the organization had 120 members (Scotland on Sunday, 19/9/93) and had grown to 250 members by March 1995 (Scotsman, 3/3/95). Scottish Watch was run by an "eleven member executive" with six "area representatives" (P&J, 13/10/93). Scottish Watch outlined the following eight "objects":
1) We adopt the principle of non-violence in all our activities. 2) We believe in the absolute sovereignty of the Scottish people. We will have no part in the Westminster-imposed Party political system. 3) We will assist the Scots in the defense of housing and employment for our people. 4) We will monitor the activities of the British colonialist State in Scotland. 5) We will alert the Scottish people to any dangers to their survival posed by economic or political colonialism. 6) We seek to prevent the destruction of Scottish institutions and to reassert indigenous control over these. 7) We reject any form of racism or ethnic imperialism. We are an anti-colonialist organization. 8) We will resist the continued English settlement of Scotland and the presence of an ethnic elite in positions of power and influence. These are by-products of British Imperialism. (New Scottish Clearances, 15).

The group's definition of "white settler" is clearly defined - white settlers are English. Scottish Watch defines racism differently than others in main-stream politics. For Scottish Watch, racism is not
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something perpetrated by the Scots, it is something suffered by them and others who have had the misfortune to suffer English imperialism. Racism is uniquely English:
Scotland as a nation has 1.2% of its population as non-white. The distribution of its non-white population is uniform with its white population except in the areas with high percentages of English-born peoples. In these English born areas, non-whites are very few in number. This suggests a negative attitude towards racial integration by English-born settlers. Throughout history Scots have been the victims of English racism. In common with other nations subjected to English Colonialism, the Scots have been the victims of war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing and cultural persecution. Many peoples throughout the world have been on the receiving end of English imperialism and racism. We in Scottish Watch recognize as fact the existence of English racism and its vehement direction against Scots, Welsh, Indians, Africans, Asians, and all those subjected and ruled by England. In Scotland a centuries-long holocaust of persecution and evil can be compared with the most barbaric outrages of the Nazis. Historians shy away from such interpretations but Scottish Watch will not hesitate to speak out. We owe it to our own people to redress the situation in a peaceful and civilized manner. Scottish Watch adopts a firm anti-racist stand (Ibid. 14).

The above is symbolic of Scottish Watch's position on all subjects and is classic radical-ressentiment - neither socialist nor capitalist, they are simply anti-English; England and the English are responsible for all that is wrong in Scotland and is the result of a uniquely English desire to suppress others. In an attempt to compare the English to the great twentieth century villains (The Nazis), Sutherland has even called the English immigration into Scotland "The Final Solution to the Scottish Question" (A Different Country). Scottish Watch argues that "The Scots are most likely to be found in decaying urban labor camps - our cities and industrial towns. The English are most likely to be found enjoying the good life in the country - our country. Scotland is divided along ethnic lines - the Scots are getting the leftovers" (Ibid. 6). According to Scottish Watch, "An English incomer from this area [South-east England] will currently be better off by <>64,000 by selling their detached house there and buying the equivalent in Scotland" (Ibid, 7). Yet, they say, this is not the result of the realities of capitalism or similar trends seen the world over; instead it is caused by "an essentially Anglo-Saxon mercantilism" (Ibid., 2) - capitalism! It does not matter what the evil is, Scottish Watch blames it on the English. Indeed, even the claims that Scottish Watch is racist for making its anti-English claims are dismissed as being "political correctness" which "is a by-product of middle-income liberalism" - in turn, a product of the English state (Ibid.). There can be no clearer example of radical-ressentiment.
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The majority of their activities have been in the form of regional meetings, in which they frantically wave their hands to help get across their point (as demonstrated in A Different Country), and leafletting. They have threatened "civil disobedience," warning that they "may storm regional and district council chambers and disrupt committee meetings in a bid to replace authorities" English employees with Scots" (P&J, 18/10/93). In spite of one newspaper's claim to the contrary, I find no evidence that Scottish Watch carried out their threats. For the first time, ethnic nationalism has entered Scotland, though it must be emphasized that membership of Scottish Watch is not even as large as that enjoyed by the SNP in its most disorganized early days. Simply put, conditions in Scotland aren't yet bad enough that a majority will turn to radical-ressentiment. The amount of coverage received is unwarranted and probably counterproductive. Rather than deterring ethnic nationalism, press coverage actually encourages more. One visible example were actions taken by the Scottish National Liberation Army in 1993 - a small group of extremists who have been involved in terrorist actions since the late 1970s. Until 1993, the SNLA had justified its activities by using the SNP's arguements, but tactics deplored by the mainstream nationalists. After the "success" of the Watch groups, however, the SNLA began a campaign called "Flame" which involved bomb threats and the mailing of fake letter bombs to estate agents and government offices which helped immigrants find/buy homes in Scotland. The press coverage had, in effect, made radical-ressentiment the most successful means of getting press in Scotland - what fringe nationalist could resist? In 1995 at the Perth and Kinross bi-election, Scottish Watch opted to support the SNP candidate, Rossanna Cunningham QC. Afraid of being associated with anti-English nationalism, Cunningham filed a restraining order against the the group to prevent further any Scottish Watch activities during the campaign. Scottish Watch largely disappeared after this. Since that time, anti-Englishness has far from disappeared, however. In fact, in recent months, anti-English leafletting has reappeared, this time in Perthshire, suggesting that a new radical-ressentiment organization may be opperating in the area. Though it would be wholey incorrect to claim that radical-ressentiment ideas are held by more than a tiny minority, ethnic-nationalism will not likely disappear from Scotland any time soon. This paper has attempted to show how the larger development of nationalism in Scotland created an environment ripe for the

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The Nationalism Project: Scottish Ethnic Nationalism by Eric G.E. Zuelow

appearence of groups like Scottish Watch. It has been argued that with the failure of cultural or ressentiment nationalisms to assuage the problems of the last years of the Twentieth century, ethnic nationalism is a logical, if frightening, replacement.

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Copyright Eric G.E. Zuelow

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Published by The Nationalism Project, Madison, WI. 1999.

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