23/05/02 - The Herald

What it means to be a Scot

Frances Horsburgh, Scottish Political Writer

A search for sayings that sum up Scotland was launched yesterday. Officials at the Scottish Parliament want its new home at Holyrood to be decorated with phrases, poetry, and song.

The quotations will be displayed on hoardings surrounding the site of the new building, replacing pictures drawn by Scottish schoolchildren that currently decorate the boards.

The parliament marked the launch of the Voices of Scotland competition at the Holyrood site when MSPs Jamie Stone and Michael Russell joined the other judges, Margaret Bennet, the writer and Gaelic singer and Douglas Dunn professor of English literature at St Andrews University.

Fifty-five local papers covering all 73 Scottish parliamentary constituencies are taking part in the competition from the Galloway News and the Borders Telegraph to the John O'Groats Journal and the Orcadian.

Their readers will be asked to contribute the phrase, song or poem which they believe best represents what Scotland and being a Scot means to them. A panel will choose 20 quotations to go forward from each constituency, and the Voices of Scotland group will then select around 10 from each area.

After the competition ends on June 30, the quotations will be displayed on the hoardings in August. Jamie Stone, the Liberal Democrat member of the progress group, said yesterday some could be incorporated into the fabric and design of the building.
It was important to remind ourselves that it was a parliament for everyone, sited in Edinburgh but "facing all of Scotland," said Mr Stone. The search for winning quotes was not confined to those for whom English was their first or only language, he emphasised.

"What you feel about Scotland is just as important whether you speak Gaelic or Urdu or Chinese or Swahili," said Mr Stone, who represents Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

"And most emphatically it is not just an exercise for high minded academics wither. A few lines from your favourite song or even a famous football result are just as relevant as any poem or prose from ancient writer or scholar."