Latest Breaking News
In reply to the discussion: Shock new poll says Scots set to vote yes to independence [View all]Adrahil
(13,340 posts)Wallace had a LOT more in common with the English aristocracy than he did with the Scottish peasantry. His name was WILLIAM, a Norman name at the time, and his primary language would have been French. He MAY have known Scots Gaelic, but likely d\id not speak it regularly. He would have dressed the same as the English noblity, and and he CERTAINLY never wore a kilt.
In same vein, Robert the Bruce was fighting not for "Freedom," but the right to oppress the Scottish peasantry directly, instead of having to share a piece with the English crown.
Let's not get too romantic here.
For sure Scotland has been been mistreated by England over the years. But England and Scotland are very, VERY integrated at this point, and I expect that the IDEA of independence will turn out to be much more attractive than the reality. Frankly North Sea oil revenues have been falling for a long time now, and they will never be what they once were. Scotland will be a poor country, with most of its intellectual talent heading south.