In a letter to The Herald last week, a correspondent remarked on the ’unprincipled, illiberal and undemocratic’ stance of Jo Swinson and Willie Rennie—the heirs, however unlikely it may seem, to the party Don Roberto once, albeit briefly, called his … Continue reading
A matter of integrity
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In the course of a long career my father sat in both the Court of Session, as a Senator of the College of Justice, and in the House of Lords, as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. Had he been … Continue reading
Keeping faith
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I don’t feel the need to invoke Don Roberto in every post I write here, but it’s hard in this case to overlook his wry observation that he would rather see his taxes wasted in Edinburgh than London. August is … Continue reading
A mere appendage
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“Wherever I look, north, south, east or west, there is something that appeals to me as a Scotsman, there is something to stir one’s heart, something to make one feel that we are representatives of a distinct nationality—a nationality severed … Continue reading
Bad nationalism
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What on earth would Don Roberto be making of Johnson (I take my cue from the commentator who advises against prefixing the B-word on the grounds that it serves to reinforce the brand)? What would he make of the pseudo-Churchillian … Continue reading
Man or myth?
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Mythical figures are necessary to society, but they can be problematical when they are members of your own family. Often described as being mythogenic, Don Roberto is one such figure. He was someone about whose exploits stories were, and continue … Continue reading
A gleam of rubies
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On 23 June 1928, a large crowd gathered in King’s Park, Stirling to support the inauguration of the National Party of Scotland, one of the predecessors of the Scottish National Party. The date, by no coincidence, marked the anniversary of … Continue reading
Getting to know him
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As the YES campaign gathered momentum, I became aware of a presence, a figure who had been biding his time in the shadows, patiently waiting for me to notice him … I grew up in a resolutely Tory household at … Continue reading
