I WONDER how many of the people who are accusing Alex Salmond of a Nazi slur actually knew, before someone told them, that "Gauleiter" had Third Reich connotations ("Calls for Alex Salmond to say sorry for 'Nazi' slight", the Herald, February 6)?

I didn't know the origin of the word and, quite possibly, the First Minister didn't either.

It seems now that, since Jeremy Paxman's arrogant comparison of our First Minister with the Zimbabwean president, Unionists at last have a stick with which to beat Alex Salmond. The premise now is that he is a ruthless dictator. That this is patently untrue fazes them not a bit.

As to the notion that Shakespeare could be banned in an independent Scotland, no-one who supports independence has suggested such a thing ("Tragedy for Shakespeare, come independence day?", The Herald, February 6). We are Scottish, not Irish, and this is 2012, not 1922.

I would, however, in passing, remark that heavily-criticised anthems like Scots Wha Hae and Flower of Scotland are no more narrowly nationalistic than the marvellous speech from Henry V about the Feast of Crispin. So let's remember Agincourt and have Henry V with all the rest of Shakespeare's wonderful prose and poetry, but let's not forget Burns, Roy Williamson and Bannockburn.

David C Purdie,

12 Mayburn Vale,

Loanhead.