Scottish nationalists need to get over an “immature” view of history and acknowledge their part in building the British Empire, a leading historian has said.
Dr John Young, an expert in Scottish and Irish history, said that there had been a failure by some to confront the fact that Scotland was a willing participant in the UK’s conquest and colonisation of parts of the globe from the 17th century onwards.
Speaking to Herald Writer at Large Neil Mackay, Dr Young said that he expected to be called a traitor for raising the issue, but argued that aspects of Scotland’s history are being airbrushed away in favour of more romantic narratives.
Read the full story here: How Scots were foot soldiers in England's colonisation of Ireland
He is particularly concerned about general ignorance of period in the 17th Century dubbed the “Ulster Plantation”, which saw tens of thousands of Scots sent to Ireland to colonise the north at the behest of King James I.
Dr Young said: “The interaction between England, Scotland and Ireland is complex. England has always been dominant historically, and Ireland’s quite clearly been on the receiving end. In many respects, Scotland has been a willing participant.”
Dr John Young
The Plantation would establish a Protestant minority on the island, setting off the sequence of events which led to the sectarian conflict of the 20th century.
However, Dr Young said that Scotland’s part in the forced colonisation of Ulster is being ignored despite its importance to the country’s history, with historians preferring to highlight the more “romantic” story of the Jacobite rebellions.
He said there was “an unhealthy obsession in Scotland with the Jacobites ... It seems tied up with modern preconceptions of Scottish nationalism”.
READ MORE: How Scots were foot soldiers in England's colonisation of Ireland
Dr Young added: “It’s just history, but someone out there living in a backroom in Forfar in a kilt is going to say ‘that’s not true, you’re a traitor’.
"To fully understand modern day Scotland and how it developed, we need to understand the Ulster connection.”
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