Fleming, Wallace, Bruce... but Burns is the man for a' that

Published on Sunday 8 January 2006 00:35

AS WARRIORS, explorers and inventors, Scots have made their name across the globe over the centuries, achieving greatness (or depravity) at home and abroad for their accomplishments.

But from a litany of hopefuls, it is a humble wordsmith - Robert Burns - who has been judged the greatest-ever Scot in an exclusive poll of academics and historians, published today by Scotland on Sunday.

The Ayrshire poet narrowly edged out the scientist Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, as having the greatest significance in his homeland.

Philosophers, scientists and a missionary also feature prominently in the vote to identify the Greatest Scots. An online poll from today gives Scotland on Sunday readers the chance to choose which of the top 10 - or, indeed, any other historical Scottish figure - the nation most admires.

Burns received a total of eight nominations from the 14 leading historians and academics who comprised our selection panel, edging out Fleming by just one vote.

Professor Richard Finlay, director of the Research Centre in Scottish History at the University of Strathclyde, said: "Burns' humanity has ensured he is revered not only in his own country but throughout the world. There are more statues to Burns in North America than any other writer. His sentiments still have an important resonance to this day as witnessed by the singing of 'A Man's a Man' at the opening of the Scottish Parliament."

Professor Allan Macinnes of Aberdeen University added: "Burns is our national poet but he epitomises the best of Scotland's internationalist tradition. People sang 'Auld Lang Syne' across the world last week; they sang Burns."

The warriors whose battles led to Scottish independence, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, each received six votes.

Professor Tom Devine, holder of the Sir William Fraser Chair of Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh, who included Wallace, Bruce and Burns among his Greatest Scots selections, said: "Burns has continuing relevance because of his belief in democracy and equality. He is a man whose beliefs allowed him to be simultaneously admired in Soviet Russia and America, the centre of the Western World. He also epitomises Scotland, particularly in his humour and egalitarian spirit."

James VI (of Scotland) and I (of England), Mary Queen of Scots' only son, received the backing of six panellists.

Although fighters feature prominently among the 10 Greatest Scots list, thinkers and writers are also strongly represented.

Devine, the author of the critically acclaimed book The Scottish Nation, said: "To a great extent the 10 names are dominated by men of the mind. My only disappointment is that the physicist James Clerk Maxwell did not make the final cut. Einstein himself admitted that Clerk Maxwell's theories were a major factor in his thinking. Alexander Fleming was really an experimental scientist when compared to Clerk Maxwell."

Adam Smith, the economist praised as the father of capitalism for his Wealth of Nations, and David Livingstone, the Lanarkshire-born missionary and explorer, also managed to secure six votes from the judges panel.

Christopher Smout, emeritus professor of history at the University of St Andrews, who chose Smith as his Greatest Scot, said: "Smith founded modern economics as we know it and, to some extent, modern psychology, with The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations. Like many of the 10 selected, he did something for the world, not just Scotland."

David Hume came close behind Adam Smith, his contemporary in the Scottish Enlightenment, with five votes. Sir Walter Scott, the author and poet, and another pivotal figure in the Enlightenment, received four nominations. Andrew Carnegie, the Dunfermline son of a weaver who made his fortune in America and became a leading philanthropist, also received four votes.

The top 10 edged out other contenders including the Protestant reformer John Knox and Keir Hardie, founder of the Independent Labour Party. Most notably, no woman secured enough votes to make it on to the 10-strong shortlist.

The few women who were nominated included Flora MacDonald - who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie flee to France after defeat at the Battle of Culloden, in 1746 - who received two nominations, and Elsie Inglis, who defied the War Office to establish emergency hospitals in Serbia and Russia during the First World War.

Dr Lizanne Henderson, a lecturer in history at the University of Glasgow, said: "It is disappointing, but not at all surprising that no woman made the final shortlist. We have been conditioned to think that great people means great men. We don't regard women with the same awe."

But it is the dominance of men over the centuries that has denied women a top placing, according to Professor Ted Cowan, of Glasgow University.

He said: "It's terrible really. We have lived for centuries in a patriarchal society where far more attention is given to men than women. The fact that women have taken, and continue to take, their husband's name shows we don't regard them as important as the men, nor look hard enough for the great women in our past."

WHO'S YOUR HERO?

Alternatives you might want to consider are icons who just missed out on the panel’s final 10. These included John Knox, the Protestant reformer (nominated by three panellists), St Columba (3) and Celtic legend Jock Stein (2). Or you could correct the gender imbalance by voting for a woman, such as Flora MacDonald, who took Bonnie Prince Charlie to Skye (2), or doctor and health reformer Elsie Inglis.

VOTE FOR YOUR CHOICE

If you agree with our historians, then use the voting panel to choose your top Scottish hero. If not, then send your favourite from our list of alternatives, or any great Scot from history of your choice to [e-mail]

Three lucky readers who take part in our vote, whether by clicking on the Panel's Top 10 or by e-mail to make their own nomination, will win a set of books by the historian James Hunter, courtesy of Mainstream Publishing (www.mainstreampublishing.com).

Last of the Free: A Millennial History of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (paperback)

Cost: 9.99

Scottish Highlanders: A People and their Place (hardback)

Cost: 14.99

Culloden and the Last Clansman (hardback)

Cost: 14.99

Scottish Exodus - Travels Among a Worldwide Clan (hardback)

Cost: 16.99

• Scotland on Sunday's panel was: Professor Tom Devine, Sir William Fraser chair of Scottish History, University of Edinburgh; Prof Richard Finlay, director of the Research Centre in Scottish History, University of Strathclyde; Rab Houston, professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews and editor of The History of Scotland (2005); Dr John Young, senior lecturer in Scottish History, University of Strathclyde; Professor Christopher Whatley, University of Dundee; Professor James Hunter, director of the UHI (University of the Highlands and Islands) Centre for History; Prof Christopher Smout, University of St Andrews; Prof Allan Macinnes, University of Aberdeen; Dr Lizanne Henderson, lecturer in History, University of Glasgow; Michael Fry, author of Wild Scots: 400 Years of Highland History; Prof Ted Cowan, University of Glasgow; Dr Ewen Cameron, senior lecturer in Scottish History, University of Edinburgh; Dr Jenny Wormald, editor of Scotland: A History; Dr Julian Goodacre, senior lecturer in Scottish History, University of Edinburgh