Labour again on the wrong side of history

I often wonder what became of Wullie Melrose. Affectionately known as Melly by his friends (and Smelly by his enemies), he was an early version of Bear Grylls. If feeling peckish, he would nibble strangely coloured plants, his vegetarian snack washed down by sooking water from puddles.

One day, he and I were in the rhubarb fields of Robroyston and, as was his wont, he gorged on several stalks of unripened rhubarb. Half an hour later, we chanced upon a dilapidated monument to some loser called William Wallace. To us, he was an unknown warrior. From our History lessons, we knew Richard the Lionheart had given Moslem squatters a bit of a kicking in the Holy Land and we could recite the names of most Tudor and Plantagenet monarchs. But this mysterious Wallace character appeared to be Scottish and, as such, did not merit a mention in the history curriculum of our school.

As I read the inscription, Melly suddenly darted behind a large tree and screamed as the purging effect of chomping on unwashed rhubarb rapidly drained his digestive system. Being a good pal, I tossed some dock leaves in his direction to assist the clean-up operation.

Thanks to Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, the Wallace Monument has been refurbished. Historians believe it is the spot where Wallace was betrayed and carted off to London for execution. In any other land, this site would have been preserved for visitors to imagine the freedom fighter lying in the long grass, seeking to evade capture. Instead, due to the scale of the Wimpey housing surrounding the memorial, a tourist could be forgiven for thinking Wallace was caught hiding in the insulated loft of a three-bed semi.

Recently, I embarked on a pilgrimage to Kirkpatrick Fleming, home to Robert the Bruce’s cave. One does not need a satnav to find this historical location as it is conveniently nestled in the King Robert the Bruce’s Cave Caravan and Camping site (I’m not making this up). Walking down the steep slope and standing by the cave entrance, I felt the hand of history on my shoulder. Unfortunately, it was the hand of the park warden demanding the 80p admission fee.

Last week, MSP Alasdair Allan, the minister for Learning and Skills, announced that a new subject, Scottish Studies, would be introduced into schools. The syllabus will cover the history, language, culture and literature of Scotland. Although recent research has found that 90 per cent of the public welcome this, the Labour Party accused the SNP government of politicising education and promoting nationalism. Sadly, once more, the Labour party finds itself on the wrong side of history.

I’m speculating here, but Scotland must be the only country in the world where teaching children the history of their own nation is perceived to be treason. The idea that introducing Scottish Studies to the national curriculum is brainwashing our children is farcical beyond belief. By this flawed logic, allowing biology students to dissect creatures increases the likelihood of turning them into limbs-in-the-loch killers.

Largely unnoticed by the Labour party, Scotland has matured and its citizens now demand to be treated like grown-ups. Okay, this is a subjective call but I believe the lieges can handle reading books written by James Hogg without running off and buying “Vote Alex Salmond” bumper stickers. I know this is true because, in 1968, despite reading The Flight of the Heron (the first of D. K. Broster’s Jacobite Trilogy) and avidly watching the mini-series of the same name, this voting virgin voted Labour in the October 1974 general election – may the Lord forgive me, my vote even helped elect Tony Blair in 1997!

Scottish Labour can take some comfort that there will be pockets of resistance in the teaching profession to the minister’s initiative. In the 1990s, when I was a history teacher in a Glasgow school, I advocated introducing the Scottish Wars of Independence into the S1 history course. A colleague who was a Labour councillor in Airdrie dismissed this idea as parochial. In my view, those who would deny the history and culture of Scotland disgrace themselves.