Letter: Rebellious Scots

So our legendary hero, William Wallace, was a traitor, according to Michael N Crosby's letter (18 June). The repatriation letter should therefore remain in the British Museum, he says.

Robert the Bruce must have been a traitor too because he took up from where Wallace had been forcibly quit. Where does this kind of analysis end? Wallace is one of Scotland's main heroes. Maybe Michael N Crosby has overlooked this. The treason designation was imposed by Edward I of England whose self-acclaimed lordship of Scotland was the very issue Wallace was contesting, and which Bruce ultimately dispelled. Maybe the Battle of Bannockburn was a rebellion by insurgents? Maybe those who opposed Nazi rule in countries occupied by them between 1940-45 were perpetrating treason also?

Such judgments derive from where one chooses to position oneself. In denying the repatriation letters their placement in Scotland on the basis that Wallace was executed for treason is to legitimise Edward I's lordship over Scotland, and to ultimately delegitimise the independence of Scotland as effected by Bruce.

Surely Mr Crosby didn't have this in mind when he composed his letter?

IAN JOHNSTONE

Forman Drive

Peterhead