It’s Burns night*, hence the haggis (right). In Comment is free, Iain MacWhirter hails our fine national dish, but delivers a damning verdict on Robert Burns’ credentials to also be a Scottish national icon.

Burns, thinks MacWhirter, was too ambivalent about Scotland and Scottishness. He’s not a fan of the poetry. And he leaves the cruellest cut to the end: “If he were alive today, he’d probably vote Liberal Democrat”.

Ouch.

But I think the failings MacWhirter highlights make him a perfect icon; being an “anglicised lowlander” puts him in the same category as most Scots today - Scottish enough to be conflicted, saddled with the shortbread and tartan stereotype but still regarded as a bit plastic by the highlanders. He loved drink and womansing, and after death was an influence on liberalism and socialism, four subjects of some interest to m’countrymen, I understand. As a legacy, it’s not bad at all.

Meanwhile, “See oorselves as ithers see us” might have helped fuel “that numbing self-consciousness and personal insecurity that afflicts so many Scots today”, but it was a fire that was burning - still burns - pretty brightly without any lines of poetry to add to the flames. There’s an interesting thesis in finding out who dropped the Bryant and May’s on that kindling.

So, really, here’s to Rabbie Burns, the entirely fitting national icon of Scotland. Who’s like him? Damn few, and they’re aw deid too.

* I celebrated in traditional style, with a slightly burnt deep pan spicy beef frozen pizza and an Arran blonde.

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