Lowland Scots plunged into panic by marauding ostrich family Residents of Ayrshire are living in fear of a marauding family of ostriches that have mysteriously appeared in the usually quiet Scots region. The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals issued an alarming bulletin today, warning residents of the home county of both Biffy Clyro and Nicola Sturgeon that at …
Pretty sure your average up-his-own-arse Londoner doesn't even know enough about the Shetlands or Orkney to generalise them that specifically(!).
Scotland = Glasgow except the bits that are the Highlands, and they probably can't even tell which bits belong to which, so it's a tossup which stereotype they'll haul out.
Edinburgh might enter into things as a tourist spot they visited once, but more likely they know it as the place they venture up to for a couple of weeks in August to watch other English people putting on one-man plays watched by an audience of twice that size (#), then forget about for another year.
Seriously, "lowland Scots"? That's pretty redundant; most Scots live in the lowlands.
Ever notice how the jokey stereotypes get hauled out whenever it's a story about Scotland? I'm not going to claim this is racist, so much as a usefully-informative indication of how London and Little England think of Scotland (when they do at all, which let's be honest, isn't often). However, *if* a Scottish news source was to do the same thing- i.e. haul out a lazy English stereotype purely because it happened to be a story from England, you can bet the whining would be endless about alleged racism- not just from the English themselves, but from other Scots.
Ever notice how the jokey stereotypes get hauled out whenever it's a story about Scotland?
If you are going to write about stereotypes being so bad.
You should remember how you started your missive.
Pretty sure your average up-his-own-arse Londoner doesn't even know enough about the Shetlands or Orkney
When you've finished putting words in my mouth, I'll point out that if you'd actually paid attention, it wasn't an anti-stereotype rant. (Nothing wrong with the occasional bit of fun with stereotyping). Rather, it was one complaining about how in a story that *happens* to have taken place in Scotland, that *in itself* is cause for humour.
As I said, if a Scottish paper regularly hauled out Apples-and-Pairs parodying and daaarn saaaarf mock-EastEnders accents for similar reasons, I'm sure some people *would* complain.
But since we're here, you're wrong that the "Londoner-up-his-own-arse" was a stereotype on the same level. (That would be more like parodying the typical Londoner as being a cockney from a Charles Dickens novel dressed like a Pearly Queen or King. In a news item that had nothing to do with that beyond the fact it took place in London.)
In fact, it wasn't a hauled-out-of-storage stereotype at all, but based on the *experience* that anyone who actually pays attention to London, its media and the people who work there for any length of time (who isn't ensconced in the same "metropolitan" (#) bubble) can see the mentality at work, that it's utterly focused on itself.
Then again, why would it *need* to look outwards? London's viewpoint and culture is the default of the United Kingdom. Listen to Radio 4 for any length of time, and you'll realise that not only does it disproportionately focus on Middle England (i.e. the English South East surrounding London), but even when it *does* cover other parts of the United Kingdom, the story is always implicitly filtered through that perspective. It knows who it is, it knows who it's playing to.
Few other countries- except possibly Japan- have such an excessively dominant capital, not just in financial terms, but also in cultural ones.
Observing this isn't stereotyping in the same way that half-arsed ignorance from someone whose knowledge of Scotland was gained from a shortbread tin and Harry Lauder imagery is.
(#) "Metropolitan", despite being a nominally generic term, always implicitly referring to London. (And not cities in the f*****g regions and provinces outwith the centre of the universe, obviously.) This in itself rather proves the point.
Being an ex Londoner but a native of that area and therefore knowing many other Londoners, then I can say that basing it on the "experience" of what? paying attention to London and news about it? Failing to realise that a city with a population 8 million might show some individuatlity and are not all totally focused on London is absolutely a stereotype, if you get your impression from this perception, why then I would argue that it's almost like looking at Scotland and basing your perception on Begbie, Irn Bru and a Highland Shortbread tin.
Basically it's still half arsed ignorance, if you are going to complain about it, don't liberally apply it at the same time.
@Triggerfish; Again, please read what I actually wrote. Specifically, that I said the "average" Londonder and not "every single Londonder is like this without exception".
Your comparison shares basically the same flaw as the one comparing stereotypes did. Specifically, no, what I based my information on wasn't analogous to your "looking at Scotland and basing your perception on Begbie, Irn Bru and a Highland Shortbread tin."
*That* would be more like me basing my perception of London on Mary Poppins, Pimms and a Tower of London souvenir keyfob.
A better analogy would be if you paid attention to the Scottish media and point of view day in, day out (if only because that was the one that was given to you as the "UK" viewpoint), and if you paid attention to politics in Scotland if only because what happened in Scotland dominated how the United Kingdom was run.
Imagine if Radio 4 was moved to Scotland and started reflecting the viewpoint and audience there as much as the current, supposedly UK-wide station reflects the values and viewpoint of Middle England. The indignant screeching from the home counties (#) would never end! :-O
In other words, no, it's absolutely nothing like what you said. You can keep on hauling out the counter-accusations and bogus comparisons to imply that I'm relying purely on stereotypes as much as the people I'm attacking, but that doesn't make it so.
(#) Again... now I write it, "home counties". The counties surrounding London- even the name reinforces the London establishment's viewpoint as being the centre of the universe.
> Scotland = Glasgow except the bits that are the Highlands, and they probably can't even tell which bits belong to which, so it's a tossup which stereotype they'll haul out.
Get tae fuwk. Glescae huz grey grund. The Hielands huz green grund. Nae borra, pal ...
(Apologies to the Big Yin)
@CrazyOldCatMan; Runrig come from Skye- an island just off the coast of the Northwest Highlands- and are strongly associated with the culture of that area, including their use of Scottish Gaelic (which has always been much stronger in the Highland northwest than in the (lowland) Central Belt). In this context and that of the song- which appears to be observing the nature and difference of the more Anglicised Scots living in lowland areas- it makes perfect sense.
In the context of The Register article, it doesn't add anything unless you think a Scot living in the lowlands is significant!
I'm a bit fed up with the ignorant suggestion that all of the South is London.
Many of the complaints mentioned from a Scottish point of view could just as easily come from the mouths of those in large areas of Kent or Sussex and certainly from Hampshire, Dorset and points west.
"I'm a bit fed up with the ignorant suggestion that all of the South is London."
Personally, I'd always differentiated "The" South West (or rather, the South West of England) and "The" South East- and I'd never claim that the latter was London; Cornwall in particular I know to be quite distant culturally and politically.
However, the South East? I've never viewed it as being synonymous with London, but it's definitely within its event horizon and affected by it. It clearly shares many similar cultural and political values, in a way that Scotland doesn't. While it might feel that way to someone who lives there, don't tell me that someone in Tunbridge Wells has as little in common with London and the English establishment as someone in Scotland does.
"don't tell me that someone in Tunbridge Wells has as little in common with London and the English establishment as someone in Scotland does."
I worked near Tunbridge Wells some years ago and I'd say that a lot of people there have about as much in common with "the English establishment" as people I met while working around Glasgow. Obviously there are many more commuter towns feeding London in the south east than in Scotland but a lot of people don't fall into that category.
Tunbridge Wells has a certain, not entirely unwarranted, stereo-type associated with it but the outlying rural areas aren't like that, in my experience. It's also a small part of a large area.
I also came across people living in areas like Kyle of Lochalsh who had little in common with the "Scotish establishment" and little in common with either Glasgow or Edinburgh.
Once you come even 30 miles away from London you're often in another world in terms of culture and feeling at one with "the establishment". Perhaps the fact that Londoners voting in the EU referendum was different to those counties which surround it is an indication of that.
Even within London, Lewisham is not Muswell Hill.
I'm not a Londoner and I do find it irritating that sometimes the world seems to revolve around London, perhaps made worse by a lot of MPs forgetting that they've been sent there to represent us and not to join the establishment.
I also enjoyed visiting and working in Scotland and recognise that there is a unique culture there but perhaps not so much more so than some other areas of the UK. I'd also remind you that there isn't just one Scottish culture and that large cities have a habit of overwhelming the cultures around them and Glasgow and Edinburgh are no exception.
With respect, yes, I do know that Scottish culture isn't a single, homogeneous entity and I'm not sure where you got the impression I was claiming otherwise...? (#) Matter of fact, one of my gripes is the reduction of Scotland to a simplified stereotype of one area or culture, i.e. every Scot is a Glaswegian, or a Highlander, or a mixture of both if you're lucky.
That said, your comment was still interesting.
Since you mentioned it, I didn't grow up in Glasgow or Edinburgh and- again- have frequently noticed that they (particularly the former) are too often taken to represent Scottish culture as a whole. I had already come to similar conclusions as yourself- that while I like Glasgow in many respects, its dominance nonetheless showed that even within Scotland we weren't immune from metropolitan bias.
(#) Unless you misinterpreted my distillation of the English stereotype of Scotland above (i.e. it's either Glasgow or the Brigadoon Highlands) as representing *my* actual view.....? I hope not!
Well, my fellow AC, I was replying to your points mostly but I was also trying to make some points which I feel are often missed during discussion on this subject.
I hope you don't mind :-)
Everything these days seems to need to be black and white for media consumption, something which, it seems to me, has come across from our American cousins. We must hate or love things, there's nothing in-between and so there's "the" Scottish view and "the" English view.
I would say just because somewhere is South does not mean the people from there are London centric, in the same way I would not expect someone from Hawick to be Edinburgh centric. In fact go somewhere like a small town countryside Essex and the attitude about a lot of things, will probably be closer to a small country town like Hawick than London.
Don't forget some places like Kent during the miners strike, they also had collieries, plenty of miners from North came down to support their strikes and vice viersa. I'd say those places might have a more shared history with somewhere like Settle in Yorkshire than the London banking elite.
What if one, or both, of the combatants were on fire? Would that change the results?
Patna is about 47miles from the centre of Glasgow so, from darn sarth, almost the same place. The usual media response, sadly lacking this time, to such unfortunate / unforseen / unusual events is to invoke the SNPBaaad meme - el-reg really will have to try better,
Apologies to those who find more important or interesting things to do than follow Scottish politics.
The usual media response, sadly lacking this time, to such unfortunate / unforseen / unusual events is to invoke the SNPBaaad meme - el-reg really will have to try better
They sort of did - last paragraph:
"Whatever the reason for the ostrich rampage, we presume it'll be Westminster's fault."
When Robert Burns, the Bard of Ayrshire, wrote that line, he was probably inspired by the vision of a visiting Glaswegian facing off against two seemingly identical, seemingly enraged ostriches on the ol brig over the River Doon (and thinking he maybe should have declined his host's offer of a wee deoch-an-doris).
Also, I'm half-Irish and half-Scottish; half of me wants to drink and the other half doesn't want to pay for it. (Two nationalities insulted for the price of one! Something every Scotsman can grudgingly admire!)
Also, a Scottish sergeant-major in full highland dress showed up at a chemist's, extracted the most ripped-up, rattiest-looking used condom imaginable from his sporran, and asked the chemist how much it would cost to repair... You know what? Maybe I'd better not finish that joke. People might mistake affectionate teasing for condescension or disdain.
Also, a Scottish sergeant-major in full highland dress showed up at a chemist's, extracted the most ripped-up, rattiest-looking used condom imaginable from his sporran, and asked the chemist how much it would cost to repair... You know what? Maybe I'd better not finish that joke.
Then I'll do it for you... to cut a long(ish) story short the sergeant - major states "the Regiment has decided to get it repaired."
What really bothers me (and I do mean really) is the length of time that has elapsed since I first heard that joke; definitely >50 years, and probably >55.
It had a lot of resonance at the time having been born and brought up in Scotland, albeit on the other coast...
Funny how either ending works perfectly well.
Typical stereotype rubbish used to lighten up an otherwise boring article. It was one bird that escaped. So why use a headline that wasn't true? You just annoy your readership and doing it repeatingly means you get a bad reputation.
We in Scotland are tired of these silly articles about our lifestyle, culture, etc.
No wonder we want out & in.
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