Scotland is wild,
expansive and beautiful. A land of breath-taking
countryside and bustling cities, full of life and of
course, full of Scots. Many are wondering, these days, what
it actually means to be Scottish. There’s always that sense of community
and the cheekiness that you get from Scottish people. I
pride myself on that. People just tell you how they feel. They don’t go about it
in a florid manner. We were sort of stapled,
if you like, to England, and I think it’s rather difficult
to get away from them. Many Scots feel they are
fundamentally different from their English neighbours, and want to
be governed differently, as well. Particularly since Brexit. Once
grounded mainly in the realm of folklore, the idea of the “Scottish
character” may now have serious political ramifications
for the United Kingdom. 24-year-old Sophie Gault needs no
home-office. Her workplace is already isolated and very well ventilated.
It’s in the middle of Scotland, in the heart of the Highlands,
at the foot of Ben Alder. Sophie spends the whole day outdoors
among the mountains, lochs, peat and moorland. A deer hunter, you know, the basics,
they go out, they shoot the deer, and that’s that - but it’s not,
it’s really not — it’s working with everything from the tiniest grass
right up to the clouds in the sky. Feeding the horses is also one of her
tasks, and even unskilled workers can help out. Angus and the others
are already waiting. In the summer, the working ponies carry the deer
carcasses down the mountain. In winter, they need more to eat
than the barren Highlands can offer. The young Scotswoman says that
becoming a deer hunter was the best decision she’s ever made. Being Scottish is something I’m really
proud of and being with nature and with wildlife and Scottish wildlife
- as you can see the stags in the distance - it makes you appreciate
Scotland even more. There’s always that sense of community and the
cheekiness that you get from Scottish people and I
pride myself on that. We have our own little
Scottish humour. Sophie works on a private estate
near Dalwhinnie in the Highlands. In non-pandemic times, it’s a
popular destination for hunters and holidaymakers. But Sophie sees
herself as a paid environmentalist. Whether she is reforesting
or restoring peat moors, she sees her job as serving
nature and the land. Hunting is part of this. Winter impacts older
animals, in particular. Today, Sophie spots a
herd that needs thinning. There’s definitely a few older hinds,
a few older ladies that I would have preferred to take out. They lose a lot
more condition over the winter than a younger hind would. So being
pro-active with that and shooting them before they get to that
stage, before they’re suffering, is what we pride ourselves
on doing as well. It may seem cruel to shoot them, but
Scotland has the highest density of red deer in Europe, and they breed
like rabbits. Left unchecked, Sophie explains, the population would grow so
fast that the animals would overgraze the land, starve or succumb to
disease. But they are in luck today. But these hinds are in luck today. They are too far away for
Sophie to get a clear shot. They managed to just get a bit of our
wind there, got a little bit of a fright, but they know there’s no
threat, they’ve all lain down again. We’re in full view here, we’re in
full sight, and if we started walking towards them, they'd be up and away,
they wouldn’t be holding back at all. Stalking them would
take until evening. Since it’s not possible to shoot
today, it stays quiet on Ben Alder. But this refrigerated room’s contents
are testimony to Sophie’s skills. Sophie loves her work,
caring for the animals. All she has to do is rattle the food
box and they come down the mountain. Right at the front is
Sophie’s favourite, Hamish. Sophie’s job may seem cut off
from the world at large, but she’s always thinking
about the bigger picture. I know, in ten years, the things that
I’m doing in the job will affect everything from on this estate to the
wider of Scotland and that’s the magic things and I suppose,
it’s a bit of a legacy. As we see again and
again on our journey, it’s hard not to fall in
love with Scotland. And the desire to express this
love is felt not just by Scots. Fishing dirt out of the water, raking
up leaves, maintaining the concrete. Keith, who is English and David, who
is Scottish, have spent many a weekend doing this for 20 years. These
mysterious mounds, which the men treat with such love, are part of the
world’s largest three-dimensional map of a country. It’s in Peebles,
in the Scottish Borders region. When Keith first discovered the
map, while on a walk in 1997, it was completely overgrown. Looking down into the undergrowth, I
noticed a shape and it looked like the shape of the Mull of Galloway,
which is a very conspicuous peninsula on the south-west side of
the Scottish coastline. At that point I thought ‘I’ve just got an active
imagination’, but out of curiosity I thought, ‘but it can’t be — if it
were — and if I walked north-west, I should find an island’. To cut the
story short, 10 minutes later I had walked north, discovered Ben Lomond,
walked across Rannoch Moor, climbed over Ben Nevis and arrived at the
north coast of Scotland at the Cape Wrath lighthouse peninsula,
realising that this was an astonishing relief model
of the whole of Scotland. The relief model features all
the mountains and lochs of the Scottish landscape. Keith, a nuclear
engineer, set out to find the creators of this patriotic
work — to no avail. It was lost in local memory. Being an
engineer, this offended me, because a lot of creative design effort went
into producing it. Who had made it and why? That led to me discovering
my colleague, David Cameron. David Cameron is a retired architect
from Edinburgh. He knew that the relief was the brainchild of Jan
Tomasik, a Polish Second World War veteran who had married a Scottish
woman. Tomasek became a successful local hotelier, and bought the
Barony Castle Hotel in Peebles. He wanted to create a monument
to express his love for his adopted country. Calling it the ‘Great
Polish Map of Scotland,’ he had his compatriot, Kazimierz
Trafas, fly in to build it. David had met Kazimierz Trafas in the
early 1990s. The Polish cartographer was quite elderly and hadn’t been
to Scotland for a long time. He asked David to search
for his relief map. This was all shrubbery, all tall, tall
weeds, there was a pool of water on the left here and cartridge shells
everywhere from clay pigeon shooting. It was such a shame. I reported back
to him and he was so sad about it, he’d put all this time into
it, all these trips over, and so I made this rash promise. David hadn’t got very far with his
promise until Keith stumbled upon the map. Then, the two men founded a
charity, Mapa Scotland, and in 2018 the relief was fully restored. At the
time, Britain was still a member of the EU, with Scotland in the
same political union as Poland. Of course, this is no longer the case. We’re heading for troubled waters
here because I have supported Brexit very strongly, for a long time, and
still do. This is where David and I diverge. I think it’s a super romantic
idea, that experience has shown to be totally impractical, and I
think the European Union is a dysfunctional mess, showing no
signs of getting its act together. I’m not accusing Keith of having
narrowness of mind or anything like that, but I think, shall we say,
although we’re on one island, I think somehow, my impression is that
English people are more insular and perhaps Scots are outward-looking,
at least that’s how I think of it. More and more Scots believe that their
country would be better off if it were as independent as it
looks, here in this pond. David is no fan of the government
in London and believes in the fundamental differences between
the Scottish and English. But sees a total detachment from England
as an impossibility, if only for geological reasons. I think it’s rather interesting
in a way that Scotland in fact is geologically on the north American
plate, at one stage there would have been a sea between Scotland and
England. When Scotland moved on to England, England went underneath
and then volcanoes came up in a line, and so we’re sort of stapled,
if you like, to England, and I think it’s rather difficult
to get away from them. A problem the Shetland
Islands don't have. They do not fit on the relief map
at all, they are so far north of the Scottish mainland — closer
to Norway than to Edinburgh. Yet Shetland is still quintessentially
Scotland, with its beautiful landscape and sparse population. The sense
of community here is important, and people take a great deal of
pride in their small islands. But there is a lot of curiosity
about the wider world, too. Shetlanders have been buoyed by their
oil, which was first discovered here in the 70s. The revenues from the oil
industry have been invested wisely in the local community, to build roads
and public institutions. Now, with an eye on the future, Shetlanders are
slowly transitioning to wind power. Yet fishing is still the major source
of income in Shetland. More fish are caught here than in England, Northern
Ireland and Wales put together. Victor Laurenson isn’t catching
anything at the moment. He’s been stuck in the harbour for a
month. Before he can take his ship, the Radiant Star, out
along the west coast, the self-employed fisherman
needs a spare part from Sweden. That’s what we’re having the trouble
with. Half of that side has gone. It’s very much missing. I didn’t think it could
get any more complicated. It’s taken a month to
get here as it is. - But it might be more expensive? It’s pretty expensive as it is! I
know what you mean, I don’t know, hopefully not, hopefully
trade will keep going. The majority of fishermen all over
the United Kingdom voted for Brexit. Victor is not the only one who
disapproves of European colleagues encroaching on British waters.
With their huge ships, they take more than their
fair share of the catch. Keep the fishing rights we have,
tighten up all the foreign vessels coming into the British waters.
That’s not a lot to ask for. - You’d be happy with that?
- Yeah, yeah. We were hopefully going to get
more, but the longer it goes on, the more scared you get, so the
goalposts are always coming down. The bells in the proud town hall of
Lerwick still chime like Big Ben. But now that Britain has detached
itself from the EU, and Scotland wants to separate from Britain, desire for
independence has come to Shetland too. Steven Coutts and the other local
councillors think that Shetland should liberate itself from
both Britain and Scotland. At the moment, it’s not delivering the
benefit to the local community like it should. Money is flowing out of
Shetland — we want just that degree of local accountability for the
decisions. We’re far away from both the Westminster parliament, Brussels
as well, as well as Holyrood. We’re very far away, but these are
life-impacting decisions that are made without any local
political accountability. Victor wants no more discussions
about independence. It costs him 1,000 euros for every
day he spends at sea in fuel alone. He has two children and doesn’t want
more uncertainty about the future. No, that’s just a pipe dream,
that can never happen. You see, six years they had to
negotiate to get out of Europe, how many years do you think they’ll
have to negotiate to get back in? That can’t wait, you can’t have too
much individuality, you all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet
if you’re working to get anywhere. Solidarity and sticking together is
something Scots talk about often. But ideals and reality
are not always aligned. Glasgow is certainly
familiar with this. The old working-class city is a tough
place. Glasgow is struggling to combat drugs, violence and unemployment. But
as Scotland’s biggest city, it is also the centre of design, culture and
literature. On Buchanan Street in the city centre, we meet up with Janey
Godley. The comedian is well known all over the country. In 2020, she won
the ‘Scots Speaker of the Year’ award. The 59-year-old has lived by
the River Clyde all her life. I love that the rain
has made the river. This is where I live now, and
this is where I used to live. Look at this view for starters! Glasgow is a port city and it brought
in people from all over the world. And it’s got a lot of crap about it as
well, you know. . . we have problems, like every city in the world, but
the one thing about Glasgow is — people just tell you how they feel. They don’t go about it
in a florid manner. If you're at a bus stop somebody may
tell you about their kidney infection. You don’t get that in
Chelsea, you just don’t. Janey grew up poor, married young and ran a pub with her
husband for 15 years. When they gave it up, she became a
comedian. For many here, she has become the voice of Scotland:
funny, honest and unpretentious. But some people can’t stand her. They’re all my boyfriends! One reason is that she’s
anything but ladylike. With Scottish comedians, I think
it’s different when we swear, especially a female. Because if you’re
posh and English and a female and you’re swearing, it sounds like you’re
just being cheeky, but if you’re a female and you’re Scottish and you
swear, it sounds like you mean it. And that upsets people! Like everyone else in show business, Janey’s life has been
hard-hit by the coronavirus. This is the biggest audience
I’ve had since March! Hi guys, is anyone from out of town?
How are you doing? Not one of them batted their wings to
applaud me. Tough crowd! Tough crowd! But her online audience is larger
than ever. Indeed, Janey’s popularity has grown along with that of Nicola
Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister. The Covid-19 statistics are not much
better in Scotland than in England. But Sturgeon’s empathetic manner
and facts have won people over. Janey does a voice-over of Sturgeon’s
daily briefings in her own words. When the First Minister start to do
these daily briefings, the message just became ‘bla, bla,bla’?and I
thought, what way can I get this to be attention, you know, get attention for
it. So, I started to do voice-overs and say the things she really wanted
to say, like ‘Stay in the house, we’re not gonna die, if you
do, I’m gonna stick my toe in the crack of your arse’. I became her anger
translator, basically. I don’t bow to pressure, I’m gonna
do what’s right for the country. If I rush things through and people
die, I’ll not sleep a f****** wink, so see this — are you going to
be doing what Boris is doing? For months, a consistent majority
of the Scots have said that Prime Minister Boris
Johnson is going too far. The English politician is
extremely unpopular here. Janey also hopes that Nicola Sturgeon
will win the election to the Scottish Parliament in May and
that there will then be a second referendum for Scottish independence. Brexit has made a fundamental
difference to the situation. We were told back in 2014 — we, as
in people who support independence — that if we voted independence, they
would protect and keep us in Europe. It’s basically like your Mum and Dad
saying ‘Look - if you go to bed early, when you wake up, you will have a
pony. You go to bed, you sleep early, you wake up and there’s just a cushion
in the shape of a cat instead, and it’s a shite cat, it’s not
even a good cat. They just lied, they lied and they lied and they lied.
And that’s what they did.’ For Janey, independence is the only
way forward. More and more Scots are dreaming of being able to vote
on the issues that affect them. The coronavirus epidemic has forced
folk singer Dave Gibb to stay at home and in his village. He normally
tours through the country and sings. During lockdown, he and the other
inhabitants of Wanlockhead — the highest village in
Scotland, altitude-wise — decided to start a local revolution.
For hundreds of years, Wanlockhead has belonged to an aristocrat family.
Now, the community wants to buy back 15 hectares of land from the
current Duke of Buccleuch. Why is this his? You’re talking
to a history buff here. Why is all this land his? He’s the
largest private landowner in the UK, ‘cos he’s the Duke of Buccleuch, or
Cheeky Buccleuch, as we call him. And why? What did he do to get
it, what’s he done to keep it? What’s he done to improve it? They’ve
done nothing. All he does is, until recently, to shoot birds out of the
sky and get tax relief on the land . He’s done nothing with it, certainly
nothing for the community. Lincoln Richfold moved from
England to Wanlockhead, Scotland. To live in a civilized, self-reliant
country at last, as he puts it. We’re looking at this area
here, we end somewhere along that horizon line there, the
land that we will be hopefully buying. One third of Scottish land belongs
to just a few large landowners. It didn’t have a revolution, well it
did, but not that kind of revolution. You know, these landowners go
back to the Norman conquest. It’s a long-time situation really. You’re not going to get me
to say much about this. Instead of chasing off the feudal lord
with a pitchfork in the old-fashioned way, they want to offer him 1.6
million euros for the rugged land, the barren hills
and a few sheep. In the 18th century, when it was worth owning the village, the
then-Duke of Buccleuch built mines and smelting plants there. Thanks
to its lead and gold reserves, Wanlockhead was dubbed
‘God’s Treasure Trove’. Buccleuch also ran a
hunting lodge here. These days, the tiny village is
of little interest to the Duke. But the Wanlockhead locals love their
village and their pub — which is, after all, the highest
pub in Scotland. During the pandemic, people
are keeping their distance. The only two tourists
are from England. They are impressed by Dave
and Lincoln’s bold plan. We’ve got a decent speed of internet
and it’s interesting that we’ve had more young people moving
in, and maybe that’s why. One of the things we want to do is
try and create some local jobs. That’s fantastic. I think what you’re
doing is amazing, absolutely amazing. More and more people are being told
to work from home. So that could be a benefit to the community, I think. If
you live in Glasgow and you’re doing a job from home, you can
live here and do your job. Wanlockhead is not alone in its
endeavour - all over Scotland, local councils have now bought up
some 3% of the land. The Scottish government is supporting this
late land reform as best it can. If an application is convincing, the
state will finance the acquisition. As only about half of Wanlockhead’s
200 inhabitants have voted to pay off the Duke, Lincoln is worried he might
not get the necessary funding. But he is firmly convinced that his
project is part of an overall trend. This is a very different country to
England, with substantially different values. Scotland is much more
attuned to Europe than England is. And I’m an Englishman. That’s why I
live in Scotland, so it’s just a natural step really, to go from there. And here, in miniature, is the
same kind of thing, isn’t it? Deer hunter Sophie thinks that
independence is a matter of attitude. Like most of her fellow Scots, she
wanted to stay in the European Union. While a slight majority of Scots feel
that Brexit is a good enough reason to separate from Britain,
Sophie would rather wait. I pride myself on calling myself
Scottish first before I do British, I do still love Britain and I
absolutely love Europe as well. But I can see where people are coming
from with independence right now, but if there is another referendum,
I don’t think now’s the time. I think we let this covid thing
and Brexit have its time and then once we know where our feet
are and what’s happening, then we can make another decision. Independence and self-determination
mean different things to different people. Geography and
history have brought Scots to a point where many can picture a future
outside of the United Kingdom. Brexit, which only recently and
only through English voters became a reality, was meant to make Britain
more independent. But what it has shown most clearly is just
how different Scotland is. Something that could spell the end
of the UK in its current form.
