Unlike Jews who are versed in a bit of self-loathing, the Scots are not likely to be heard putting themselves down. They may feel it but won’t speak it. They are too proud and lack the confidence. Sure they think themselves superior but it’s so very fragile. All the while they feel inferior in virtually every quarter.

I’ve said before that I think the Scots would do well to learn how to criticise themselves. I think some genuine analysis would improve their all round performance. It might also go some way to addressing the deep insincerity at the heart of the nation. Consequently I always welcome those who stand up and have a go at the Scots. These remarks I came across in a single weekend. They are not all from Scottish people.

1. •Andrew Hagan says ours is a “culture of self-pity” and that we live with the “perpetual sense of imagined injury”.
   

2. •James MacMillan slams Scotland as a “frozen and disabled land” for any artist to try and make a mark.
   

3. •Martin Amis describes Aberdeen as “one of the darkest places imaginable - like Iceland”.
   

4. •Paul Theroux also speaking of Aberdeen said the people there were “stony-faced, overcautious, unwelcoming and smug”. He thinks the city populated by “the most unbearable Scottish stereotypes”.
   

5. •Louis de Bermeres (writer) criticises Irvine Welsh’s verbal imagery of Scotland as “transgressive sordid realism”.
   

6. •Kenneth White (poet/novelist) is scathing about the Welsh, and Kelman too. He says they are “stuck in a cultural rut, self-opinionated and immature”.
   

7. •Ronald Frame (novelist) hopes that “one day Scotland will grow up”.
   

Cheers!