Who would have predicted that an expatriate Scot now living in Utah would play a leading role in the Scottish election? Fred Buchanan, professor of educational studies at the University of Utah, has always considered Scottish politics much more important than "tartan trivia," such as "what a Scot wears under the kilt, and reported sightings of the Loch Ness monster."
Accordingly, he has kept close ties to his native country since his emigration to the United States in 1949. Given Scotland's size and population, he says, there is no reason to take a back seat to Western civilization or technology. "There is even a `Silicon glen' in Scotland today."An ardent nationalist, he is active in his support of the movement for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. He thinks if Scotland were independent it would be easier to preserve traditions, "but there is a fear that just maybe we couldn't do it."
Last March, Buchanan wrote an articulate letter to Scotland's two leading newspapers, the Glasgow Herald and the Edinburgh Scotsman, eloquently arguing for independence. He recalled his childhood in western Scotland in the 1940s, when he spent time with "a gang of boys who often jumped across the Stevenston Burn (a creek) for recreation."
He could never get the courage to "launch" himself across the water, until one day when his friends chanted "Jump, Fred, Jump. Ye kin dae it." Heartened by the encouragement, he "made one final assault on the burn, took a flying leap and landed feet first on the opposite bank. I might have landed up to my neck in the burn, I might have broken a leg, I might have set myself up for a `tellin' off' from my mother, but all of these were unrealized fears."
Years later he learned that he had taken what philosopher William James had called "the leap of faith," a necessary step to achieve life's important goals. Buchanan recommended such a leap to Scots wishing to preserve their future "as an authentic cultural entity."
He could hear, he said, thousands of Scots everywhere shouting, "Jump, Scotland, jump! Ye kin dae it."
The final statement in his letter became the battle cry of the Scottish National Party - and the slogan "Jump, Scotland, Jump" was used in campaign literature. It was also repeated in various newspaper stories prior to the election in April, and Buchanan received several fan letters from Scotland.
The Scottish people failed to take the "leap of faith" at the polls. Only three Scottish National Party members won seats in Parliament, but 75 percent of the Scottish people voted for people who wanted a greater degree of autonomy. He believes the drive for independence may heat up again, because "many Scots feel more and more like colonials with no real say in their self-government."
It will be considered again in five years, in any case, and sooner if Major's government fails to survive that long.
Buchanan says that while some English treated the notion "rather lightly," John Major took it seriously enough to send several cabinet members north to persuade Scots to stay in the UK. He even promised a future cabinet meeting would be held in Edinburgh.
Buchanan remains cynical about the real reasons for Major's interest in retaining a Scottish colony - the fact that "90 percent of Europe's sea oil lies in Scottish waters." He quotes a verse from his childhood to illustrate:
Since Seventeen Hunnered and Two,
We've been auld England's milkin' coo.
As long as we can gie a yield,
We'll be in her financial field.