PJ O'Rourke looks forward to an independent Scotland

O'Rourke is an American political satirist, journalist, writer, and author. He has written recently about how he looks forward to an independent Scotland (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/13/up-to-a-point-a-free-scotland-would-be-a-hilarious-disaster.html) - as do I.

[RonanTheBarbarian]

I am sure there is a funny article to be written sometime where an imaginative humorous writer imagines an independent Scotland declining into a Third World-style shithole.

Unfortunately that pile of boredom O'Rourke produced is not it.

The only amusing bit in it was seeing how blatant the presumably paid-by-the word author was in listing 20 (!) separate whisky brands in in his list of Scottish whiskys.

[joe552]

Do Irish-Americans refer to themselves as micks? Like Ronan, I found nothing funny this article.

[latintopxxx]

I'm not even slightly British but i willmourn the demise of a great nation should the scots be stupidly proud enough to break away.

[fountainhall]

He cannot even get his facts straight. The Act of Union was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1707 - not 1704 - and by 110 to 67 votes. Perhaps not inappropriately, given the historically fractious relations between the Scots and the English, negotiations leading towards the Treaty were held in a room at Whitehall in London named The Cockpit! The Scottish party in favour of the Union was led by the 3rd Marquess of Queensberry. The name is even more apt in that it was the future 9th Lord Queensberry who gave his name to the rules of boxing (although he had nothing whatever to do with drafting them). And it was the same 9th Marquess who was to hound Oscar Wilde and lead to his infamous trial.

[Jellybean]

... Perhaps not inappropriately, given the historically fractious relations between the Scots and the English, negotiations leading towards the Treaty were held in a room at Whitehall in London named The Cockpit! ...
Your reference to the тАЬCockpitтАЭ reminded me of a biography on Queen Anne, (1665-1714) which I read recently.

For those who donтАЩt already know, before she inherited the Crown on the death of her brother-in-law, King William III, Queen Anne and her consort, Prince George of Denmark, lived in the Cockpit. It was a suite of rooms in Whitehall Palace, situated in a complex of buildings on the western side of King Street. The site was originally set aside by Henry VIII as an arena for cock fights.

By February 1706 the Queen had chosen her Scots commissioners, almost all of whom were known to favour the union. Proceedings to bring about a union opened on 16 April 1706 when her MajestyтАЩs commissioners assembled in the QueenтАЩs former Whitehall lodgings, the Cockpit.

I understand that negotiations were not conducted directly between the English and Scottish commissioners. Instead a dialogue was conducted in the form of written submissions, to be considered by each set of commissioners sequestered in separate rooms.

In the end a treaty took shape comprising 25 articles, of which the chief provided that England and Scotland were to be united into one kingdom, to be known henceforth as Great Britain.

On 23 July 1706 the commissioners lined up in pairs тАУ with a Scot partnering an Englishman тАУ to present the Queen with copies of the signed articles at St JamesтАЩ Palace. The Queen said she hoped the union would be lasting and indissoluble. Well, weтАЩll all know on Friday, 19 September if she was right or wrong.

[fountainhall]

Keeping on The Cockpit tangent, at the end of the 18th century this by now pretty dangerous building housed Britain's recently formed Foreign Office. With the Empire expanding, around 1830 that was moved to buildings in Downing Street. As the official history of the FCO points out, near here were "cheap lodging houses for Irish and Scottish MPs". But the buildings themselves were in almost as bad a state as The Cockpit, having been built over a sewer causing noxious fumes to rise within them. Cracks routinely appeared and they had to be shored up with wooden posts. Worse, heavy printing presses had stupidly been placed in the attic resulting in further large cracks.

On such rickety foundations was British Foreign policy devised and enacted, including the first Opium Wars whose effects are still being witnessed today in Hong Kong!

[scottish-guy]

Speculating that Kommie may in fact be one of that worst kind of Scot - a forelock-tugging, Orange Order Union Jock with a God Bless King Billy 1690 tattoo, a sash, and a bowler hat he drags up in on 12th July every year.

Of course I could be wrong :))