Robert Burns is a big favourite with the high heid yins at the Scottish Parliament. Sheena Wellington’s rendition of A Man’s A Man was one of the highlights of the opening of the parliament on July 1, 1999. It was a glorious ceremony, modest in scale, yet ambitious in its message.
Burns’ words, inspired some say by the French Revolution, seemed to sum up the feeling across the country. Our new parliament would ensure that “the honest man, tho e’er sae poor, Is king o’ men for a’ that”. It was, as Donald Dewar said in his address, a turning point: the day when democracy was renewed in Scotland.
Last Saturday, and another Burns song was the centrepiece of the ceremony to mark our parliament’s 25th anniversary. While some of the current crop of MSPs appear to have been moved to tears by Calum McIlory’s rendition of Ca' the Yowes, the sentimental ditty has none of the potency of A Man’s A Man. It is even debatable whether Burns was the original author of the pastoral lyrics, with Isabel Pagan – a female contemporary of Burns – believed to be the writer.
Arguably, this low-key tune was a fitting choice for a parliament that has failed to live up to the soaring rhetoric of Burns’ most powerful song. ‘Local heroes’ excluded But it was what happened outside the inner sanctum of the Holyrood chamber that stands as an emblem of where our parliament sits today. As the friends and family of the current crop of MSPs enjoyed the King’s speech from the comf.