University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC Theses Student Research 5-1-2013 Brave hearts and minds: the devolution revolution and the (re)building of the Scottish nation Cody Lynn Neidert University of Northern Colorado Follow this and additional works at: http://digscholarship.unco.edu/theses Recommended Citation Neidert, Cody Lynn, "Brave hearts and minds: the devolution revolution and the (re)building of the Scottish nation" (2013). Theses. Paper 11. This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO Greeley, Colorado The Graduate School BRAVE HEARTS AND MINDS: THE DEVOLUTION REVOLUTION AND THE (RE)BUILDING OF THE SCOTTISH NATION A thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Cody Lynn Neidert College of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of History May 2013 This Thesis by: Cody Lynn Neidert Entitled: Brave Hearts and Minds: The Devolution Revolution and the (Re)building of the Scottish Nation has been approved as meeting the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in the Department of History, Program of History Accepted by the Thesis Committee: _______________________________________________________ Fritz Fischer PhD., Committee Chair _______________________________________________________ Jacob Melish PhD., Committee Member _______________________________________________________ Aaron Haberman PhD., Committee Member Accepted by the Graduate School _______________________________________________________ Linda L. Black, Ed.D., LPC Acting Dean of the Graduate School and International Admissions ABSTRACT Neidert, Cody Lynn. Brave Hearts and Minds: The Devolution Revolution and the (Re)building of the Scottish Nation. Unpublished Master of Arts thesis, University of Northern Colorado, May 2013. In 1995, the myth-history presented in Mel Gibson’s award winning film, Braveheart, sparked the fires of nationalism in Scotland, leading to the nation’s partial autonomy. Braveheart’s influence on politics, historical memory and cultural identity are undeniable, yet few historians give the film the credit it rightly deserves. This demonstrates that, while it may not have single handily led to Scotland’s devolution in 1999, Braveheart did play a major role in the lead up to the 1997 devolution referendum. The film infused Scotland’s society, culture, and politics with nationalistic pride. Utilizing James DeFronzo’s five critical factors for revolutionary success as a framework, this project shows that Braveheart, a film about the legendary Scottish hero named William Wallace, had a vast political, social and cultural impact on Scotland, thus leading to the restoration of a Scottish parliament after three-centuries of dormancy. However, Scotland is not an independent country, as it remains a member of the United Kingdom. Therefore, this thesis also examines the ongoing nation-building, or rebuilding, process in Scotland, in the period immediately prior to the independence referendum in 2014. In all, the fact that Braveheart managed to revive, alter, and create Scotland’s greatest historical and mythological hero, as well as forever change the course of Scottish political and social history, makes it one of the most influential films of all time. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of any major academic work is never the achievement of the individual alone. Therefore, I would like to thank those who have helped me during this journey. First, I need to thank the superb faculty at the University of Northern Colorado for their guidance and wisdom throughout the nearly seven years I spent there. In particular, I must thank the members of my graduate committee: Dr. Fritz Fischer, Dr. Aaron Haberman and Dr. Jacob Melish. In addition, thought-provoking conversations and projects with Dr. Robert Weis and Dr. T.J. Tomlin have been most enlightening. I am also forever indebted to Dr. Marshall Clough, whose course on History and Memory inspired me to peruse a master’s degree by introducing me to historical concepts and approaches of which I had no previous knowledge, including Film and History. Yet, it was more than the excellent faculty that made my time at UNC unforgettable; it was also the great friends. Thus, I would like to thank my fellow graduate students, notably Chandra Powers, for helping me through grad school, and for humoring me each and every time I went on and on about Scotland and Braveheart. Beyond UNC, I want to thank those who I had the opportunity to meet with on my travels to Scotland in the summer of 2012. These conversations vastly expanded my comprehension of Scottish politics, culture, history, and people. Special thanks goes out to Scottish historians Fiona Watson and Elspeth King. I would also like to thank Duncan Fenton and George Boyle from The Society of William Wallace, whose unsurpassed passion for Scotland and spirited hospitality will never be forgotten. Furthermore, the exemplary works of Scottish historian Graeme Morton and of film and history historian Robert Brent Toplin have been inspiring, and their informative email correspondents have been most appreciated. iv Additionally, I want to thank my loving parents, Dennis and Gayle, who not only let me watch Braveheart at a surprisingly young age, but also took me to Scotland when I was a child, solidifying both my love affair with history and with Scotland. My parent’s unwavering support – emotionally, financially, and otherwise – has enabled me to achieve my academic and personal dreams, and for this, I am eternally grateful. Furthermore, I want to thank my long-time friends, as well as my brothers, whose continuous intellectual challenges and conversations over the years have led to my academic endeavors. And a special thanks to my brother Travis and his wife, Faith, who helped a great deal with some last minute proofreading. I need to also thank my adoring wife, Allison, who last year said “yes” to my proposal of marriage atop the two-hundred foot National Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland. Allison’s humor and all too frequent, but most welcomed distractions kept me sane throughout this project. Words cannot express how much I have appreciated her constant love, support, and smiles. Finally, I must thank the people of Scotland for inspiring me, and for their hospitality during my time in their homeland, including my unforgettable semester at the University of Stirling. Therefore, it is to the people and the nation of Scotland that I dedicate this thesis. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: PREPARING THE WAY FOR A COMPLETELY 1 PEACEFUL REVOLUTION II. WALLACE AND THE NEW HAMMER OF THE SCOTS: SCOTLAND’S 13 MASS FRUSTRATION III. A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS: SCOTLAND’S DISSIDENT 31 ELITE IV. HEAD AND HEART NATIONALISM: SCOTLAND’S UNIFYING 47 MOTIVATION V. UNVEILING FREEDOM, ENACTING DEVOLUTION: THE UNITED 66 KINGDOM’S SEVERE STATE CRISIS VI. BRAVEHEART’S MONUMENTAL EFFECT: SCOTLAND’S 87 PERMISSIVE WORLD CONTEXT VII. CONCLUSION: BRAVEHEART ALE AND THE PERSISTENT 105 REVOLUTION REFERENCES 113 APPENDIX A. IMAGES 121 B. I.R.B. APPROVAL AND PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM 126 vi 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: PREPARING THE WAY FOR A COMPLETELY PEACEFUL REVOLUTION Wallace made Scotland. He is Scotland; he is the symbol of all that is best and purest and truest and most heroic in our national life. You cannot figure yourselves Scotland without Wallace. He prepared the way, and is preparing the way, with your assistance, for a National Legislature in Scotland. He is a man whose memory can never die. So long as grass grows green, or water runs, or whilst the mist curls through the corries of the hills, the name Wallace will live. Robert Bontine Cunninghame-Graham Elderslie Wallace Commemoration, 1930.1 It had been a long, quiet process, and ended in a completely peaceful revolution. Many hearts had been worn down or broken by it, but no one had died. Scotland upheld its modern civic tradition, and in the end had also managed to emancipate itself from the limits of that tradition. Thus far, an equivalently civic and decent nationalism had prevailed…. This was a low-profile success, in a world pre occupied by…military high drama…. But the fact was, not such a small one either. An old nation – one of the original ‘nation-states’ of the early-modern world – had embarked upon the process of regaining its independence. Tom Nairn on Scottish Devolution After Britain: New Labour and the Return of Scotland, 1999.2 The above quote by early-twentieth-century Scottish patriot, and arguably the father of Scottish political nationalism, R.B. Cunninghame-Graham, honors William Wallace, who in late-thirteenth-century Scotland began a revolution against the usurpation of the Scottish throne by Edward I of England. This movement would eventually succeed in ousting the English from Scotland and the recovery of the Scottish kingdom. Yet, this political independence only lasted until 1707 when the Act of Union effectively made Scotland a voiceless, stateless-nation within the United Kingdom. However, seven centuries after his original movement, Wallace led yet another revolution that again secured more autonomy for 1 R.B. Cunninghame-Graham quoted in Linas Eriksonas,