All forms of Nationalism, Scottish or otherwise, are, I believe, by definition divisive, as they exclude those who do not camp in that particular tent. Whilst I’m not suggesting for one moment that all Scots dislike the English, a significant number most certainly do, and in my opinion, that feeds into a rather unpleasant, inward looking type of Nationalism, which some of us may well have experienced first hand. My own experiences, at the lower end, include an unfortunate visit with DH to an Edinburgh bar, where the TV was showing an England vs Germany football match. The rapturous reaction when Germany won made us both keep our heads down, to avoid speaking, to finish our drinks, and to then quietly slip away. A more extreme example was when in conversation with a Scottish friend, I happened to refer to the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, to be met with the response: “She’s not our Queen. You English murdered our Queen”. Reacting to my clearly rather dumbfounded appearance, she quickly added :” I know you’re English, but you’re O.K.” When I replied that if she’d told Trevor McDonald that she didn’t like blacks, but that he was “O.K.”, and that he’d have been just about as impressed by her comments as I was, she just didn’t get it. Suffice to say, our friendship ended there and then.
I have many Scottish friends and relatives who would be genuinely horrified at such glaring examples of Anglophobia, so please don’t imagine that I’m suggesting that such bigotry and prejudice are widespread. However, it’s definitely out there, and does take root in the fertile ground of a certain strain of Scottish Nationalism. So yes, Nicola Sturgeon may always be quick to emphasize that she is not anti-English, but how many of her supporters can put their hands on their hearts and truthfully say the same? It would be interesting to know.