Friday, April 8, 2011

Tartan Day - The Declaration of Arbroath

I'm a bit late here, because I only just realized that I just missed the significant date, but I want to share with you something I was talking about last night. April 6th is Tartan Day, which is held in commemoration of the Declaration of Arbroath, which was signed on that day in 1320. The Declaration of Arbroath is in many ways the Scottish equivalent of the American Declaration of Independence. It is in fact a declaration of independence from the English, and it is a very nationalistic document -- one of the fist for the nation of Scotland. It also is one of if not the first document to assert that sovereignty comes from the people, rather than as a divine right. Some of the passages are particularly stirring.

for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.

Read the entire translation here.

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