Caithness folk are proud of their county – just part of the vast tapestry of communities in the Highlands
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Jamie's Journal by Jamie Stone
Long before I became a politician, I went to the Olympia food fair in London to promote the crowdie that my mum and dad had been making on the farm since I was a wee boy.
On my way to Olympia one morning, I spied a police truck with a crane lifting a brand new BMW from where it had been illegally parked on a double yellow. Clearly, it was on its way to the adjacent police flatbed, and then to the pound to await a large payment from a wealthy and careless person.
There was a young bobby directing operations, and to pass the time I suggested to him that this was rather different to the normal course of duty. He turned and smiled at me “Aye, right enough”.
My oh my, he was a Ross-shire boy, and as it turned out he was from Fearn.
I tell this tale to point out that people in different parts of the Highlands speak in different ways – and I might add that this will not come as news to a Caithnessian.
As well as dialects and differences of pronunciation, even in a totally connected world, different parts of the Highlands have their own distinct identities – and that is why I find the most recent proposals by the Boundary Commission for Scotland so surprising.
Adding more of Ross-shire to my constituency is not unexpected - but the part of Inverness-shire including Beauly? That was a surprise.
Perhaps even more bewildering is the proposal to add the top half of Morayshire to the third Highland seat. This will take a “Highland” constituency from Dalwhinnie to the very borders of Aberdeenshire – somewhere where we Highlanders know the local folk speak very differently indeed.
Does any of this matter anyway?
Apart from my thoughts about gigantic seats leading to people losing out on access to their MP, it is striking that the Boundary Commission has been instructed by the government to pay absolutely no heed to the idea of community, i.e. which town you live in, its travel to work area, or indeed which historic county you live in.
They have been told by the government to play the numbers game and to dismiss any idea of 'belonging'.
Call me old fashioned, but this does seem to be a backwards step. People from Caithness take great pride in their county, even today. It is natural for humans to feel that they belong somewhere.
Of course it would be easy for me to rant about the Boundary Commission itself, but as I have said above, it is the government that has changed the rules. (Perish the thought that it might be about increasing the likelihood of the government winning more seats at the next general election, but it is undeniable that the addition of north Morayshire to the existing Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey seat dramatically changes the possible result the next time voters there go to the polls...)
As I gaze at the Caithness flag hanging in my office, I have come to the conclusion that this whole process must be halted and fundamentally rethought.
The throwing away of identities, formed over decades if not centuries, must be prevented. As Parliament considers the boundary changes (despite having no power to alter them because of the change of rules by the government – funny that!), I intend to raise the importance of maintaining our rich tapestry of different and contrasting communities in the Highlands and in Scotland.
“Vive la difference!” the French say. Long live our diversity. It is a pleasure to hear people speak with ‘e twang in Caithness – just as much as it is to hear people speak ‘rabbar bampar’ in Tain and Easter Ross.
This being said, I do remember a good Ross-shire man, the late Joe Fraser, whose Wick accent was so impenetrable that I once had to act as an interpreter for even his fellow Wickers!
But hey ho, that is all part of the fun and interest of the vast land so many of us call home.
- Jamie Stone is the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
