Clansman George Robertson-Dryden raised a dram of Scotch Whisky in a salute to ‘bonnie Scotland’ in a fitting setting at the Australian Standing Stones to the accompaniment of bagpipes on Thursday, ahead of Scots voting on whether to secede from the United Kingdom in a referendum to be held that night, local time.
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The occasion drew the attention of a number of passing tourists, keen to capture the moment of the district’s Celtic traditions coming to life.
Those gathered wished Scotland well in whichever way voters decided to go, but thought the country’s economy would benefit from remaining with the United Kingdom. Local woman Nola Taylor was in the midst of the voting throng in Scotland, describing it as an exciting time.
“(It makes me) conscious of the same issues in our border country, of dispossession from the centre of decision making, cutting back of services, although the railway is still serviced north well past the border here (in Scotland),” Mrs Taylor reported.
“It’s very costly though, probably due to privatisation which I can see coming from our state government.”
Mrs Taylor said that philosophically she was with the ‘yes’ vote, “being descended from a convicted Scottish political troublemaker”, but she described the debate as very interesting, free from cliché and name-calling and for the most part well presented for all the issues raised.
“A complex mesh of human aspiration and not before time,” she said.
Ultimately Scottish voters rejected independence – with 2,001,926 votes for ‘no’ over 1,617,989 for ‘Yes’ – although the referendum has spurred moves to devolve more powers to Scotland.
