Holyrood poet Morgan signs up with the rebels of Calton Hill
The Herald
Thursday, October 07, 2004
THE poet laureate has backed calls for an independent republican Scotland just hours before one of his poems is read out as a centrepiece of the Queen's opening of Holyrood.
In a major embarrassment before the £400,000 ceremony, Edwin Morgan has signed the Declaration of Calton Hill, which has been drafted by the Scottish Socialist party as part of a rival celebration to the royal opening.
It calls for Scotland to be freed from the "hierarchical and anti-democratic institutions of the British state", and declares: "We believe the right to self-determination is an inherent right, and not a favour to be granted . . . by the Crown."
The 450-word credo, which has already been translated into Gaelic and Urdu, is the main plank of a party being organised by the Socialists on Calton Hill this Saturday at the same time as the Queen opens the Scottish Parliament in the valley below. The event has already attracted support from as many Scots artists as the official version.
Mr Morgan, 84, who was yesterday given a £5000-a-year stipend for being the national poet, or makar, said his sympathies were very much with the republicans.
"The poem I was asked to write was for the opening of the parliament, and it's about the building and the people who will work in it," he said.
"I'm not really bothered by the Queen liking it or not. It's not really for her, it's for Scotland in general."
The 50-line poem, which is still a mystery, will be read out in the new parliament's chamber by Liz Lochhead, the playwright, because its author is unwell.
Mr Morgan's ambivalence to the royal presence comes just days after another key performer said she was drawn to Calton Hill.
Eddi Reader, who will sing Wild Mountainside immediately after Mr Morgan's poem, said: "I am of the left. I really like Tommy Sheridan and I'll be sorry not to see him. Maybe I could sing at both events."
Although the royal opening will include Sir Sean Connery, artists Elizabeth Blackadder and John Bellany, and authors Christopher Brookmyre and Alexander McCall Smith, the rest of the artistic contingent has been filled out by TV comedians Fred MacAulay and Karen Dunbar.
However, the rival Calton Hill party has secured the support of authors Iain Banks, Alasdair Gray, Jim Kelman and Irvine Welsh, as well as actors Peter Mullan, Bill Paterson and Tony Roper.
Not all of them will be present in person. Mr Gray, who does intend to appear, said: "We do not want an independent Scotland because we dislike the English, but because we want separation from that union of military, financial and monarchic establishments calling itself Great Britain."
Mr Banks added: "I don't believe in going to anything that involves the royals; all that bowing and scraping just encourages the blighters."
A parliament spokesman said: "The makar has penned a splendid poem for the official opening ceremony. Like everyone else in Scotland, he's entitled to his own opinion."
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