Today's history 1

Currently, overflowing on my bedside table together with other unread treasures such as My Traitor's Heart and Dr. Death, I am reading through the history of Mary, Queen of Scots, in a volume of the same name by Antonia Fraser. To purchase, please click here
It is a revelation. Who could have guessed that this minor nation on a rain-sodden, wind-whipped just-about-part-of-a-small-island, could have so much in common with the boere of South Africa? And I am not talking Roman law here, either. (For those who don't know- like me-, Scotland stuck mostly with Roman law, same as in South Africa, and it is different to the 'common law' practiced in England.)

According to my source (and I'm now on page 174 of the 1969 Orionbooks edition, if you want to check), the Scots were regarded as a bit 'backward'. And they were, judging by the fighting, drinking, feuds and dirt of the standard 17th century farmholdings. Stubborn, also, to the point of idiocy, and bent on sticking to their own beliefs and customs in the face of dire opposition. They were known as excellent soldiers, highly valued (or feared, depends which side you were on) for their courage and tenaciousness in war. And not treating women too well, or animals, who had to know their place in the greater scheme of things. If a nation could have a star sign, you could say the Scots were (are?!) a joint Taurus with a rising Aries moon, for good measure.

But substitute 'Scot' for 'Afrikaner' in the above paragraph, and nobody would spot the difference. What really clinched it for me, personally, was the following sentence:
"...a lazy, proud, boastful people who, despite their poverty, were swollen with quite unjustifiable pride about their lineage."

Ok, so us Afrikaanses aren't that lazy, and apart from the Praag bunch, you'd be hard-pressed to find a white Afrikaner in South Africa today who is proud of their lineage.

Well, I am , and I am inordinately proud of my ancestors. Apart from a few facets of apartheid. But let's not go there tonight.