Parliament Cairn - Calton Hill

On Calton Hill in Edinburgh is a cairn with a beacon on top with plaques giving details and the significance of the various stones used in its construction.  The cairn was built to commemorate the vigil for a Scottish Parliament held at the foot of Calton Hill, and celebrating the “yes, yes” vote in favour of a Parliament on September 11th 1997.

After the vote in favour of a Scottish Parliament in a referendum, the Scottish National Party members who had spent 1980 days from 10th April 1992  in a “vigil for a Scottish Parliament” at the foot of the hill wanted a permanent reminder of the event. 

Although roughly built, a cairn is a potent symbol and this one celebrates events of national  and social importance. Attached are various plaques, with a quote from a poem by Hugh McDiarmid, and small plaques recognizing our connections with people, places and events, emphasising Scottish identity and wider struggles for democratic representation. 

A small plaque commemorates Jane Haining, a Scottish teacher who died at Auschwitz; another marks a stone from near the cottage of Robert Burns in Ayrshire, whilst a small “paving stone for democracy” from Paris in 1968 commemorates the student revolutionaries who fought for more democratic rights.

This cairn is situated down the hill from the Nelson Monument and visitors to Calton Hill tended to gather at the National Monument looking at the view over Edinburgh or watching the sunset to the west.  This gave me the opportunity to read the plaques and to imagine the thoughts of the Scots who, after 300 years, finally had a parliament in Scotland once again.  

As an Englishman living in Scotland (with a proud Scottish heritage) I am an advocate of the Union and voted as such in last year's referendum.  But I am also in favour of more powers for Scotland and Scots having more say over how money is raised and spent in this country and this cairn symbolises that.  

What extra powers Scotland will get in 2016 after the next General Election in three weeks time has still to be announced.  But for Scotland the change will be profound as more powers will be coming to Holyrood. 

In my opinion this will make the 2016 elections for the Scottish Parliament more important than the election for Westminster on May 7th because if income tax powers are devolved - and Education, Health, Police, Roads etc are already decided in Edinburgh - then the only thing that Westminster will decide is foreign policy and defence.  For people living north of the border, the Edinburgh parliament will decide on the things that affect us on a day to day basis, making Scotland an independent country in all but name.

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