Greatest Ever Scot

[macwilkin]

Well if you were looking for the epitome of a Scottish Soldier, how about Field Marshal Sir Colin Campbell?

An excellent choice, Jock. I would also add Major Colin Campbell Mitchell of the Argylls to a list of great Scottish soldiers.

T.

[Lallans]

he has been made an honourary citizen of Linlithgow, where he will be born later this century, a statue of him has been erected

Under the name Scot, or Doohan?

[Kilted-Marine]

For the best long term effect on people around the world - Major Kenneth MacLaren.. 1st secretary for the Boy Scouts.... His efforts have had a positive impact on boys and families world wide for over 100 years

[figheadair]

An excellent choice, Jock. I would also add Major Colin Campbell Mitchell of the Argylls to a list of great Scottish soldiers.

T.

To the list should be added Sir George Murray, a local Crieff man, who was Wellington's Quarter Master General in the Peninsula. The QMG had nothing to do with supplies, stores etc as is now the case but was in charge of Intelligence which was crucial to the campaign's success.

[dameanniemac]

My first instinct was Robert Burns also - what other Scot has their birthday celebrated around the globe every year?

Robert Burns has to be considered the greatest Scott. His words are know the world wide. Yet very few people read between his lines. he was a freedom fighter, stood and wrote for the rights of women, believed that animals deserved respect as living beings and loved nature. How many of you know that Robert Burns was a great influence on President's Lincoln, Washington, Clinton and Obama. How many of you know that he supported the French and American Revolutions. Check out the R.T. Burns Club, just google it and you will be surprised at what a man he really was. He spoke to the common people and railed against the powerful and rich. A Man is a Man for all that!

[macwilkin]

Robert Burns has to be considered the greatest Scott. His words are know the world wide. Yet very few people read between his lines. he was a freedom fighter, stood and wrote for the rights of women, believed that animals deserved respect as living beings and loved nature. How many of you know that Robert Burns was a great influence on President's Lincoln, Washington, Clinton and Obama. How many of you know that he supported the French and American Revolutions. Check out the R.T. Burns Club, just google it and you will be surprised at what a man he really was. He spoke to the common people and railed against the powerful and rich. A Man is a Man for all that!

Washington certainly influenced Burns, given his Ode to General Washington's Birthday. I can't say I've ever seen any evidence that Burns influenced the General, as he was a young man around the time of the Revolution more concerned with the lassies and the Tarbolton Bachelor's Club.

As far as his support for the French Revolution goes, he did for a time, until the Terror and the possibility of Revolutionary France invading the British Isles -- he then joined the local militia unit, the Dumfries Volunteers, and wrote Does Hauty Gual Invasion Threat? as a way to prove his loyalty.

Burns was one of Lincoln's favorites, and Professor Fernec Szasz recently published a great book on the Lincoln-Burns connection.

T.

[DrumMayer]

Exceptional and thoughtful responses all, to a most subjective question to be sure. I would add Wm. Thompson, Lord Kelvin. Not only did he advance EM studies and thermodynamics, and of course developed the Kelvin scale, he also developed an improved marine compass and (I believe) hydrographic equipment.

To go on a tangent, I would like to ask the assembled, "What quality(-ies) define 'greatness'?" How do we begin to define the "greatest" amongst a population, much less the greatest ever? I'd very much like to hear the criteria---full disclosure, this is a question I ask my philosophy students on a regular basis.

[Jock Scot]

Exceptional and thoughtful responses all, to a most subjective question to be sure. I would add Wm. Thompson, Lord Kelvin. Not only did he advance EM studies and thermodynamics, and of course developed the Kelvin scale, he also developed an improved marine compass and (I believe) hydrographic equipment.

To go on a tangent, I would like to ask the assembled, "What quality(-ies) define 'greatness'?" How do we begin to define the "greatest" amongst a population, much less the greatest ever? I'd very much like to hear the criteria---full disclosure, this is a question I ask my philosophy students on a regular basis.

Right then, from a non academics point of view, I put that("greatness") down to "achievement and the way that it was done" and it is that simple. Now my interests are not really science based and I am not particularly "arty" so many worthy people will slip through my net. Nevertheless, I think for me, "---achievement and the way it was done--" will be my definition of "greatness".

[McClef]

"Some are born Great, some achieve Greatness and some have Greatness thrust upon them."

Not many people in history have had the title "the Great" conferred upon them and these have been Monarchs or Popes.

But none of them have, to my knowledge, been Scots.

Despite that, there are many Scots who are seen to have an element of greatness in the minds of folk. Depends upon one's interest or knowledge as to how that criteria is applied. For some it's patriotic military leadership and for others it's how they have inspired and influenced the lives of others and for some others it's because they have actually heard of them or seen a movie based (however inaccurately) on their lives.

It would be interesting to get official X Marks nominations and then have a vote on the 10 most nominated with someone acting as advocate for each candidate. At least that way we would know who the X Marks Greatest Scot is!

[DrumMayer]

Well said, Jock Scot & McClef. However, I am dismayed that simple recognition is part of the equation as well, and in our own time becoming the defining characteristic. For instance, many of the above posters have named William Wallace and Robert Bruce, yet Andrew Moray and James "The Black" Douglas go begging when people speak of the War of Independence these days. Are they not great as well?

It would be interesting to get official X Marks nominations and then have a vote on the 10 most nominated with someone acting as advocate for each candidate. At least that way we would know who the X Marks Greatest Scot is!

An excellent idea! It puts me in mind of the kind of annual polls that some magazines have. I'm sure the response would be enthusiastic and varied. How would we go about this?