Scotland: "Come up screamin'"

Yesterday's referendum in Scotland ended with the Scots choosing to remain part of Great Britain by a comfortable majority. I have to admit that, personally, I found the outcome a bit disappointing. By divulging that, I have to admit that I had no skin in that particular game. I understand that there was a lot of uncertainty in Scotland becoming independent after more than 300 years of belonging to Great Britain. It was a gamble for sure. I certainly respect the principle of self-determination. However, now it's time for British PM David Cameron to hold a referendum on the U.K. remaining in the European Union.

Just as David Letterman asked a New York City cabdriver during the Clinton presidency if the word "Whitewater" (who remembers that scandal?) made him thirsty, all this belaboring over the referendum has made me thirsty, thirsty for a Scotch (Laprohaig 10 to be precise). How about Scotland's own Big Country, led by the late and still terribly missed Stuart Adamson, to go with that drink? To Alex Salmond, who honorably resigned as First Minister of Scotland after leading the failed campaign for independence, and all those who longed for such a dream, "In a Big Country" is our Friday traditio:

I bless and praise Thy matchless might,
When thousands Thou has left in night,
That I here before Thy sight,
       For gifts and grace,
A burning and a shining light
       To a’ this place— (from Robert Burns' poem "Holy Willie's Prayer")