The Scots in Shetland and the English in Scotland as a construction and as individuals

The article reconsiders some of the issues presented in author's doctoral dissertation and reflects on the ways in which the uses of history have created different meanings depending on political changes at a national and regional levels in Scottish and wider British contexts. For example, the meaning of 'the Scots in Shetland' has changed in recent decades as a result of changes in political and economic circumstances. The English in Scotland have been been often omitted from historiography in Scotland and it is only now, against the background of growing nationalism, that the case has been reconsidered. This has raised questions regarding the structural invisibility and homogenity of such groups. The article shows the complexity of making use of nationality as a criterion to explain ethno-cultural perceptions in British contexts and suggests an emphasis on distinctions between individual experiences and constructed images of national and regional identities.