Recreating heritage in the southwest of Scotland

Abstract

This paper studies the role of heritage tourism in the creation of uniform identity. The recently developed heritage tourism products in the southwest of Scotland are encouraging the promotion of the dominant heritage of Scotland, largely marginalising the regional one. This paper examines the cases of the heritage of Robert the Bruce that stresses Scotland's militaristic tradition, the eventful organisation of the Border Gathering which showcases Highland culture and the marginalisation of the Covenanting heritage of the region. The data are gathered through a questionnaire survey, in-depth interview, non-participant observation, archival records and other secondary sources. It shows how tourism is gearing towards recreating and establishing heritage which is largely new to the region. The paper argues that the promotion of dominant heritage is meaningfully directed towards forming a uniform and homogenous identity. The introduction of the dominant heritage in the region is important because it encourages commonality within Scotland, which plays an enormous part in advancing Scottish nationalism. This study helps us understand how tourism can be a medium to advance a nationalistic message.

Keywords:

• identity
• heritage
• Scotland
• nationalism
• history

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Prof. Ted Cowan, Dr. Don Macleod, Mary MacIlwraith and Taptika for their assistance in the preparation of this paper. Financial support from The Crichton Foundation, Dumfries is duly acknowledged. The author is grateful to the three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.