Scots should be telling the stories of our culture and traditions

The National

9 hours ago

I'm a tradition bearer and I recently watched an event at the Scottish Storytelling Centre focused on traditional Scottish folktales. The performance was polished, comedic and theatrical (and I'm sure many enjoyed it) but something didn't sit right.
The lead storytellers were from England, yet the stories being told were deeply Scottish. If I went to a folklore centre in England, I'd expect to hear English voices telling English stories. That's cultural authenticity.
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When Scottish storytellers who have dedicated their lives to keeping traditions alive – often learning directly from communities, elders and oral sources – are passed over in favour of those who have only recently discovered the tradition, through books or academia, it starts to feel less like cultural celebration and more like cultural opportunity.
We rely on the likes of Tracs (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), funded by the Scottish Government, to help protect and promote our living heritage, especially after generations of damage caused by centralised London rule.
So much of our culture, language and oral tradition has been eroded. Spaces for renewal and revival are vital. But what does it say when our stories are so often performed by those not rooted in that heritage?
I've noticed the same pattern elsewhere, too. A storyteller in residence appointed by the National Museum of Scotland and the host of the National Library's Teatime Tales podcast both appear to be from England.
That in itself is not the issue. But when the same handful of individuals are repeatedly given platforms to tell Scottish stories while many incredible Scottish storytellers with deep roots in Highland and Lowland tradition are overlooked, it raises serious questions. Many now market themselves as traditional storytellers, yet often change the way the stories are told.
They add flourishes, theatrical gestures, even alter the structure and meaning, often to make them more entertaining for a modern audience.
That may be engaging for some but when it comes to inherited cultural material, that approach can cross a line. It stops being preservation and starts to look a lot like performance. In some cases, it edges into appropriation.
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I love to see people learn about and embrace Scottish culture, whether from England, Wales, Bahrain, or Peru. But cultural heritage is about lived experience, lineage and community connection.
Around the world, we respect that. You wouldn't expect a first-generation Canadian to become the official storyteller of Native American traditions, not because they can't appreciate or love those stories, but because inherited traditions carry weight, responsibility and cultural authority.
Why is it so controversial to say the same about Scotland?
Why should someone who's just moved up from Little Codling-on-the-Wold and read a few books be given a national platform to tell Scottish folktales over tradition bearers such as the late, great Sheila Stewart or Duncan Williamson, whose families carried the tradition for generations through memory, song and speech?
I'm not suggesting this is malicious but I think we need to ask whether decisions about who gets the platform are being made for the right reasons. Is there a kind of closed circle forming where connections, familiarity,
and funding have more influence than authenticity or cultural grounding?
Across our cultural institutions – museums, heritage bodies, arts organisation or libraries – many of the leadership roles are held by people who aren't from Scotland. When almost all of those in charge of shaping how Scotland's culture is preserved and presented come from outside the culture itself, it's worth asking what's being lost in the process.
I've also noticed a tendency for people in the arts to describe themselves as 'Scotland-based'.
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I don't believe anyone should be made to feel unwelcome. If you've lived here long enough to truly live the tradition, to absorb it through community, language, and experience, and you carry that with care and respect, then great.
But when it comes to public leadership, funding, and representation of Scottish culture – especially in institutions specifically funded to protect it – that space should be led by people who aren't just 'based here' but carry the story in their bones.
We've spent generations fighting to reclaim our voice in language, story, music and art. We mustn't hand it over to those with no deep, lived connection to them, just because they have the right contacts, know how to fill in a funding form, or perform well in front of an audience.