Siol nan Gaidheal (, meaning "Seed of the Gaels") is a minor Scottish

ultranationalist Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...

and

ethnic nationalist Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...

group which describes itself as a "cultural and fraternal organisation". The first incarnation of the group was founded by Tom Moore in 1978, though it became defunct twice and was re-established by Jackie Stokes in 1987 and again in 1997. Though the group publicly disavows politics, SnG has been variously described by commentators as anywhere from "traditionalist" to "crypto-fascist" or "proto-fascist". Members of the group have been banned from membership of the mainstream nationalist

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...

since 1982.

Name

The name, properly spelled (), is

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

for 'Seed of the Gaels'. The term has numerous meanings, most commonly translated as "breed, brood, lineage, progeny, seed".

History

First incarnation (19781985)

The first incarnation of Siol nan Gaidheal was founded in 1978 by Tom Moore, a Scot who spent his childhood in the USA. It grew in the immediate aftermath of the 1979 devolution referendum, despite being shunned by the mainstream nationalist SNP, whose ruling executive attempted to ban SnG from the party as early as 1980. In September 1980, the SNP launched an inquiry into the group, with Colin Bell as vice-chairman. SnG was fully proscribed after the SNP's 1982 conference. The 1320 Club, which was banned by the SNP in 1968, merged into SnG in the same year.Barberis et al, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'', p.409. Throughout the 1980s, Siol nan Gaidheal published a magazine called ic(''Scottish Truth''), which has been described as having a rhetoric which was "anti-communist, neo-fascist and sometimes violent in tone".Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (2003). ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups''. p. 408. Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's personal security was stepped up in Scotland after members of SnG tried to accost her outside the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

conference in

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in 1982. Some members of SnG formed an unofficial paramilitary wing called (AnG; "Army of the Gael"), which was responsible for a number of

petrol bomb A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flam ...

attacks in 1982 and 1983. Against the background of internal division and arrests of members, the first incarnation of Siol nan Gaidheal eventually folded in 1985.

Second incarnation (198790s)

Siol nan Gaidheal was re-established in 1987 by Jackie Stokes, a member of the

Scottish Republican Socialist Party The Scottish Republican Socialist Movement (SRSM) is a political organisation that was formed out of the now defunct Scottish Republican Socialist Party (SRSP), a political party that operated in Scotland. The SRSM campaigns for Scottish in ...

. This second incarnation of the group explicitly rejected violence. By 1988, it claimed a membership of 300. Its activities included, in 1989, erecting a cairn in memory of

Willie McRae Willie McRae (18 May 1923 – 7 April 1985) was a Scottish lawyer, orator, naval officer, politician and anti-nuclear campaigner. In the Second World War he served in the British Army and then the Royal Indian Navy. He supported the Indian indep ...

—who was sympathetic to SNG, and possibly at one point a member—along with Michael Strathern. By the early 1990s, however, Stokes had suffered a heart attack and then kidney problems, which effectively killed the organisation.

Third incarnation (1997present)

Jackie Stokes eventually re-established Siol nan Gaidheal for a second time in 1997, this time concentrating mainly on its website and online discussion forum. Chapters were set up in the

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and in

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as a focus for the Scottish diaspora in

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. Stokes died on 24 July 2001, leading to a downturn in the group's activity. In May 2006, SnG held its first Ard Fhèis (party annual conference) in 14 years, in Dalwhinnie,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Siol nan Gaidheal actively campaigned during the 2014 independence referendum, though the mainstream

Yes Scotland Yes Scotland was the organisation representing the parties, organisations, and individuals campaigning for a ''Yes'' vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. It was launched on 25 May 2012 and dissolved in late 2014 after Scotland voted ...

campaign distanced itself from SnG. The group made headlines in the run-up to the referendum for heckling Labour MP Jim Murphy on his visits to Dundee and Montrose. On 11 January 2020 the ''All Under One Banner'' pro-independence demonstration in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

marched behind a banner badged with the Siol nan Gaidheal symbol. In June 2022, SNP MSP

Evelyn Tweed Evelyn Tweed is a Scottish politician who has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Stirling since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a councillor in Stirling for Trossachs and Teith ward since 2017. ...

apologised after being photographed holding the flag of Siol nan Gaidheal.

Aim and ideology

The Siol nan Gaidheal website summarises its views as follows: They have been branded as like " proto fascists" by former SNP leader Gordon Wilson.

Footnotes

References

*''The Hollow Drum'', Arnold Kemp, , pp166–172 *''Britain's Secret War'', Andrew Murray Scott and Iain Macleay, , pp 113–131.

Notes

External links

Official website
{{Nationalism in the United Kingdom 1978 establishments in Scotland Proto-fascists Ethnic nationalism Far-right politics in Scotland Political advocacy groups in Scotland Scottish nationalist organisations