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Ian Munro Webmaster 

Departing U.S. Envoy ‘A Scot at Heart’

Scotland is fantastic – that’s the verdict of the U.S. Government representative in Scotland for the past three years Cecile Shea, Principal  Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Edinburgh.

As she left to take up a new posting in Pakistan, Cecile issued an open letter to Scots in which she declared, “I leave a Scot at heart.”

Her only criticism was  that Scots are too self-effacing. “I hate the way you constantly beat yourselves up. Now, I’m not saying you need to become bragging, arrogant Americans. Heaven knows, there are enough of us to go round. But billions of people on this planet recognise that Scotland is one of the greatest countries anywhere and that they owe their freedom, health, education, and knowledge of Quidditch to you, so give yourselves a little credit,” she wrote.

“If you don’t believe me, just imagine that there had never been a Scotland.

“No penicillin. No medical schools. No Optos, the Dunfermline company that in the last few years has saved thousands of people's sight. No Dolly the sheep. No cutting-edge research into the plethora of health problems facing us all.

“No justice system for the young United States and many other countries to copy. Ditto the Scottish education system. Ditto important, precedent setting judicial decisions, such as that a person could not be enslaved because of his colour.

“No Scotland would mean less freedom in the world because there would have been no Scottish Enlightenment. Less wealth in the world because no Scottish entrepreneurism. Less mobility, comfort, and information in the world because no great Scottish inventors.”

She advised Scots, “Next time you feel like complaining, ask someone from Burma if he’d like to change places with you.”

Cecile concluded, “Had there never been a Scotland, I, like most people in the world, would be less free, less educated, less safe and less healthy. And I could never have lived the three best years of my life in your beautiful country. I leave a Scot at heart – and a very optimistic one.”

High praise indeed.  Follow that, Pakistan!

A native of South Lake Tahoe, California, Cecile  held Foreign Service posts in Tel Aviv, Thailand and Calgary, Western Canada before being sent to Edinburgh in August 2003.