cheating, because no one could do it. The scholar Fraenkelrnmost admired at Oxford was Sir John Beasley, the founder ofrnthe scholarly study of Greek vase painting, who blandly assuredrnFraenkel that it could be done. “You see, I did it.” (As an undergraduate,rnBeasley had composed a famous parody in IonicrnGreek of Herodotus’s visit to England, “Herodotus at thernZoo.”) World War II gave Fraenkel an excuse for his hatred.rnDouglas spent his 60 yearsrnfighting for lost causes:rnthe restoration of the Scottishrnnation and its literature and therntexts of ancient Greek poets.rnIn 1938, Douglas turned down Oxford’s prestigious Gravenrnfellowship to teach at Aberdeen and joined the Scottish NationalistrnParty (SNP). War was coming, and the SNP’s officialrnposition was that its members were not to serve in the Britishrnmilitary until Scotland had been granted dominion status, withrnits own parliament, like Canada or New Zealand.rnAs with the Balkans, it is a long story. Queen Elizabeth diedrnin 1603, the last of Henry VIIFs syphilitic brood. The crownrndevolved upon the head of the son of her old bete noire, MaryrnQueen of Scots. James VI of Scotland, now James I of Englandrnas well, made a fateful decision. He transferred the royal courtrnto London. So the King James Bible was translated into English,rninstead of Scots, and Scotland’s affairs were put on thernback burner. The next century was chaotic and violent forrnboth nations. By 1707, England was again ruled by a childlessrnold woman, Anne. Before the throne was handed over to thernElector of Hanover and his line, the relationship of the twornkingdoms of England and Scotland had to be regularized. Sornby the Treaty of Union they were turned into Great Britain andrntheir parliaments were amalgamated into the British Parliament.rnIn practice, it was the old English Parliament with arnrump minority of 45 Scottish members (71 in Douglas’s day)rnwith 16 Scots in the House of Lords, who were regularly outvotedrnor ignored. Attempts to restore the rightful heir to thernScottish throne were ruthlessly put down by the British crownrnin 1715 and 1745. From that time on England ruled Scotlandrnas a conquered province. She did, however, grant all rights andrnduties of British citizenship to any Scot who would move tornEngland. Even more emigrated overseas, where Scots excelledrnin many fields. Douglas estimated at some 20 million thernScottish diaspora throughout the English-speaking world,rnScotti per diversa vagantes.rnDuring the Kaiser’s War, Scottish troops had suffered disproportionatelyrnheavy losses by being placed at greater riskrnthan English troops. Scotland’s economy had suffered morernthan England’s from the wartime state socialism and the postwarrnslump, since English “governments, though stupid, were atrnleast primarily concerned with England.” The SNP correctlyrnpredicted similar policies in the next war. They did not foreseernthat the British government would set up most new factoriesrnfor war material in England and draft Scottish women to laborrnin distant and dangerous English industrial cities.rnAt a May Day (Labor Day) rally in Aberdeen in 1939, as warrnloomed, a heckler asked Douglas whether the Treaty of Unionrngave the British Parliament the authority to draft Scotsmen forrnforeign service. Douglas gave the official SNP position, thatrnArticle XVIII of the Treaty of Union preserved the ScottishrnGommon Law and so drafting Scots was ultra vires, beyond thernauthority, of the British Pariiament. The crowd cheered.rnDouglas was in Greece when Hitler invaded Poland onrnSeptember 1, 1939. Conscription was enacted. The SNP splitrninto pacifists, anti-Nazis, and standpatters. (The communistsrnwere silent. Russia was an ally of Nazi Germany and, havingrntaken its share of Poland, had invaded Finland.) Douglas stoodrnhis ground: “Dominion self-government in war as in peace, andrnno acquiescence in the unconstitutional conscription, eitherrnfor military purposes or, as was soon imposed, for industrialrnwork.”rnThe initial round of conscription had passed Douglas by,rnbut the terrible early defeats soon caused men in their late 20’srnto be “dereserved.” Douglas might not have been drafted,rnbecause of his height, poor eyesight, and the effects of a childhoodrninjury. In any event, he refused to answer his draft noticernand was summoned to the local Sheriff-Court to answerrncharges.rnOn April 13,1942, Douglas appeared before Sheriff NormanrnMacDonald in Glasgow. Repudiating the name “British,” hernasserted that “no government other than a Scottish governmentrnhas any rights over the Scots.” He doubted British competence.rn”I observe the British government conducting itsrnso-called war effort with such fusionless incompetence as torngive a walk-over to the imperialist ventures of the Germans, thernAmericans, and the Japanese.” He felt that the way Churchillrnwas running the war, it would end with the loss of the BritishrnEmpire and world hegemony handed over either to the Axis orrnAmerica. (Was he wrong?) “To judge by recent results,” herncontinued, “there is great doubt about the capacity of thernBritish government to defend Scotland, which is my country.rnIt is no service to Scotland to follow the misleadership of thernBritish government and become a prisoner at St. Valeryen-rnCaux or at Singapore or elsewhere.”rnScotland was one of the great nations of Europe, not an Englishrnprovince. “Scots troops have played the part of Uriahrnthe Hittite often enough already in Great Britain’s wars, and itrnis now high time the Scots decided to fight for Scots independence,rnfollowing the example of the Serbs, the Norse, and otherrnself-respecting nations.” Serbia and Norway had both beenrninvaded by Nazi Germany. The comparison was a provocation.rn”Scots workers, women as well as men, are transported likerncoolies to labor for an alien imperialism furth of Scotland,rnwhile Scotland is invaded by a swarm of miscellaneous foreignersrnmaking themselves at home. All Scots must unite for therntotal defense of Scotland in Scotland, under Scots control.” Atrnthis point Sheriff MacDonald stopped Douglas from speaking.rnThe SNP printed the whole speech. It may surprise thosernwho know only the British version of the war. “Your Lordshiprnwill have noted the frequent observations made by war-mindedrnpublicists that the population of Scotland is apathetic orrnunduly complacent with regard to the present hostilities. Thisrn28/CHRONiCLESrnrnrn