Continuity and change: the culture of ritual and procession in the parliaments of Scotland

Abstract

Ritual is a key part of the parliamentary culture of national assemblies. Sounds, symbols and ceremonial provide continuity and the reassuring presence of traditional values. Both representatives and represented, before and after modern democratic developments, gathered then and gather now to observe the ceremonial proprieties and, in particular, where the indications of sovereignty and legitimacy are shared or transferred as played out in public view. This is seen most clearly in state openings of parliament as expressed within the available space and geography of ritual. But establishing a ritualistic tradition takes time. The vacillation and uncertainty over ceremonial for the new post 1999 Scottish Parliament, in the light of its medieval and early modern precursor, shows how articulating the rules of ritual can be fraught with difficulties. This is highlighted not merely by the first opening in 1999 but also those of 2003 and 2007 greeting the second and third sessions, and also the special opening of the new parliamentary chamber at Holyrood in 2004.

Scottish parliamentary record scholarship in the devolution era

“…Indeed, some scholars have argued that the new parliament's appeals to the past have been surprisingly muted 74. Yet as Mann pointed out in 2009, the parliamentary rituals of the past two decades have drawn heavily on those of the seventeenth century, based in part on advice from the SPP 75. The broader point here is that neither the editors nor users of the RPS operate in a political or cultural vacuum; the creation of a new parliament has unavoidable consequences for conceptualisations 71 Finlay, 'New Britain, new Scotland', p. 384. of the old.…”