AN article in The Spectator by the English journalist Rod Liddle has raised the hackles of some of my fellow Scots. Liddle though, might bridle at being described as “English”, for it seems that his veins are pumping with pure Caledonian blood. So, if I’ve misappropriated his national and cultural identity I can only apologise and will consider going on a diversity awareness course.

Liddle expressed his dismay – amounting to horror – at discovering on one of those genealogy websites that he was 75% Scottish. (Trigger warning: the next sentence contains imagery that might be considered insulting to Belgian nationals).

He said that he “could not have been more appalled if it had been revealed that I was descended from Belgians”.

(Trigger warning: the next two sentences contain outdated descriptions of Scottishness that some people may find offensive). In fact, Liddle’s essence is so hoaching with Scottishness that he must already be weighed down with the chips on both of his shoulders. Has he recently taken to wandering about Euston Station howling with the super lager and swearing at random passers-by?

READ MORE: Rod Liddle 'devastated' after discovering his Scottish roots

Liddle, it turns out, is more than three-quarters Scottish. His dad, who he thought had a heart of pure English oak, was 65% Scottish. Furthermore, his mum weighed in with a Scottish factor of 87%. Holy fu*k! Liddle has got even more Scottish blood than me.

(Trigger warning: the following sentence might be considered offensive to people of Irish heritage). I’ve got the blood of 20 generations of bog-Irish peasantry swirling around my internal organs.

Expressing his dismay on discovering he might be Pictish or even descended from the mighty Celts, Liddle wrote: “Imagine how this feels! One moment you are comfortable with the notion of yourself as a decent, solid, industrious Englishman – and then it is revealed that you are, instead, a chippy, grasping, salad-dodging smackhead who is unable to define the word ‘woman’. It is like suddenly finding out, at the age of 62, that you were adopted and your real parents were serial killers.”

I laughed out loud at those lines, recognising elements in them of my own Scottish/Irishness. As with any good satire, there was an element of truth in Liddle’s words. I also like to think most Scots are secure enough in their own skin to indulge such mockery. Indeed, as it now transpires, Mr Liddle is mocking himself and his own family.

I’ve been partial to Liddle’s writing in several publications for more than 20 years, so I’m probably biased. Quite clearly, though, others are not and professed to have been horrified about his musings for many years. Perhaps predictably in this extended era of constitutional uncertainty, many Scots patriots bristled with indignation at Liddle’s unlovely and distorted (but very funny) descriptions of the Scottish character.

For some it ventured into a darker realm. A few people suggested that if you substituted “Muslim” or “Jewish” for “Scottish” then it could be considered racist. Absolute nonsense, of course. Not since the days of the Jacobite rebellions can Scots say they’re an oppressed minority. In fact, we might still be independent if a few grasping Scottish merchants in the pre-democracy era hadn’t regarded the Union as a get-rich-quick scheme and sold out their own country.

Indeed, it might be argued with some justification that Scots have had a grossly disproportionate influence on the internal affairs of jolly old England for more than a century. This includes the Westminster Parliament; the media (at all levels); business and commerce; the judiciary and the British Army. We are not oppressed and no-one discriminates against us. And in the past, if there was any oppressing to be done we’ve often got stuck in about it.

IF you want to know what historic oppression and discrimination on these islands has looked like then behold Britain’s activities in Ireland and the gleeful participation of Scottish regiments in them.

Despite the many world-class achievements of Scots, we are chippy and aggressive and permanently on the lookout for a square go at anyone who looks at us the wrong way. We seek constant reassurance that we’re the cat’s whiskers. So what? Own it. And if you don’t like that description then I’ll see you outside, sunshine.

One prominent independence supporter described Liddle’s article as “disagreeable, antagonistic trolling and the last two sentences are anything but friendly”.

Journalism, though, isn’t always meant to be about moonbeams and unicorns and sharing updates on your personal wellbeing. It’s only in the land of the Teletubbies that nothing disagreeable, antagonistic or unfriendly is permitted to happen.

If some of my fellow supporters of Scottish independence are upset about beastliness and unpleasantness in civic discourse then they need look no further than the higher echelons of the main party of Scottish independence.

Under the current leadership, the SNP is a cruel, malevolent and misogynistic place which harbours several activists who routinely issue violent threats against women. It’s the most unpleasant political party in the UK.

They should also know that Liddle’s editor at The Spectator, Fraser Nelson, is Scottish. The chairman of Press Holdings, owner of The Spectator, is Andrew Neil, a proud son of Paisley and alumnus of Glasgow University. Both of these men are from ordinary, non-privileged west of Scotland backgrounds.

Of course, some of those expressing outrage at Liddle’s article feel that you can’t be truly Scottish if you support the Union and that you stand accused of treachery. You could argue that views such as these are genuinely more sinister than someone lampooning a few of our own national characteristics.

Liddle ends his article with the following sentence: “The only consolation is that henceforth I shall expect everybody else in England to subsidise me through their taxes, while simultaneously demanding total independence from them.”

READ MORE: Man threatened to assassinate Nicola Sturgeon, Glasgow court told

I’ll admit it: that sentence probably isn’t satire; it’s just a consistently held opinion by a supporter of the Union. It’s allowed.

You could respond by asking why Englishmen such as Liddle choose to live in a medieval Ruritania where permanent deference to a ruling class of inbred, corrupt and thick aristocrats is encouraged. But that might be considered uncharitable and bordering on xenophobia. Such sentiments, though, proliferate Scottish nationalist Twitter. I’ve more or less expressed them myself in this newspaper.

I think we need to relax; chill; visit the pub; get howling with The Salvadors and indulge in some therapeutic physical aggravation at the end of the night. And if you’re into something more esoteric, maybe smoke something organic.

Perhaps Liddle already embraces these tendencies. If so, then he is undeniably Scottish and I’m happy to claim him as one of my very own. Bonnie Scotland, ya bas.