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Published Date: 28 December 2008
WELCOME to Scotland on Sunday's online feature, Question of the Week.
Each week we ask the readers of scotlandonsunday.com for their views on a burning issue from the past seven days.

The best responses may be reproduced on the Online Forum page in Sunday's print edition of the newspaper on January 4th.

If you wish to appear in Scotland on Sunday, then, along with your response, please leave a first name and surname, as well as your location - eg Tom Smith, Edinburgh. We welcome all comments.

The question this week is...

Is the honours system an elitist tradition that is out of date?



The full article contains 108 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 31 December 2008 12:24 PM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
  • Related Topics: New Year Honours
 
1

John Robinson,

02/01/2009 11:14:06
While I congratulate the likes of Chris Hoy, and all the anonymous others who do so much without a sniff of any publicity), I can't help thinking that honouring somebody as a member or officer or whatever of the British Empire is more than a little out of date. Empire? What empire? Surely it's time for a more relevant award system...
2

rmclean,

02/01/2009 15:54:26
Our oldy-worldy system of handing out gongs is all down to the fact that we’re a monarchy. It only makes you cringe if you’re a staunch Republican. But do we really want a French-style Legion d’Honneur with its militarist overtones – or an -X-Factor-like popularity contest that Tony Blair might favour. Let’s stick with what ain’t broke.
3

drunken proffet,

Tassy 04/01/2009 04:59:33
There should be some recognition for the folk who give their all to the UK. Something new with a bit of a whizz. Keep the old fashioned titles for the politicians, in some cases knowing the folk involved, it gives us a good laugh.
4

Truth-Seeker,

south scotland 04/01/2009 10:50:15
As we bask in the well-deserved honour that has come to athletes like Chris Hoy in the Queen’s Honours List , I thoroughly agree with the sentiments expressed in various quarters that it is high time that Kenneth McKellar, a splendid Scottish tenor and servant to Scottish music, should be honoured by his own country.
People have short memories. In the past I have asked the powers that be to posthumously honour the Scottish international tenor, Edinburgh-born Joseph Hislop (1884-1977) and his equally celebrated colleague, the Aberdonian soprano Mary Garden (1878-1967), both of whose biographies I wrote more than ten years ago and nothing has come of it, either in the shape of a plaque in the Scottish Parliament or as in some other form.
Hislop was hailed by the composer Giacomo Puccini as 'My Ideal Rodolpho' when he sang the leading role at Covent Garden in 1921 under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham and Mary Garden as well as being the first woman to direct an opera company while playing leading roles in Chicago in the early 1920s also created the role of Mélisande in his ‘Pelléas et Mélisande’ (1902) in Paris.
Hislop was knighted by the King of Denmark and also by the King of Sweden, while Mary Garden received the White Eagle of Serbia for her nursing of wounded soldiers, La Medaille de la Reconnaissance and the Legion d'Honneur from the French.
Neither Hislop nor Garden were honoured by Britain! Let us hope that it may be possible for Kenneth McKellar to be so honoured and that the ceremony may also include some retrospective reference to the wonderful achievements of Garden and Hislop.

5

The Former Mr. Angry,

Perth 04/01/2009 13:10:00
And the answer is -

yes.
The Empire faded away some time ago and the whole honours system depends on patronage and privileged people deciding who did well and who didn't. I wouldn't argue Chris Hoy's award, but he already received 3 Gold Medals in recognition of fairly measurable achievements and this doesn't need to be further emebellished by this now tarnished system (think Tony Blair/Gordon Brown). Does anyone take the award of a peerage seriously any more?

 

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