28 NOVEMBER 1952, Page 20

Bannockburn

SIR,—Sir Frederick Whyte's article, on reindeer in Scotland, made the first suggestion I have seen that the Scots lost the battle of Bannockburn, or that Robert the Bruce went into exile after it. His signal victory united Scotland, and enabled her to recover after the devastation of Edward's occupation.

The statement that Scottish Nationalists look into the past is equally misleading. It is true that they study the past to get a proper appreciation of the present—a nation which forgets its history is like a man who has lost his memory—but they are looking to, and working for, a better future. They do not harbour hate against past enemies; they hope that all nations of the world may become free and self-governing, and in that state co-operate to build a better world.

—Yours faithfully, DAVID STEVENSON, (Secretary, Cambridge University Home Rule Society). Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.