In 1998 Alex Salmond dismissed doubts over Scotland’s Celtic lineage as “ignorance bordering on silliness”. In 2007 he expounded a vision of the country as a “Celtic lion” economy. In 2005 a Scottish National Party press release on the anniversary of William Wallace’s execution stated that he “saved the nation from surrender and annihilation”. More recently, Salmond’s impassioned speeches have channelled Mel Gibson’s Wallace from the 1995 Hollywood blockbuster Braveheart
