Here’s tae us. Wha’s like us? Damn few an they’re a deid.
A Scottish toast with a curious combination of pride and pessimism (See Caledonian Antisyzygy).
The Press and Journal (21 October 2003) asserts: It is insecurity, not arrogance, which breeds aggressive “Wha’s like us?” braggadocio. It’s lack of confidence which produces the Scottish cringe, as we alternate between national glory and national paranoia. Our fragile football team bears the brunt of inflated expectations and morbid pessimism. This is Hugh MacDiarmid’s “Caledonian antisyzygy”, or Scottish dualism, in a dark blue jersey.