Eddi Reader Quotes
Why should Scotland be stopped from suggesting to the English people that we join a new union under new terms? Let's not try to dominate one another. Let's be a collection, like being in the pub with a kitty. When we vote in Scotland, we vote one way, but the other country votes another way and we always end up with what they vote for.
Reader, Eddi. Interview by Janet Christie. "Interview: Eddi Reader, singer." The Scotsman, Johnston Press, 15 Feb. 2014.
In Philadelphia, the state delegates had just started to vote for independence. The majority of each state delegation determined the vote for the state. Delaware had three delagates, but only two were in Philadelphia. Rodney, the third delegate from Delaware, had been attending a meeting in Dover when he received word that the other two Delaware delagates Thomas McKean and George Read were split—McKean for and Read against independence. Rodney immediately left for Philadelphia late on July 1. He rode all night in a thunderstorm to traverse the 80 miles to Philadelphia. He arrived in his spurs and riding boots and cast his famous vote and thus Delaware voted for Independence. After the vote, the next 2 days were spent drafting the Declaration of Independence and Rodney signed it on July 4. After Rodney returned to Delaware, he was ousted in the next election by conservative loyalists who felt that Rodney had betrayed them and England.
The Chief Secretary, Lord Castleregh, had put forward a resolution to bring about the unification of Great Britain and Ireland under the single British Parliament at Westminster. He and his allies had bribed a number of the Irish MPs to support the union. With Union some Irish MPs would then be able to win seats representing Ireland in the British Parliament. Although Grattan and most of the Orangemen opposed the Union, 4 months later, the bill passed comfortably. Ironically, Grattan was one of the Irish MPs whose popularity won a seat in the unified British Parliament.
Sadenia "Eddi" Reader MBE is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known for her work as frontwoman of Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards. In 2003, she showcased the works of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns.
