It may take a village to raise a baby, but hell! it takes an army to produce a book.
If we don't value the people who inspire us (and money is one mark of that) then what kind of culture are we building?
Scotland just isn't terribly Tory.
Scotland consistently produces world-class writers.
Everyone assumes writers spend their time lounging around, writing and occasionally striking a pose whilst having a think.
Research material can turn up anywhere - in a dusty old letter in an archive, a journal or some old photographs you find in a charity shop.