Fear God and work hard

According to the plinth, David Livingstone's statue beside the Zambesi was “unveiled by his excellency the right honorable the lord llewellin, gbe, mc, td, dl, governor general of the federation of rhodesia and nyasaland, and dedicated by his grace the lord archbishop of central africa, edward francis paget, on 16 november 1955.”

Today the inscription seems older than its 42 years but the sculpture itself is ageless, with its resolute chin, gormless moustache, and trouser legs tied with ploughman's “nicky tams”—more useful as anti-creepy-crawly devices in Zimbabwe than in Lanarkshire.

Visiting Scots cannot help swelling with proprietorial pride. Livingstone's five …