SHOULD Scotland get round, hopefully sooner than later, to choosing a president I nominate Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, pictured.

There is a slight problem since RBCG (as we call him for short) died in 1936.

RBCG is immortal and it's a shame he's deid. We could do with his contribution to the current debate on Scotland's future. As the nation examines what it means to be Scottish, the good news is that a Cunninghame Graham Society is being set up to cherish the life and work of one of Scotland's most interesting sons.

Born into a land-owning family, RBCG became the first socialist MP in the British parliament, winning the North West Lanarkshire seat in 1886. He was co-founder with Keir Hardie of the Labour Party. His manifesto included an eight-hour working day, votes for all, and free school meals. A troublesome cove in the Commons, RBCG was suspended for being rude about the House of Lords which he believed should be abolished. The offending word was "damn". He was excluded again from Parliament after a rammy with police at a civil liberties demo in which he was severely beaten up and then jailed for six weeks.

RBCG was an advocate of what was known as Scottish home rule. He said that if taxes were to be wasted this could equally well be done by an Edinburgh parliament and not in London. He was active in the Scottish nationalist movement and was elected the first president of the Scottish National Party in 1934.

Perhaps his most telling quote is: "The enemies of Scottish nationalism are not the English, for they were ever a great and generous folk, quick to respond when justice calls. Our real enemies are among us, born without imagination."

His politics is only part of the story. RBCG was also a writer, promoter of the arts, and most famously an adventurer. He was a gaucho in Argentina, probably inspired to be so by his maternal grandmother, a Spanish noblewoman by the name of Doña Catalina Paulina Alessandro de Jiménez. He is revered in Argentina as Don Roberto. He was a classic internationalist nationalist.

The Cunninghame Graham Society, which has its first meeting on Friday in Glasgow, is a non-partisan organisation dedicated to the man and his large legacy of written work. They also plan a memorial in a central Scottish location. (Equestrian statue in George Square would be good.)

Check out cunninghamegraham.com for more information.