SCOTTISH singer/songwriter has revealed his thoughts on Scottish independence, the Scottish Parliament and Scotland's place in Europe as part of an exclusive interview with The Herald.

The legendary Caledonia singer said Scotland's change in identity over the past few decades could "inevitably lead to independence".

MacLean said when he was younger, many people were "embarrassed" to be Scottish – but has seen a "cultural revolution" help develop the Scottish image into a "lovely, modern, sophisticated" one.

The musician said: I’m very proud of our Scottish Parliament, I think it’s very progressive and modern and I think Scotland’s is a great international brand – people love Scotland, they love the whole concept of Scotland, I don’t know how politically it will all fold out because it gets very complicated.

"It’s not a black and white thing anymore. There have been a lot of things – a lot of lies – said. People are maybe looking at it [politics/independence] a bit more."

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He went on: "I think Scots are more confident in being Scottish, and maybe that will inevitably lead to independence.

"I don’t how that journey will go, but I’d like to see it myself because I believe in small things.

"I believe in independence, but part of a bigger thing.

"And it’s been like that in my own life, I’ve been very independent in how I’ve gone about things – I have my own company, my own studio, so I was in control of my own destiny.

The National:

"But without the bigger thing, it would be very different.

"I’m independent but in a big music scene. I think we need to be part of that bigger thing [Europe]."

MacLean added that if you can invent a cultural identity "that encompasses and brings in other people’s cultural identities too, then you have a modern Scotland that is quite different from the one that my dad would have imagined".

In the interview, the songwriter also announced his plans for Caledonia – The Musical, which he said he is "in the middle of working on".

Read the full interview here: Dougie MacLean on Scottish independence, Caledonia and Piping Live!