Mr Dewar will use his St Andrew's Day speech on Monday to spell out what the Holyrood Parliament will mean for Scotland.

He will also warn the Scottish National Party against using wrecking tactics.

Meanwhile, the SNP says its victory in the North-east Scotland European Parliament seat indicates it will win control of the administration after next May's elections.

Donald Dewar: "Pursue" opponents

Mr Dewar says devolution is the settled will of the people of Scotland, confirmed by the results of last year's referendum.

"Expect us to listen to all those who want to make the Parliament work.

"Expect us to oppose those who would seek to sour the settlement to dismantle it. This is not hysteria, this is common sense," Mr Dewar will say.

"Those who peddle alternatives - alternatives which I believe will be profoundly damaging to Scotland's future - will be pursued through every by-way and back alley to expose the weakness of their case.

"Their arguments cannot and will not go by default."

Mr Dewar will also argue in the speech that devolution strikes the right balance between the advantages of doing things "our way" in Scotland and working together with the UK.

"Although stable, it's not rigid. As a government committed to change it would be absurd to pretend that ours will be the last word on every detail of the constitutional settlement."

Mr Dewar will praise Scotland's unique and vigorous culture, saying the country has built its fortunes through open engagement with the wider world.

"What makes Scotland special is the strength of our values, our commitment to equality of opportunity and social justice.

"The values of the people of Scotland, the way they view the world which will create opportunities, the challenges for Parliament."

SNP confident

Alex Salmond: SNP will win power

The SNP says its strategists have calculated that the swing to the party in the North-east Scotland seat would result in a 6% lead if repeated in the elections to the Scottish Parliament.

Leader Alex Salmond said: "Our analysis of the by-election result shows a 15% swing from Labour to the SNP, compared to the General Election last year.

"This would result in some 32 seats in the first past the post ballot, including gaining 20 seats from Labour and six from the Liberal Democrats.

"We would expect these results to be mirrored in the second vote next May, producing a large SNP group capable of leading the administration in the new Scottish Parliament.