Scot had to appear nasty about English and Poles (8)

'poles' is the definition.
(as in electrical poles)

'scot had to appear nasty about english' is the wordplay.
'to appear nasty' indicates an anagram (a nasty or wrong spelling).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'scot'+'had'='scothad'
'scothad' is an anagram of 'cathods'.
'cathods' going around 'e' is 'CATHODES'.

'and' is the link.