I noticed things got a bit Off Topic in the general section, so I'd like to move it here...to the Off Topic section.

Seanboy and some others were discussing what makes somebody a Scot. Here's what I think:

I don't really consider myself Irish or Scottish. The two halves of my family came from those places, which is why I think of myself as Celtic. I share an ethnicity with the people from those places, and that ethnicity has lended with it a strong shared culture. The Irish, Scots, Welsh, Bretons, and Galatians share a lot of culture, which has since been brought to the US, Canada, Australia, and even parts of South America (such as Y Wladfa and Montserrat).

I'm convinced the American/Canadian Celtic culture is far different from the Celtic traditions found in Ireland or Scotland. The music is related, but it certainly has evolved, just as dancing, clothing, and other traditions have evolved and changed in the New World. For example: American Bluegrass is rooted heavily in Irish and Scottish folk music, but is not totally the same. If it weren't for Celtic-Americans we wouldn't have Celtic punk like the ever-popular Dropkick Murphys. Cape Breton has developed it's own style of Step Dancing that comes from Irish Step Dancing, but is not totally the same and Contra Dancing, which is totally American, came from Scottish Country Dancing. Claddagh rings, worn by almost all of my Celtic friends here, are relatively rare in Ireland. Tweed caps, which one one my age (20) wore in Ireland, are worn by all of my Irish-American friends here in the US.

But we also don't forget our roots. We owe almost everything to our ancestors, and for that we like to celebrate. We have some really awesome Highland Games (Maxville, Grandfather Mountain) and Milwaukee's Irish Fest is the largest celebration of Irish music and culture in the world. We wear kilts, play bagpipes, a hold Burns Suppers. We bake soda bread, knit sweaters, and distill whiskey.

We have even created our own Celtic myths and legends in the US. There are the stories of William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and Bonnie Prince Charlie in Scotland, but in the US, we have Davey Crockett, John Ross (who was a Cherokee Chief), and the 69th New York Infantry (the Irish Brigade) during the Civil War.

We have had a long, complex history of our own. We were both the upper class (over half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence could claim Scottish heritage) and the scum of society (No Irish Need Apply, etc.). Boston-Irish and Chicago-Irish even have their own sub cultures that other Celtic-Americans do not share! Sometimes we fought against our Celtic cousins (Andrew Jackson, of Ulster heritage, fought against Highlanders at the Battle of New Orleans), and other times, right beside them (numerous time during WWI and WWII).

So while I feel a strong connection to my cousins across the Atlantic, I am fiercely proud of my Celtic-American heritage and all the achievements that Celtic-Americans have given the world. Thomas Edison alone advanced the phonograph, motion picture, dictaphone, radio, and electric lamp! I love Scotland, and I just lived in Ireland for 4 months, but nothing would make me give up being a Celtic-American.

So I agree with Seanboy. I am not a Scot. I am a Scottish-American. A Celtic new-worlder. The DNA is there, but being a Celtic American certainly has it's differences from being Scottish or Irish.


What do you think? Oh, and be civil.