Hello from Greenville SC area

[Scottican]

Hello all, and thank you for letting me into the group. I am very excited to be here. Some of you may be wondering what is with the name: Scottican. Please allow me to explain.

I look Hispanic (Mexico, Spain), I grew up in a Mexican household. I always thought I was Mexican American. Yes, I noticed that my mother had green eyes, and was lighter in skin color than all us, but she spoke Spanish better than some of the Spanish people that I knew. I just thought I was Hispanic. My mother hardly talked about her family. I didn't really get to know some of them until I got older. I noticed I had a few blonde and blue eyed cousins, but when you grow up thinking you are one thing, you just kind of go with it. I just figured that if I did a DNA test, it would come back as Mexican, Spanish, etc...

Well you can imagine my surprise when I got the results back from Ancestry DNA. It turns out that I am more Scottish (DNA wise), than anything else.

I am a mutt. I have 14 ethnicities in me. Here is some of the breakdown.
32% - Scotland.
20% - Mexico - Indigenous Americas
15% - Spain
8% - England & Northwestern Europe
6% - Irish
5% Basque
4% - Norway
etc...

I knew I was part Mexican, and Spanish, but when I found out that most of my DNA is Scottish. I had to find out more!
I know nothing about Scotland. I have never been. I am still trying to figure things out.
I have no clue what I am supposed to do now.
I don't know any relatives that are Scottish. However, that is now on my bucket list!
The only thing I have to go on is my mother's maiden name - Williams. Which I believe is part of the McKay Clan tartan?

I have been thinking about getting a Kilt, but I don't want to mess things up. I don't want to wear it wrong, or embarrass the clan or myself.
I am a Marine. I wear the Marine Corps Dress Blues every so often (Nov 10th - Marine Corps birthday), because I know it, and I have been through it.
But again, as I stated, I know nothing about Scotland, traditions, customs, etc..

Would really appreciate the input, and a little help to get me started, as I am very new to this Scottish Heritage thing.

Oh. The name Scottican. Part Scottish, and I know I have other ethnicities in my DNA, but I grew up in a Mexican household. So, I call myself a Scottican.

[kilted2000]

Failte from the Home of the Blues!

Did you know all branches of the US Military have unofficial tartans?

As for how to wear a kilt here are some great threads to look at.
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-attire-46888/

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...xamples-85511/

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...entures-72206/

Good luck and thank you for your service!

[Father Bill]

Welcome to the "Great Rabble"!

[Scottican]

Failte from the Home of the Blues!

Did you know all branches of the US Military have unofficial tartans?

Kilted2000. I did not know that. I served in the Marine Corps with 1st Marine Division, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines - Kilo Company.
I was just a dumb grunt. 0311 - Infantry.

I did 4 1/2 years (got extended 6 months). I got out and traveled to a lot of places. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Russia, and a few other countries.
While I was in the Corps, I went to Japan, Philippines, Australia, Thailand, and Australia.

I love to travel, and I am definitely going to figure out a way to get to Scotland. However, I think I would like to do a little research on my family tree to see if I can find any long lost relatives. Boy, would I give them a surprise!

[Kitfoxdave]

Enjoy your experience here. Lots of helpful folks!

As far as Ancestry DNA, take it with a grain of salt... apparently northwestern France gets rolled into Scotland in their software studies...

Spain, Ireland, western England, Wales, Basque, and Scotland were all along a very busy Celt trade route for centuries.

Enjoy your research and question everything until you are convinced!

[Liam]

Welcome to the forum from Western Canada!

[Tomak]

Hello and welcome from Southern California.

[MurrayInGA]

Welcome from down the road in west Georgia!

[kilted redleg]

Scottican

Let me not only welcome you from the gateway to the New York highlands to XMarks itself but also to thank you for your service to our great nation, and also welcome you to the world of being a military veteran; which according to a "good old boy" sergeant I served with would say "inhabits these here parts."
You can find all sorts of advice here on where to buy your first kilt and also what to consider before making your big purchase. You can also look up one of our sponsors USA Kilts on line and the first Friday of every month they do a "kilts and culture" show where they answer various questions on the subject matter of kilt wear. It's very informative and you can learn tons of stuff just like you will here. Click on their banner on top and take it from there, also check out our members written articles section lots o knowledge there. Again welcome!!!!

[revmacian]

As kilted2000 stated, there is a US Marine Corps tartan, it is beautiful and can be seen on the Scottish Register of Tartans here.

Also, you may look into the septs of many clans and see if you belong to one of those families. Barring that there are numerous tartans designed for anyone to wear - district tartans, fashion tartans, sports teams, etc.