Kilting Out of Context

[MacBean]

From Highlanders Discuss Highland Attire

I think this difference is primarily from two things: context and culture. When one wears a kilt in places outside its native land, one is distinctly aware that one is doing something unusual and, in some places, subject to misinterpretation. This gives rise to a heightened experience of kilting as something personally meaningful but contextually ambivalent.

Perhaps this belongs in Off Topic, but the context of kilting interests me. I am not so sure that we are so terribly out of context kilting in some parts of the US. There are so many here who, willy-nilly, show Scottish personality traits. Don't I detect the slightest Scots accent on some in this area? There were Gaelic speaking communities and Gaelic churches in Eastern US well into the 19th century. The influence of Scottish culture on our music is pretty obvious. Perhaps the Scottish influence is so old and pervasive here that we don't notice it? True, it is not so noticeable as in some places in Canada, but perhaps it's here all the same.

Do you see Scottish personality traits in your own family? What cultural, legal, philosophical influences in the US do you think of as Scottish?

[gordontaos]

My mothers parents moved to the US from Scotland in 1923. I was raised to have a viewpoint that the "Royals" were no better or different from you and I and that we were all equal in the USA. That attitude apparantly was one of the reasons my grandparents left Scotland, and what they had instilled in my mother. I was also taught from an early age that even if a Royal came to the USA, that this was the USA and we would treat them with respect, but there was no need to ever use royal titles.
I later became a hotel manager at one of the finest hotels in the US. It was my job to greet royalty from all over the world. Hard as I tried, I could NEVER utter a royal title. The words would not come out of my mouth.
Luckily, most of the men had military titles, which I have no problem using. The ladies and the rest of the men, I just danced around calling them by name.
I have always felt that that was a trait brought over by my grandparents.

[CameronCat]

Heh!

My father was from Aberdeen. Although he died well before my children were born, he would be pleased to know that quite often one of the kids avoided punishment on a parental verdict of "Not Proven."

[wildrover]

An awful lot of people in America have roots in some part of the British Isles...specifically Scottish? I don't know. My family had a very strong link to the Scottish community when I was growing up, and your question is spurring me to ask them why.

My connection to anything Scottish comes directly from them...various friends of mine are aware they have Scottish ancestry, but for some reason I'm the only one they expected sooner or later to take up piping and wearing of the kilt . Their families, while aware of the connection, never made more than passing mention of it, whereas in my case it was just part of the family...so while Scottish...or Irish, for that matter...traits may have been part of how I was raised, I'm not sure how many were simply adopted by my parents...

Perhaps a better way to say that is, I don't know how far back it goes. I'll ask, next time I talk to my old man.

-Sean

[CMcG]

<snip> Perhaps the Scottish influence is so old and pervasive here that we don't notice it? True, it is not so noticeable as in some places in Canada, but perhaps it's here all the same.

Do you see Scottish personality traits in your own family? What cultural, legal, philosophical influences in the US do you think of as Scottish?

The Scottish influence in North America is huge but I think that in most places it has been blended with the other original European cultures. The most notable exception McBean may be referring to is in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (New Scotland!), Canada where some people still speak Gaelic. It is also the home of Canada's only single malt: Glen Breton.

I can't comment on cultural, legal, or philosophical influences in the US but the Canadian coat of arms shows it visually. Note the shield bears symbols for the four founding European peoples: English, Scottish, Irish, and French.


In my own family, my Scottish aunty encouraged me when I wanted to wear a kilt to high school grad. She even convinced someone to lend me one! She also wouldn't let me go out kilted until I had demonstrated to her satisfaction that kilt and hose height would adequately display my knees.

Another think she exemplified was thrift and a keen eye for value; something people refer to derogatorily as Scottish cheapness She is very good at saving money, buying high quality goods, and spending as little money as possible on them

[MacLowlife]

South Carolina is awash in Scottish surnames. For much of the last 150 or so years, relatively few people came voluntarily into SC and its population was remarkably stable until just after WWII. While many people here consider themselves Scots-Irish, or Scotch-Irish, the number of people who came here from Ireland after about 1850 is small. The Presbyterian church is prominent here, as is churchgoing in general. There is an excellent book called ALBION'S SEED, about different waves of immigration from the British Isles into North America and the pockets of population that continue to reflect their much earlier origins.

[MacBean]

My father's side were part of the "Bounty Irish" as they were known prior to the Revolution. South Carolina had a wealthy coastline and a problematic Cherokee interior and wanted to settle the intervening land cheaply. The crown offered free passage and 100 pounds for the father + 50 for each family member + sizable land grants for poor protestants who would come settle. Looking back, that was a remarkable deal (far better than indenture), and it didn't last long. The so-called Irish were of course mostly Ulster Scots, and perhaps mostly Presbyterian lowlanders, though certainly many highlanders came as well (and fought on the Patriot side).

Those that came, quickly moved on into the wild interior and their Scottish roots were mostly lost in the fight for survival. Yet they intermarried with other Scottish families for several generations to come. Did they bring individualism, pioneer spirit, thrift, self-deprecating humor, crotchetiness, oats, and music? Who knows, it was a long time ago, and out on the edge of (or beyond) the known world. My own family reached Missouri in 1805, living in an abandoned wigwam. I certainly see personality traits that seem to exist in my brothers, my father, my grandfather...who knows how far back they go?

[Highlander31]

Our Declaration of Independence was based in part on the The Declaration of Arbroath, written 456 years earlier. Princeton University, which was originally named the College of New Jersey was founded in 1746 by immigrant Scots.

The Scots also gave us that great little game where one chases after a little white ball, only to hit it again once found.

[CMcG]

How about this handy reference? I believe whisky is the most prominent influence and crosses all borders.