Quote Originally Posted by Tuirc View Post
@Phil I'm not exactly sure where you're coming from. I'm sure your statement is validated by some experience. But, for my part, in case your statement is in some way a response to mine, I'm an American of Scottish descent. I don't hyphenate nor do I pretend to be a Scot. I'm not of Scottish descent by the neighbor of my great aunt Fanny. I'm of direct descent and have taken the time and effort to know exactly where in Scotland my ancestors lived and to some degree the circumstances and movements of them within Scotland back to 1590. And, further validated that knowledge with DNA. Having said that, that doesn't mean I know a fig about kilts or how to wear them. Therefore, I'm grateful for a forum like this where such knowledge transfer can take place. I also would place no claim on current day Scotland or even Scotland in the last two hundred years.

However, my ancestors were just as involved with the previous 1,200 years of Scottish history as yours (if yours have been there that long, certainly not claiming any knowledge of your background just assuming en arguendo that you have a long history there). So, just as I have family pride in my more recent ancestors and their deeds and accomplishments in the last two hundred years, I don't draw some artificial line and pretend that there was no "before immigration." There was, in fact, a before and that before was in Scotland and so I have pride in that fact too. When I wear my kilt, I'm acknowledging that I know where I come from and honoring that. That pride and those reasons stand apart from the current inhabitants of Scotland. They stand on their own and need no validation. Hopefully, my explanation will assist you in understanding to point of view of some of us, similarly situated in the diaspora. Or, maybe I'm all alone on my own island. I'm fine with that too.
I have no issues with anything you say and your attachment to your ancestors' Scottish heritage and don't believe anything I have said contradicts that.
What seems to have escaped you is the concerns raised by neloon and others (including myself) namely the unconscious arrogance of the "Americans know best" attitude which appears relentlessly in postings here and elsewhere. For someone brought up and inculcated in this attitude this will probably be overlooked as an unquestionable truth. For others from a different background, however, this can appear patronising, even to the extent of sheer impertinence tantamount to "teaching your grandmother to suck eggs" if that is a saying familiar it you.
There is a fine line to be observed here and one commonly ignored but when it concerns something so central to Scotish tradition and customs no amount of reading or erudite study can fully compensate for an upbringing immersed in that culture. To then be lectured by some parvenu on the rights and wrongs of some nicety, particularly if reinforced by copious references to some learned tomes can cause a degree of understandable resentment.