When did your Clans and Scottish heritage start, when did you first wear the kilt.

[EagleJCS]

Growing up, I didn’t know much about my heritage on either side of the family. We didn’t really celebrate any cultural/ethnic heritage stuff because “We’re Americans”. For my father's family's part, it was a subject that was ‘not to be discussed’ – I found out why just a few years ago, and it was something Dad didn’t really know about either. His father didn’t discuss it. I’m going to leave it at that. When I was around 11-12 years old, Mom got a packet from a distant cousin which shared several generations of her father’s family history, largely German, which Mom never knew about being 4th generation American and her father having passed when she was still young. That sparked an interest in me to find out more, for both sides, but I didn’t really have much of an opportunity back then.

At around the same age, I developed an interest in bagpipes and decided I wanted to learn how to play them. Fast forward about 15 or so years. I found a piping instructor which eventually led to my finding out about Clan Scott (my surname), which I had never heard of. I was told then that even though there are Irish and English Scott’s in addition to the Scottish Scott’s, all are welcome to join the Clan Scott Society. That led to a drive to investigate my paternal line to find out our origins and if I could find where we came from and when.

With the help of the internet, I came across a cousin’s published research into our family (my grandfather’s cousin’s son, my second cousin once removed). I contacted him to correct what he had published about my branch, which he thanked me for, but he hasn't stayed in touch to share anything further. I have yet to be able to trace my paternal line myself far enough back to make the connection across the Atlantic, though one of the wives’ family (Prees/Preece/Price/Priest) goes back to Wales. His research goes back to about 1774 or so, still here in North America. As far as I know, that’s our “brick wall” for published records.

I do know now that I am basically an ‘American mutt’ – I have direct ancestors from several places in Western Europe. Wales, Ireland (my ggm, the most recent immigrant on my tree, came over at age 11 with her family in 1903), Germany (lots on both sides, mostly from the Rhine valley in the mid-1800’s), England, Luxembourg, Belgium. If you wanted to put a ratio to it, my ancestry is probably more German than anything, but all of the lines have been here in the US for well over 100 years now, so we're American.

[Tomo]

Probably when I was about 6 or 7.

Growing up in the industrial North, about mid way between Manchester and Liverpool about 1/3 of my classmates had obvious Scottish or Irish surnames, including a MacNab, a MacNaughten, a McKershaw, a MacMasters, a Monighan, a Ross, a Baxter and a couple of Websters. Even those without such an obvious connection seamed to have a Scottish or Irish granny (or both) tucked away somewhere. Our class teacher explored some of this heritage, we learned about history, some dialect differences and were encouraged to find out about our own heritage and bring in items from home with some connection with Scotland or Ireland (which in most cases involved begging or borrowing something from granny).

This was reinforced by work trips with my dad to Glasgow (one of his colleagues gave me a clan map of Scotland which was one of my prized possessions as a kid) and family fishing trips to Loch Ken. Of course when Scotland qualified for the 1978 world cup (and England didn't) I was more than happy to join the "...march with Ally's army" and was over the moon when my dad turned up at the school gates with a Scotland shirt for me. I was 10 at time. The rest as they say...

That said we knew a lot about the Scottish connection on my dad's side - but only recently discovered a connection a couple of generations back on my mother's side. Oddly enough this is to the same town as my paternal Gr. Mother is from. Whilst this link clearly had been forgotten it perhaps explains a couple of things like the family tradition on my mum's side for page boys to wear kilts at weddings and that since my uncles were small boys they always went on fishing trips to Loch Ken (close to Castle Douglas were my Gr, Gr Grandparents were from). It might also explain all the red hair on my mum's side!!

I first wore a kilt in 1998 with strong encouragement from my girlfriend at the time. She was studying at the Royal Agricultural College and they had a number of formal balls during the year. Having seen a lot of kilts on show she "leaned on" me to embrace my heritage - her trump card was as I am qualified to play rugby for Scotland (although sadly not good enough), I am Scottish enough to wear a kilt. Fair enough - so I hired one and loved it - never looked back, especially as I look like I should be working the door when I'm in a DJ/Tux. My parents gave me the money for my first kilt (and jacket etc) when I qualified as a lawyer a couple of years later.

[gun eagal]

When I was nine or ten my parents took me to see the Royal Highland Fusiliers. They bought me the record and I wore it out, playing it every day, over and over. My dad traded a rowboat for a set of bagpipes that belonged to a man on the island. There were a couple of pipers on the island at that time, so I started taking lessons from a man who had been taught by Bruce Gandy's father in British Columbia.
Then came the "problem" of trying to discover my Scottish heritage. Great grandparents on both sides of my family came from Ireland, one from Clare and the other from Belfast. My surname comes from French Normans who settled in Devonshire, not Irish. My first time playing at a funeral was for a Seaforth Highlander who had fought in WWI. I was thirteen, I think. They put a red flag over his coffin, not the maple leaf flag. Modern genealogy research turned up Scotts and Hutchins, but primarily my Scottish identity comes from the community of pipe bands and a life long fascination with Scottish history and literature, and, of course, pipe music.
Now I identify with my Scottish friends and the communities that I feel attached to, South Uist, Moidart, Edinburgh. I once met an American who is a direct descendent of a Highland chief (sorry, I forget which), with a genuine pedigree. I can't boast those kind of relations, but I try to make up for it by playing the pipes as well as I can and being as good a representative of the culture as I can.

[The Q]

Gaelic certainly was not discouraged at sgoil in the Hebridies or Inverness by the 1970s. Both my brother who is fluent and my younger sister who has to stop and think about it, learnt their Gaidhlig at school. The children around me at sgiol all spoke the Gaidhlig. Me, I'm useless at languages and barely know the odd word of the Gaidhlig.

The current loss of Gaidhlig is more to do with hundreds of English speaking TV channels, and only one fairly staid, Gaidhlig TV channel.

As for kilts, Burns night at my sailing club in Norfolk about ten years ago, A kilt was always something that was something vastly expensive and unaffordable. It was only when I found I could a cheap Pakistan made kilt that I got one. I now have a proper woolen kilt in the family dress tartan.

[MacDonald of Glencoe]

This is about The Gaelic language and the decline of it and it again being allowed in Schools in the 70s in The Hebrides, it wasn't to the 80s that Schools in Inverness started to use it.

https://cranntara.scot/gaelic.htm


Lots of other history on here.

[Bluescelt]

I grew up knowing my ethnic mix and being an American it's a typical melting pot selection Scots, Irish, German, French and English. My Father had no interest in his heritage but I always identified with my Celtic roots. I finally asked my Grandfather "who was it that came from Scotland?" and to my surprise he said his parents. That made the connection to Scotland real to me. Other than my English/French ancestors the German and Irish also came at my greatgrand parent's generation. Around 1985 I attended my first Highland Games and enjoyed it. It took another 10 years and an invite from my son to attend the New Hampshire games and there they had an extensive Clan Village and the rest is history. Got a kilt and have been the Connecticut Donnachaidh Rep for 25 years. I been to Scotland 3 times and hope to visit again .

[StuartWhittaker]

Aged three to a family wedding

[dawgbyte]

I have been aware of my Scottish heritage through my mother’s Clan, Keith, for most of my life. Keith is my middle name (as well as my oldest Grandson’s middle name) in honor of our Clan. Throughout most of my adult life I have researched my Scottish family genealogy & have collected books on Scotland. In 2003, I purchased my first kilt at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Festival in 2003, to the horror of my wife (who is also of Scottish descent). Her “horror” did not phase me by then & I continued to build on my kilt wardrobe (my wife is no longer around & my passion for all-things-Scottish remains even stronger today).

In 2016, I fulfilled a lifetime dream of touring Scotland & having my picture taken in front of Dunnottar, our Keith Clan castle, just outside of Stonehaven. These days, when those bagpipes play, they play straight to a Scottish American, part of whose heart will always remain in Scotland.

Slainté!