A Great Letter, I think . . .

**GMan** · 5th October 07, 07:52 AM

Fantastic!!!

**Yaish** · 5th October 07, 07:52 AM

You've got to love when education trumps ignorance.

**hallmarktex** · 5th October 07, 08:22 AM

Ah, but will the ignoramus even realize he's been trumped? Thats the problem with blind prejudice.

**Coinneach** · 5th October 07, 08:24 AM

Brilliant letter. I learned a lot.

**kilted_brewer** · 5th October 07, 08:56 AM

That was a great letter! Would that any of us would have the intelligence to write something similarly well-put and charitable toward someone of an opposing point of view. And my own personal wish is that I would have the presence of mind to argue even half as cogently in conversation (rather than writing in repose)!

**gseven1** · 5th October 07, 09:33 AM

What an excellent letter.

My piping instructor and I have oft time discussed the topic of tartan wearing and who should wear what. He is much more of a traditionalist although he has never expressly stated that you can't wear a tartan you're not somehow tied to he has said he is not sure what he thinks yet.

I suppose I'm more "progressive", if that word may be used here, in the fact that I love Scotland as the "old country" and anything that brings a more positive or favorable light to said country I count a win.

**The Celtic Gypsy** · 5th October 07, 10:38 AM

What an excellent explanation in regards for tartans and kilts. Comes down to "Does it really matter as long as there respect for the tartan and the kilt." I have no Scottish ancestry what so ever. I have always loved things Scottish and see nothing wrong with expressing that love in wearing something with some tartan i find appealing to me..

**Thistle Stop** · 30th March 08, 09:34 PM

Wow, I haven't been around on X Marks for awhile, so I'm just seeing all the super-kind comments made about my letter! I'm very touched that so many of you even took the time to read all that! Thanks very much! I won't reproduce the letter I was responding to (though it's tempting!), since I don't have permission from the writer to do so. I did share it with Brian Wilton (of the STA), privately, as between friends -- he then asked to put my side of the exchange in the STA newsletter and I said OK to that. I never got a response from the original letter-writer, which doesn't surprise me! Obviously, he really got up my nose with his chauvinistic attitude toward tartan-wearing and "Scottishness", so I just gave him both barrels. Actually, the opinion he expressed about people born in other countries not having a right to refer to themselves as "Scottish" in any regard (whether Scottish-American, Scottish-Canadian, or what-have-you) is not uncommon in Scotland, though certainly not everyone there thinks that way about it. I've encountered other Scots who feel that all of us of Scottish ancestry are sort of one big family, "all Jock Tamson's bairns", as they say. Of course, where anybody "comes from" depends upon what moment in time one is looking at -- most modern Scots have ancestors that came to Scotland from Ireland, or Scandinavia, and the geneticists say we all came from Africa or the Near East back in the dawn of Mankind. Our genes are totally portable, and so is culture, language, etc. But I don't suppose the arguments about all this will cease anytime soon! Cheers to everyone who posted, for all your kindness!

Cyndi

**jmercier** · 30th March 08, 10:13 PM

Cyndi, thank you for taking the time to write that letter, on behalf of all of us around the world of Scottish descent. The furthest back I'm able to trace my ancestors anywhere is to the Biggars of Scotland. They're not a member of any sept, they don't have a family tartan (as most Scottish families don't in reality) being predominantly lowlanders. Yet I enjoy wearing the kilt and celebrating my heritage at highland games and other events.

It does not truly matter that I'm a quarter French-Canadian, a quarter German, a quarter Scotch-Irish, and the other quarter some muddled mix of Penobscot (hey they're scots too of the Penob family... aren't they?

) Brittish, and who knows what. As was said by Davie Ross when he was introducing the band Albannach at the New Hampshire Highland Games last year, most Scottish Americans may be 3, 4, or 5 generations American, but before that they were another 30 generations Scottish too.

-Justin