St Andrew's day ink

[Tobus]

The article posed the question, "what is the appeal of Scottish identity?" That's an interesting question.

I can't speak for people outside America (and I don't even pretend to speak for all Americans), but to me the answer is simple. Americans don't have much of a history or a culture of our own. Everything we are, we brought from somewhere else. Those who were born and raised in Scotland - and elsewhere in Europe and Asia - have a pretty good idea where they came from. They have a long history, plenty of cultural roots, etc. We Americans can only look back so far in our own history before we run up against the proverbial wall. We came from somewhere else. Where else would we look besides where we came from?

I think that most Europeans and folks born in the UK really can't understand what it's like not to have history. I would guess that the vast majority of Americans can only trace their family back a couple of generations. It's frustrating. So it's natural for Americans to idealize a culture they might happen to find in their muddled genealogy.

[Bugbear]

... I can't speak for people outside America (and I don't even pretend to speak for all Americans), but to me the answer is simple. Americans don't have much of a history or a culture of our own. Everything we are, we brought from somewhere else. Those who were born and raised in Scotland - and elsewhere in Europe and Asia - have a pretty good idea where they came from. They have a long history, plenty of cultural roots, etc. We Americans can only look back so far in our own history before we run up against the proverbial wall. We came from somewhere else. Where else would we look besides where we came from? ...

I'm puzzeled by this notion of Americans having no history or cultural roots.

[Phil]

I'm puzzeled by this notion of Americans having no history or cultural roots.

I know. For a nation which has existed independentlyfor over 200 years not to mention its colonial past before that it is puzzling. Is it because many Americans only see their culture as a reflection of the various cultures imported by immigrants? I don't believe that is entirely true, however the culture that is perceived as peculiarly American is all fairly recent. Coca-Cola, Hollywood, Jazz, cowboys etc..

[Bugbear]

I know. For a nation which has existed independentlyfor over 200 years not to mention its colonial past before that it is puzzling. Is it because many Americans only see their culture as a reflection of the various cultures imported by immigrants? I don't believe that is entirely true, however the culture that is perceived as peculiarly American is all fairly recent. Coca-Cola, Hollywood, Jazz, cowboys etc..

Well, I look at the underlying framework of those things you just listed and see roots going back centuries. I live in the desert South West which has a cultural flavor going back eons. Corn (maize) and beans as a traditional food, for example.

[Phil]

Well, I look at the underlying framework of those things you just listed and see roots going back centuries. I live in the desert South West which has a cultural flavor going back eons. Corn (maize) and beans as a traditional food, for example.

Exactly. And I wasn't trying to overlook native American history rather trying to answer the question of the historical roots of mainly European settlers.

[OC Richard]

...folks born in the UK really can't understand what it's like not to have history.

Sometimes it seems to be the reverse to me: so many Americans can trace their ancestry back several generations to a specific immigrant from The Old Country (whatever country that might be) and usually a specific place in that country. For example I'm descended from a guy who came to Jamestown from England in the 1620's, another who came to Virginia from London in 1762, another who came to Philadelphia from Co Cavan in the 1840's, and a family who came to Winnifrede, WV from Tywardreath, Cornwall in the 1880's.

My wife's boss is an English guy. One day the people in her office were talking about geneology and where they came from and he said that he had no idea about his family beyond his immediate relatives. Most Brits I've talked to seem to be like that: they don't think about such things because they didn't "come" from anywhere: they've 'always' been there.

We in the USA form organisations like The Sons of the American Revolution and we fondly recall our Civil War ancestors.

Can you imagine the English forming The Sons of the Battle of Hastings? They would laugh at the idea I think.