Jock, I really do think you're on to something, but I think it will evolve over generations. My own experience is that I came to kilts by looking back. I love the study of genealogy and am the one in my family who digs and records and keeps the archives; it's a fascination that began when my age could be reckoned in single digits. And I couldn't look back along my family lines without my gaze turning to Scotland.

But a tree isn't just made up of roots and the older I get (and the more grandchildren I collect!) I've begun to think more and more about the branches, especially the ones that will grow when I'm long gone. It is my hope that my progeny will take interest in their roots, and will know their heritage that so strongly features Scotland. I'll want them to know the names, the places and yes, the clan connections. "Grandpa's old kilt" will have a story connected to it and it will keep alive for them a connection to the home of many of their immigrant ancestors. But they will be descendants of people who left Scotland and came to these shores. And the family story on this side of the pond is compelling, too.

I've more and more had the impulse to create a tradition that would reflect our family's specific journey and its roots now, here in Savannah, a city that is rich with history in its own right (with many Scots playing a key role in the city's birth, I might add). What better way to do that than by creating a tartan that reflects our own history and our ties to this place?

I've been working on that very thing and when finances allow, I will be registering, weaving and kilting up what I hope will be the first of many items in the family's own tartan. While you would have a hard time separating me from my Scottish kilts, I would suspect that my children and grandchildren will one day venerate them as a family relic, but be more interested in wearing the tartan that reflects their home.