Newbie from Pittsburgh, PA

[Mark R]

About 95% sure the wife and I will attend the Ligonier Games this year. Will be nice to meet you too if you go. Likewise about any events. Seems I can't find too many Scottish events around the Burgh.

Scotty, here is a link you may want to look at:

Coming on August 14th, the 2nd Annual Scottish Festival which will be held once again at the beautiful Riverstone Farm in Foxburg, PA. While a newer and smaller scale event, this is a well run festival with great potential. A day spent visiting the Riverstone Farm is well worth the trip and the $8 price of admission.

Events run from 9 am to 5 pm on Saturday and include:
Scottish Athletics – Caber Toss Leads the Events, Sheep Dog Herding / Scottish Dogs Too, Special Children’s Programs, Clan Tents, Pipe Bands and Solo Piper Contest, Traditional Scottish Music / Dancing, Face Painting, Horse Drawn Carriage and Waggonette Rides, View Highland and Galloway Cattle, and Vendor tents.

Festival Kick-Off Friday Night Outdoor Ceilidh with Carl Peterson, Robert Murdoch & Christina Harrison

7:00 PM Downtown Foxburg


Here is a link to the website for those seeking more info: http://www.alleghenyriverstone.org/s...ivalflyer.html

Will be there all day Saturday. Will let you know if I plan to attend the Ligonier games.

[Mark R]

I took to the kilt after being issued with one by my regiment. (I am not a piper, but I love the sound of the pipes, and have known a few pipers.)
Sad to say I have been kiltless for the past 32 years, but I aim to make that lack good next year.

Wish you all the best with making this a reality soon.

Interesting to see that your father’s people were Slovaks, but lived in Slovenia. The Slovaks and Slovenes were quite closely related, but because the Magyars pushed into their territory and took a lot of it over, they became separate peoples.

Looks like I have some reading to do. Grandpa came here around 1908--he was a young teen at the time and didnt know a lick of english. Immediately went to work in one of the many coal mines around our neck of the woods.

I also found it interesting that the Czechs and Slovaks living in the US were the main source of strength for the national movements of those two peoples. It was thanks to the US connection that they were sufficiently well organised to march in following the fall of the Austrian Empire and simply take over under the name of Czechoslovakia.

Lots of Czechs and Slovaks settled in the area. I can attest to the ties between the US and the homelands as every new immigrant was sponsored by someone of reputation in the states. Believe my grandpa's sponsor paid something like $100 and vouched for his getting here. Was a local man who owned a small grocery store not far from here.
Local Slovak club was the hub of activity. Grandpa retired from doing labor to become the bartender and watchdog of our local club. Spent alot of time in that fine establishment as a kid.

Another anomaly of Czechoslovakia was the rapidity with which the Czechs and Slovaks, recruited by the Austrians and taken prisoner by the Russians, formed themselves into a national army which initially fought for Russia, and then fought its way across Siberia during the Red Revolution to reach Vladivostok. I have read that for about 10 years after the end of the First World War, soldiers were still arriving by train in Prague on their return from foreign parts.

Thanks for taking the time to inform me about this history. Really do appreciate it as I have never really researched that part of my family's past. Can tell you, my grandfather's generation and his people were rugged, self sufficient folks who would do anything for their freedom and homeland.

[/QUOTE]Turning to tartans, I have found a Polish tartan and a Czech National, but none from the South Slavs aside from a family resident in Scotland. You might like to try your hand at devising a Slovak or Slovene tartan.
Regards,
Mike[/QUOTE]
Interesting idea as I have remained kiltless to date. Have never thought about the Slovak national angle before. Lots of English and German on my mom's side with a small touch of Scotch or Irish. Still investigating those roots and am not comfortable making a kilted decision until I know more. Possible Scottish connections with my wife's father. Just learned of that rather recently so still reserach to do to learn more.

Cheers, Mike, glad you took the time to educate me alittle about things I did not know.

[Mark R]

from Latrobe, PA graduate of Slippery Rock

Nice to hear from you, denmcdough. Small world as we are probably only 30 minutes apart. Hope to have a chance to meet you in the future.

[MacBean]

And welcome from the other side (Valley Forge) Always amazes me that Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are so far apart (5 hours fast driving). I am out that way frequently.

Any chance of some photos of your work here? Somewhere there are instructions for how to do it. Basically you pop them up on a public site and then post the link here and they appear magically inside your post.

[Mark R]

And welcome from the other side (Valley Forge) Always amazes me that Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are so far apart (5 hours fast driving). I am out that way frequently.

Any chance of some photos of your work here? Somewhere there are instructions for how to do it. Basically you pop them up on a public site and then post the link here and they appear magically inside your post.

Hi MacBean and thank you for the welcome. Have noticed how well PA is represented on the site.

While I like the drive across the state via Rt 80, dont care for the trek via the PA turnpike. More like work than am enjoyable drive.

Will see what I can learn about the pics.
Cheers
Mark

[Mark R]

Any chance of some photos of your work here? Somewhere there are instructions for how to do it. Basically you pop them up on a public site and then post the link here and they appear magically inside your post.

Duh, forgot, my avatar is actually an embroidered design we have used on a number of items. Memory isnt quite what it once once

[Mike_Oettle]

Hi, Mark – well, with German and English roots, there are a number of tartans you could look at.
There is a Germany tartan (for Germany itself) and in the US you have the German National and German Heritage. Before these tartans were devised (quite recently) the Coburg tartan was used as a district tartan for Germany.
There are a number of district tartans for areas in Germany, as well as for less well-known parts of Austria. But there is not one for Württemberg, where my people are from.
For England you have St George, which was devised to mark the tercentenary of the Union of Parliaments. There are a number of fashion tartans with English names, too, notably Wellington, Durham and Bath. (My mother’s paternal grandfather was from Durham.) And for those whose English roots go back to the south-west and the far north, there are tartans for Devon, Somerset, Yorkshire and Northumbria, as well as Manchester.
Since I regard the Welsh and Cornish as being distinct from the English, I should mention that there are numerous Welsh tartans and a fair number for Cornwall.
There are a number of tartans that anyone of Scottish descent can use, and about half a dozen for Ireland. There are also Irish county tartans, as well as for the ancient kingdoms of Ireland (all these are relatively new, though).
Regards,
Mike

[Mark R]

HI Again Mike

I am familiar with many of the Irish and Scottish tartans as we use them in our tartan applique work.

Have had little to no experience with the English, German and the national tartans you have mentioned.

Once we learn more about our possible Scot and Irish roots, I will make a kilt decision which "feels" best for the family, if that makes sense.

Little trivia piece for you, you can teel friends you have met someone who is related to Alexander Graham Bell. My mother's family comes from the Bell lineage.

[Dr Mac]

from Bryan/College Station!

[Mike_Oettle]

Hi, Mark – since tartan was a Scottish invention, it is almost inevitable that people will focus on tartans from Scotland (and in your case, also Ireland), and as far as possible, family tartans.
I don’t want to push the Scottish stuff aside (I do have Scots blood), but I have taken an especial interest in non-Scottish tartans, partially because Africa has so few tartans of its own (as against the hundreds for families and areas of North America), and partially because it has caught my attention that there are tartans relevant to other aspects of my heritage.
I plan to acquire at least one item in a tartan that reflects my Scottish ancestry, but there are so many other setts that have caught my eye.
Regards,
Mike