What makes someone Scottish?

[Clockwork John]

Thanks guys, I'll definitely join you in a dram!

- To Scotland, and to Scots from every nation, race, and creed!

As my clan motto says, Ne Obliviscaris, Forget Not!

[majdan]

Crusty you just sent a tingle down my spine. "Lest We Forget"

[Phil]

This is how an online dictionary defines Scottishness - “Of or relating to Scotland or its people, language, or culture.”

After reading the posts here with interest and trying to analyse why I consider myself Scottish I agree with the above that it is not simply living here but also being brought up and educated in Scotland and absorbing the indigenous cultural and language influences from relatives and companions many of which are very specific to Scotland. When I was in Florida a few years ago I met a lady from Canada who had emigrated from Glasgow as a child. I told her I was “going for a dauner(stroll) and a wee plouter(paddle) in the sea” she didn’t understand but for someone who does words such as these convey a much wider meaning than simply a stroll or a paddle, they paint a picture. A snell wind translates as a sharp biting cold wind but needs three words in English and even then doesn’t paint as good a picture. I won’t go into more Scots words as I’m sure plenty of others have done so already.
Scots people have a culture of being careful with money but not wasteful and in terms of hospitality are generous to a fault. An Englishman will invite you to his home for a drink and that is invariably what it is – one drink. A Scotsman, however, will provide a meal and make sure your glass stays full. This probably comes partly from the clan system – remember how the MacDonalds gave hospitality to the Campbells in Glencoe – but also from a long tradition of sharing what little they had with each other as mutual support through hard times.
Someone earlier mentioned about people that people from other ethnic backgrounds didn’t see themselves as Scottish but again this is a generalisation and less true by the second generation. There is even a Singh tartan I believe and what could be more Scottish than that, certainly the sentiment behind it!

[GlassMan]

And here I thought it was the blood alcohol content!

[Phil]

I think there was too much blood in the alcohol stream certainly.

[beloitpiper]

I don't really consider myself Irish or Scottish. The two halves of my family came from those places, which is why I think of myself as Celtic. I share an ethnicity with the people from those places, and that ethnicity has lended with it a strong shared culture. The Irish, Scots, Welsh, Bretons, and Galacians share a lot of culture, which has since been brought to the US, Canada, Australia, and even parts of South America (such as Y Wladfa and Montserrat).

I'm convinced the American/Canadian Celtic culture is far different from the celtic traditions found in Ireland or Scotland. The music is related, but it certainly has evolved, just as dancing, clothing, and other traditions have evolved and changed in the New World. For example: American Bluegrass is rooted heavily in Irish and Scottish folk music, but is not totally the same. Cape Breton has developed it's own style of Step Dancing that comes from Irish Step Dancing, but is not totally the same. Claddagh rings, worn by almost all of my Celtic friends here, are relatively rare in Ireland. I mean, just look at us! We have some really awesome Highland Games (Maxville, Grandfather Mountain), Milwaukee's Irish Fest is the largest celebration of Irish music and culture in the world . If it weren't for Celtic-Americans we wouldn't have celtic punk (like the ever-popular Flogging Molly) or Contra Dancing.

We have even created our own Celtic myths and legends in the US. There are the stories of William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and Bonnie Prince Charlie in Scotland, but in the US, we have Davey Crockett, John Ross (who was a Cherokee Chief), and the 69th New York Infanty (the Irish Brigade) during the Civil War.

We have had a long, complex history of our own. We were both the upper class (over half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence could claim Scottish heritage) and the scum of society (No Irish Need Apply, etc.). Boston-Irish and Chicago-Irish even have their own sub cultures that other Celtic-Ameicans do not share! Sometimes we fought against our Celtic cousins (Andrew Jackson, of Ulster heritage, fought against Highlanders at the Battle of New Orleans), and other times, right beside them (numerous time during WWI and WWII).

So while I feel a strong connection to my cousins across the Atlantic, I am fiercely proud of my Celtic-American heritage and all the achievements that Celtic-Americans have given the world. Thomas Edison alone advanced the phonograph, motion picture, dictaphone, radio, and electric lamp! I love Scotland, I'm going to live in Ireland for 4 months, but nothing would make me give up being a Celtic-American.

[morrison]

Methinks it's "Heart."
When you got the heart for the matter, then it's just a matter of "Heart."

[jordanjm]

The topics in this thread are something I have wrestled with internally. I have quite the American hodgepodge of ethnicities I can claim descent from. I have a big chunk of my ancestry is English, I have found Dutch, Irish, and Scottish. Included in my "Scottish" group of ancestral lines is my surname, McGilvray. Since I was a child the pipes have inspired me. I feel more alive, I believe that each of us is thrown together with a genetic mix of our ancestors. Sometimes one generation will identify with one part of our heritage more than the others. I feel that I identify more with my Scottish heritage. My father has never understood this. He I know tends to identify more with our part of the family that hails from England. It would be easy for us to, because until I was in my mid 20's I had my Great Grandmother who was born in England. Why do I feel drawn to this one aspect of my own heritage, over all others? When I hear the pipes I feel I hear those ancestors from my multiple Scottish lines speaking to me. Why them? Why as strong as I do? Why does a stanza on my clans website get to me every time:

When my life on earth is ended and I reach the other shore
I shall find my own dear clansmen who have gone that way before.
--Unknown

[RainyDayPiper]

Am I Scottish? It depends on YOUR definition.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

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