"We're all Scotland's Story"

 

Ed Miller, Jil Chambless and Scooter Muse

North Carolina, July 2012

Melanie and I have spent a wet weekend on Grandfather Mountain camping with our McPherson friends. Despite the Scottish weather it has been a lot of fun and we are driving home to Atlanta along the I-85. It is getting dark, the rain is still falling and we are listening to Ed Miller’s latest album, “Come awa wi’ me”. Ed’s a Scottish folk singer and a native of Edinburgh. He now lives in Austin Texas and performs on the Scottish festival circuit. Ed has a great voice and earlier in the day we had watched him perform with Scooter Muse and Jil Chambless.

 

One of the songs on Ed’s CD catches my attention. It’s The Proclaimer’s song, “Scotland’s Story”. It celebrates all the diverse folk who arrived on Scotland’s shores over the millennia and contributed to our heritage. It reminded me that my high school register in Edinburgh contained Mackies, Macphersons and Macdonalds as well as Di Rollos, Levinsons and Argwals. Whatever our cultural backgrounds, we were all proud to be Scots.

 

As we drive on back to Atlanta the thought occurs that Scotland has not only produced a world-wide diaspora, but she has also provided a home and refuge for people from all corners of the globe. It makes me proud that the Scottish hall of fame includes the likes of the sculptor Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, female engineer Mamta Singhal, the Harry Potter actress Katie Leung and the guitarist Mark Knopfler.

 

So in the words of the song Ed’s that singing, “We're all Scotland's story and we're all worth the same”.

Meet the family....

Parade of tartan, Grandfather Mountain Highland Games

Grandfather Mountain, July 2012. 

The story starts just over six years ago. I was single and living in London. My good American friend Beth McPherson Arnold enticed me over to the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games with the promise of introducing me to 50 single American women. It didn’t take me long to book my ticket and within hours of arriving on the mountain I was introduced to Melanie Pinkerton. Melanie was active in the Clan Campbell Association and had traced her Scottish ancestors to those who had arrived in the US in the mid 1700’s. There started a transatlantic romance, and five and a half years later we were married in Melanie’s home town of Stone Mountain, Georgia. And I became part of the Scots’ diaspora.

 

That visit to Grandfather Mountain in 2006 was my first encounter with my American cousins. Those of you who have attended these games will know the beautiful games field and campsite that are situated under the watchful eye of Grandfather Mountain. I camped with Beth and her McPherson family in a motor home surrounded by tents, smoking campfires and the sound of the pipes being played from dawn to dusk. Every morning after an ice-cold shower, I would stop by the campsite kiosk for my breakfast coffee. On my first morning the lady behind the counter complimented me on my accent. I rather too quickly replied that I was probably one of the few Scots on the mountain. No sooner were the words out of my mouth than the kilted man behind me laid a large hand on my shoulder and with a southern drawl corrected me, “Sir, on the mountain we are all Scottish!”.

 

Really? In fact the population of Scotland is just under five million compared to some 312 million Americans. Of that population it is estimated that 20-25 million are of Scottish descent. Attendance at Scottish festivals aside, this population tends not to describe itself as ‘Scottish-Americans’, and unlike Irish-Americans or Jewish-Americans does not form a caucus in American politics. Its Scottish identity is principally expressed in social or cultural ways including St Andrew’s Societies, Burns Clubs, pipe bands and, of course, Scottish festivals. The main events at these festivals include traditional highland games, piping and highland dance competitions. They are opened by the “Calling of the Clans” and the singing of “Flower of Scotland” and “The Star Spangled Banner”. Around the periphery of the games field are stands representing clan associations, St Andrew’s Societies, folk concerts and souvenir stalls. And of course, food outlets selling Scotch pies, Cornish Pasties and American made haggis – of which more later…

 

Over the next nine months I look forward to meeting more of my American cousins, so if you are going to be at any of the games I will be visiting please make contact and say ‘hello’.