"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”.

The Saltire and the Star Spangled Banner

The Saltire and the Stars and Stripes at Grandfather Mountain

Welcome to The Saltire and the Star Spanged Banner.  In April 2012 the University of Edinburgh made me an award from the Kerr Fry Bequest to fund a nine month study tour of Scottish Highland Games in the United States of America.  There is an average of four games a month in the USA alone.  Some attract several thousand visitors and are internationally renowned, such as Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in North Carolina.  Others are smaller affairs and more recently established, such as the Bitterroot Scottish and Irish Festival in Montana.  As a Scot I am flattered by this interest in Scottish culture, but am left wondering why these events are so popular.

 

So in the course of the coming months I will be travelling the US visiting a number of games and festivals, starting at Grandfather Mountain and ending at Tartan Week in New York City. Between times I will be visiting Bitterroot Scottish and Irish Festival in Montana; the Sycamore Shoals Celtic Festival, Tennessee; the Stone Mountain Highland Games, Georgia; the Tucson Celtic Festival and Highland Games, Arizona; the Central Florida Scottish Highland Games; and the Queen Mary Highland Games, Long Beach, California.

While visiting these events, I will investigate how Americans of Scottish descent express their heritage and in so doing will account for their popularity.  I will produce a report for the University at the conclusion of my study, but the purpose of this blog is to share some of my experiences along the way.  Please do stop by and comment, or better still make contact if you are visiting one of these games.

Finally, I would like to thank the Kerr Fry Selection Board for its generous support of this study and my wife Melanie who is my travelling companion and trusty research assistant.