National Tartan Day was April 6. I know I'm a few days late :-) but I wanted to share this with you. Plus I never miss an opportunity to look at men in kilts. ;-)
According to Wikipedia "Tartan Day (part of Scotland Week) celebrates the existing and historical links between Scotland and Scottish descendants in North America. In the United States there are over 30 million people who claim Scottish descent [1]. Tartan Day is held on April 6, the anniversary of the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was created in 1320."
I don't know who created this list but it was forwarded to one of my email loops.
TARTAN DAY FACTS
The seamstress that sewed the "Stars and Stripes" was a Scots-American named Betsy Ross.
The first time the "Stars and Stripes " was recognized by a foreign power was by France, when John Paul Jones, a Scot and the father of the U.S. Navy raised it on his ship the U.S.S. Ranger.
The first time the "Stars and Stripes" was raised in outer space was by a Scots-American, Neil Armstrong (who by the way also had the Armstrong Tartan with him).
Nine of the Governors of the original thirteen colonies were of Scottish descent.
A Scot, named MacGregor was the navigator on Columbus' voyage to the New World. (Does this mean that a Scot, actually discovered America?)
Over half the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Scottish or of Scottish descent.
Thirty Five of the supreme Court Justices of The United States were of Scottish Descent.
Nearly one half of the Secretaries of Treasury of the united States were of Scottish Descent.
One Third of all the Secretaries of State were of Scottish Descent.
Our Declaration of Independence was modeled after the Declaration of Arbroath which was signed on April 6, 1320.
Many leaders in our history such as Patrick Henry, Gen. Hugh Mercer, a survivor of the battle of Culloden and hero of the American Revolution, President Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, and William Clark were Scottish or of Scottish descent.
Nearly three fourths of our presidents are of Scottish descent.
President Woodrow Wilson Said: "Every line of strength in American History is a line colored with Scottish blood."
A Scot, James Mackay of St. Charles, drew the map that was used by Lewis and Clark on their "Voyage of Discovery".
One in ten of all Nobel Prize winners are of Scottish descent.
TARTAN DAY FACTS
The seamstress that sewed the "Stars and Stripes" was a Scots-American named Betsy Ross.
The first time the "Stars and Stripes " was recognized by a foreign power was by France, when John Paul Jones, a Scot and the father of the U.S. Navy raised it on his ship the U.S.S. Ranger.
The first time the "Stars and Stripes" was raised in outer space was by a Scots-American, Neil Armstrong (who by the way also had the Armstrong Tartan with him).
Nine of the Governors of the original thirteen colonies were of Scottish descent.
A Scot, named MacGregor was the navigator on Columbus' voyage to the New World. (Does this mean that a Scot, actually discovered America?)
Over half the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Scottish or of Scottish descent.
Thirty Five of the supreme Court Justices of The United States were of Scottish Descent.
Nearly one half of the Secretaries of Treasury of the united States were of Scottish Descent.One Third of all the Secretaries of State were of Scottish Descent.
Our Declaration of Independence was modeled after the Declaration of Arbroath which was signed on April 6, 1320.
Many leaders in our history such as Patrick Henry, Gen. Hugh Mercer, a survivor of the battle of Culloden and hero of the American Revolution, President Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Graham Bell, and William Clark were Scottish or of Scottish descent.
Nearly three fourths of our presidents are of Scottish descent.
President Woodrow Wilson Said: "Every line of strength in American History is a line colored with Scottish blood."
A Scot, James Mackay of St. Charles, drew the map that was used by Lewis and Clark on their "Voyage of Discovery".
One in ten of all Nobel Prize winners are of Scottish descent.
Scottish romance novels written by American women are the hottest. (I came up with that one on my own.)
:-)
Nicole
4 comments:
I can't believe I missed National Tartan Day! I'm a fan of the BBC Monarch of The Glen. The new young laird, Archie, and Duncan (groundsman) wear kilts with t-shirts and work boots. It's a great look.
Scots forever! ;-)
Lots of people have mentioned Monarch of the Glen, but your comment prompted me to look up more info on the show and watch a few clips online. I definitely have to watch this show, start to finish! It's so cute. And I love those Scottish accents.
One of my MacNeill cousins (our Scots had first settled in PEI) contacted me about the Canadian Scots celebration, and of course now I can't remember the name of it, but asked if we also did that here in the States. Uhm, no, but if we did, I'd be there! :)
I live in the UK, and unfortunately for some Scots, so do they. And I've only ever heard of Tartan Day on the Internet. So as far as I know, it's just a piece of nonsense, sorry.
Never mind, there's a real Scottish festival on St Andrew's Day, November 30th, and hopefully you'll get a chance to see some more men in kilts! I'd be happy to be one of them, being of partly Scottish descent.
There's also Burns Night on January 25th, where people gather for Burns Suppers and recite the poetry of Rabbie Burns.
By the time Columbus so-called discovered America, well, there were Native Americans who I believe got there first, about 40,000 years before. Then there were the Vikings in about 800 AD, and the story of that became the Vinland Saga.
By the way, tartans have appeared in China, Central Asia, Indonesia, Austria and all sorts of other places. A tartan fabric was recently found in Austria that was about 3,000 years old. That's about 2,700 years older than the Scottish tradition. And kilts, or kilt-like garments have also been found in most parts of the world. You may have seen Troy, or pictures of Greeks on vases, and if they have anything on at all, it's a kind of short kilt.
So although I'm proud of my Scottish heritage, I don't buy all the mythology of the Scottish tartan kilt. I'm quite happy to wear one, though!
Nicholas McCrab
Post a Comment