Will Madison Patricia Krafcik 6/4/12 When Fakelore Becomes Folklore: Scottish Tradition and Authenticity When most

non-Scots think of Scotland, aspects of Scottish traditional culture such as kilts, the Highland bagpipe (usually referred to as just the bagpipe), Highland games, and haggis are typically what come to mind. These and other customs are generally thought to have been significant to Scottish culture for centuries; however, it is only in the past two-hundred and fifty years that they began to be associated with Scotland as a whole. Prior to the late eighteenth century, these traditions were associated only with the Scottish Highlands, a region which most Lowlanders saw as backward and uncivilized. This change is largely a result of the romantic nationalist movement of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Scottish writers from this movement, such as James MacPherson and Sir Walter Scott, attempted to create a Scottish national identity by drawing from elements of Highland folklore which they then embellished and exaggerated. The influence of this movement led to the invention of new Scottish traditions such as Highland dress and Highland gatherings. Although these traditions were originally pseudo-folklore, their entrance into the inherited culture of the Scots and the Scottish diaspora has made them a part of their oral culture, which has led them to be accepted as authentic expressions of Scottish identity. Highland dress is perhaps Scotlands most well-known invented tradition. Although there are descriptions of Highland garments that could be called kilts from as early as the sixteenth century and depictions of such from as early as the seventeenth, these were quite different from modern kilts (Dunbar 1962, 22-32, 52, 64). This garment was the belted plaid or great kilt, known in Scots Gaelic as fileadh-mr (large kilt) or breacan (plaid), which was a sheet of

plaid woolen fabric about five feet wide and twelve to eighteen feet long that was worn by wrapping the lower half of the fabric around the waist and securing it with a belt, the upper half would be draped over the left shoulder and fastened by a pin (Grant 1961, 318-319; TrevorRoper 1983, 24). The modern kilt, called the small kilt or philibeg (a bastardization of the Scots Gaelic fileadh-beag) began to replace the belted plaid in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, due to its lack of the excess fabric found on the belted plaid, which makes it less cumbersome and allows for greater mobility (Ray 2001, 26). An English Quaker from Lancashire named Tomas Rawlinson is often credited with inventing the small kilt in the 1720s as a more practical garment for the Highlanders he had employed at his ironworks in Invernessshire (Dunbar 1962, 12-13; Trevor-Roper 1983, 21-22). There is also some evidence which suggests that such a kilt (though perhaps somewhat cruder) did exist before Rawlinson, meaning that he is merely responsible for popularizing it and for introducing a more tailored version with pleats (Grant 1961, 322; Jarvie 1991, 25). One year after the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden in 1745, the British parliament passed the Act of Proscription, which prohibited the wearing of Highland dress by civilians. This act proved to be effective, and by the 1770s kilts had practically disappeared in the Highlands. During this time, the Highland regiments in the British army continued to wear kilts. The presence of these regiments in many parts of the British Empire combined with the popularization of the romantic nationalist depiction of the Highlander as a noble savage led to a rise in the kilts popularity upon the Act of Proscriptions repeal in 1782 (Trevor-Roper 1983, 23-27). This time, however, it was not worn by the Highland peasantry, who actually wore kilts sixty years before, but by Lowlanders and the Highland nobility.

The tartan system now used in Highland dress is also a relatively recent invention. In the current system, every Scottish clan has at least one unique tartan pattern or sett which is incorporated into the Highland dress worn by the members of that clan. Prior to the early nineteenth century, tartans were not used to indicate clan affiliation. The choice of setts varied from region to region based on what natural dyes were available in the area, the skill of the weaver, and the personal preference of the wearer (Ray 2001, 32). Instead, ones clan affiliation was indicated by the cockade or plant badge on their bonnet. For example, a MacDonald would wear heather, a Grant would wear a twig of pine, and a MacMillan would wear a sprig of holly (Ray 2001, 39; Ross 1976, 25). The first Highland regiment in the British army was originally formed in 1725 as an independent company called the Black Watch; in 1739 it joined the British regimental system as the Forty-Third Regiment of Foot, and it was later promoted as the Forty-Second in 1749. The troops in this regiment were given a dark green and blue government-issued tartan which is now known as the Black Watch tartan. The Highland regiments that came after the Black Watch were given new tartans which allowed them to be distinguished from each other. Most of these tartans were based on the Black Watch with different-colored stripes added. This innovation laid the foundation for the modern clan tartan system. Many clan tartans are based on the tartans of the Highland regiments, oftentimes the clan would have close ties to the regiment their tartan was based on. One example of this is Clan Campbell, whose tartan is based on that of the Black Watch, a regiment that was originally commanded by the Campbells (Dunbar 1962, 158-160). The notion of clan tartans began to develop around the time of the Act of Proscriptions repeal in the late eighteenth century. This was largely done by the Scottish cultural organizations that began to form around this time. One of the more notable organizations was the Celtic Society of Edinburgh, formed in 1820 with Sir

Walter Scott as president. Clan tartans were then popularized by King George IVs visit to Edinburgh in 1822. Scott and fellow Celtic Society member Colonel David Stewart of Garth, the coordinators of the visit, called on the chieftains of the Highland clans and all other attendants to come in their proper Highland tartan, which would be supplied to them by one of the Scottish wool firms based on a Key Pattern Book of tartans that had been approved by the Celtic Society (Trevor-Roper 1983, 30-31). Among the kilted attendants was the king himself, who came wearing the Royal Stuart tartan. The clan tartan system was further standardized by John Sobieski Stuart and Charles Edward Stuart, two English brothers (originally named John Carter Allen and Charles Manning Allen) who claimed to be the grandsons of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie). In 1842, they released a book of Highland and Lowland clan tartans entitled the Vestiarium Scotticum, which they claimed was based on a manuscript from 1571. The books release was highly controversial, and it is now generally regarded as a forgery (Dunbar 1962, 112-143; Trevor-Roper 1983, 31-38). Despite this traditions dubious origins, kilts are now often worn by Scots and people of Scottish descent particularly during formal occasions. It is also now customary to wear Highland dress at traditional Scottish events, including events that were not originally connected to the Highlands. One of these events is the Burns supper or Burns nicht, which celebrates the Scottish poet Robert Burns; it is typically held around his birthday on January 25. Although Burns was a Lowlander who probably never wore a kilt, many modern Burns suppers (particularly in the United States) incorporate Highland elements into the ceremony. The attendants typically come in Highland dress, the presentation of the haggis which is traditionally served at a Burns supper is now often accompanied by a Highland piper, the haggis is sometimes cut with a broadsword, and Highland dancers often serve as the after-dinner entertainment (Ray 2001, 51).

Another Scottish invented tradition is the Highland games or gathering. These are festivals that are held annually for several days where people gather to witness competitions in several traditional Highland pastimes such as hill races, Highland dance, piping, and fiddling. The most important competitions in the Highland games are the heavy events which include shotput, hammer throw, and caber toss, in which the competitors attempt to throw a large pine tree trunk (Grant 1961, 344-347; Ray 2001, 107-109). In many ways, the development of the Highland games mirrors that of Highland dress. Many of the sports that are now part of the Highland games began as competitions that kings or chiefs would occasionally hold for both entertainment and as a way of finding able-bodied men who would be qualified for employment as bodyguards, laborers, or messengers. One of the earliest recorded of these competitions was a hill race held in the eleventh century by king Malcolm III at Craig Choinneach near the modern village of Braemar, which is the now the site of the Braemar Gathering, one of the oldest and most important Highland games in Scotland. Another precursor to the modern Highland games are the early Highland gatherings or gatherings of the clan(s), in which the members of one or more clans would be called together by their chiefs to conduct business, make inter-clan alliances or marriages, settle disputes, celebrate the end of the fall harvest (Samhainn in the old Gaelic calendar), or to prepare for a cattle-raid or creach. During these gatherings people would participate in sports competitions as well as dance and play music (Jarvie 1991, 20-22, 28-29; Ray 2001, 100). The Act of Proscription not only prohibited the wearing of Highland dress, it also prohibited Highlanders from assembling in groups and from piping and other traditional forms of entertainment (Jarvie 1991, 44-45). In the early nineteenth century, the same romanticisation of the Highlands that revived the kilt led to the revival of Highland gatherings by the Highland aristocracy. The Braemar Gathering was the first modern Highland games. It was

first held in 1832 by a group of local landowners called the Braemar Highland Society (Jarvie 1991, 58-59). The Highland clearances and later the potato famine of 1846 left much of the Highlands deserted by the mid-nineteenth century. When sheep farming proved to be unprofitable, the landlords (many of whom were the descendants of clan chiefs) began developing the cleared land into hunting estates for the Lowland and English gentry. Many of the southern aristocrats who rented or bought these estates soon became interested in the new Highland gatherings and began attending them. This practice was made particularly fashionable after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased the Balmoral estate and began attending the Braemar Gathering in 1848, the queens continued attendance would eventually make her and all subsequent monarchs the official chief of the Braemar Gathering. Victorias patronage of the Royal Braemar Highland Society led to the establishment of many more gatherings throughout the Highlands during the latter half of the nineteenth century (Jarvie 1991, 63-73). Highland games are held not only in Scotland, but in many other parts of the world as well, particularly in countries with large populations that are of Scottish descent such as the United States and Canada. However, the Highland gatherings that are held in Scotland are quite different from those held outside of Scotland. In Scotland, the competitions are the central focus of a Highland gathering. They are mainly attended by local residents, and Highland dress is typically only worn by the pipers, the organizers, and the competition judges. The spectator seating at Scottish gatherings tends to be divided by socio-economic class with the elite in the more expensive seats and the working-class attendants in the cheaper ones. The organizers (who are typically members of the gentry) usually speak to the competitors only while presenting awards. Many Scots view Highland gatherings as tourist attractions that project unwanted stereotypes. Because of this, Highland games in Scotland are often subject to ridicule (Ray 2001,

111-115). North American Highland games tend to have greater popularity than their Scottish counterparts. As of 2001, almost three-hundred Highland gatherings are held annually in North America, whereas in Scotland there are only about one-hundred (Ray 2001, 101). The larger gatherings such as the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games near Linville, North Carolina draw people from all over the country, many of whom come wearing kilts. In fact, the first Highland gathering in North America, which was held in Glengarry, Ontario in 1819 predates the first Braemar Gathering by about thirteen years (Jarvie 1991, 54). The central focus of most North American gatherings is the booths or clan tents. Each booth is owned by a different clan, representatives of the clan will stand at these booths to give information on their clan to visitors and to sell clan-related paraphernalia. This greater level of interest in Highland games is probably because it is seen by many Scottish-Americans as a way of celebrating their Scottish heritage. Calling a practice that is deemed traditional an invented tradition does not undercut its legitimacy in any way. A practice that was fakelore upon its creation is capable of eventually becoming folklore. This happens when people who adopt a fakeloric practice pass it on to their children, who then pass it on to theirs. As this cycle continues it eventually enters the oral tradition of a culture and thus becomes a traditional practice. Along with Highland dress and Highland gatherings, many American Christmas traditions are also products of this folklorization process. While Santa Claus himself is a merging of several traditional European yuletide gift-givers, much of what is now his mythos, such as Mrs. Claus and his elven helpers was created by American childrens authors during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. What makes a practice traditional is not necessarily its antiquity, but the meaning it has to the participants

Bibliography Davidson, Neil. The Origins of Scottish Nationhood. Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2000. Dunbar, John Telfer. History of Highland Dress. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1962. Grant, I.F. Highland Folk Ways. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961. Jarvie, Grant. Highland Games: The Making of the Myth. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991. Ray, Celeste. Highland Heritage: Scottish-Americans in the American South. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. Ross, Anne. The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1976. Trevor-Roper, Hugh. The Highland Tradition of Scotland. in The Invention of Tradition, edited by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, 15-41. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.