| Kirkin o' the Tartan |
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The 'Kirking o' the Tartan' is an annual event in which various tartans are carried like flags, paraded into church and left displayed throughout the service. No specified tartans are involved – any 'proper' tartan will do. Nor is there any established sequence, although in America State tartans tend to given priority. Legends abound about the ancient origins of this ceremony. It has been linked to the 1748 Act of Proscription, when the wearing of tartan was banned and Highlanders hid pieces of tartan cloth about their person and brought them to church to be secretly blessed at a particular point in the service. There are links too with the The Cameronians, a regiment raised in 1689 from proscribed Presbyterians in Scotland known as the Covenanters. The Covenanters posted armed look-outs during their mainly outdoor services to warn of approaching government forces coming to break up the meeting and arrest the worshippers, since participation could result in imprisonment, torture or even execution. The Cameronian Regiment remembered these times by going to church parade armed, and posted sentries on the four corners of the church. The minister could not start the service until an officer shouted the all-clear. Although the theme of 'Kirking o' the Tartan ' is clearly Scottish it appears that it is in fact an American concept, although probably based on folk memories. It was in fact The Reverend Peter Marshall, originally from Coatbridge in Scotland (old Covenanter territory), pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington DC and chaplain to the US Senate who introduced the idea. Proud of his ancestral homeland and a member of the St. Andrew's Society of Washington DC, Rev Marshall held services at New York Avenue to raise funds for British War Relief. At one of these services in the Spring of 1941 he gave a sermon entitled 'the Kirkin o' the Tartans and thus a legend was born. Today Scottish, Caledonian and St. Andrews Societies throughout America and Canada hold services. Held at any time throughout the year, St Andrew's Day and Tartan Day are popular dates, and many Highland Games and outdoor gatherings include a parade of tartans in an outdoor setting, strangely reminiscent of the secret services of the Covenanters in Lowland Scotland. So while not necessarily an ancient Scottish ceremony perse, 'the Kirkin' celebrates not only the family heritage of the descendants of Scottish immigrants to the United States and Canada, but the friendship of three nations in peace and war. |
Tartan Facts & Snippets
| The first tartan on the Moon was the Macbean, worn by Alan Bean on Apollo 12 in November, 1969 |