LOCAL Scots are encouraged mark the annual Kirkin’ O’ the Tartans on Sunday, April 6th at the Calvary Presbyterian Church of Hawthorne, 13560 Hawthorne Blvd., starting at 10.15am.
This popular event has become a very special day in the Scottish-American calendar, allowing all represented clans to be recognized and have their tartans blessed.
In common with the wild bacchanalia that is now St. Patrick’s Day, The Kirkin’ O’ The Tartans is an event celebrated far more devotedly on this side of the Atlantic than back home, and the event’s origins are undoubtedly shrouded more in legend than fact, but in the interests of context, here is a little backstory on the ritual:
Following the final defeat of the forces of Jacobite uprising in 1746 at the Battle of Culloden and the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the government at Westminster sought to stamp out the most overt symbols of Scottish identity and crush the clan system to ensure there were no future revolts against English rule north of the border. The Act banned the wearing of any sign of the Tartan, forbade any speaking in Gaelic, outlawed Scottish music, dancing, or the playing of the pipes. That much is fact. But legend has it Scottish Highlanders subsequently hid pieces of tartan under their clothing and brought them to church for a secret blessing or kirkin’ at a particular point in the service by the minister.
During the 36 years following the Disarming Act of 1746 when the Westminster government strictly enforced this ban, during the Sunday service Highlanders would touch the hidden cloth when the minister gave the benediction, thus rededicating themselves to God and their Scottish heritage.
At least that’s the popular story behind the custom, although historical records to back it up are hard to come by. What is undisputed is that the practice gained ground in America thanks to the efforts of Reverend Peter Marshall, an expat Scot and pastor of the leading Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C who hoped to drum up patriotic fervor among Scottish-Americans during World War II by instilling pride in their ancestry. Marshall’s influence as chaplain to the US Senate brought immediate attention to his annual Kirkin’ ceremony and the practice quickly spread, to such an extent that it is now found in Episcopalian, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and other denominations across the world.
As for Tartan Day, that is an even more recent American ‘tradition’. In 2004, the National Capital Tartan Day Committee, a coalition of Scottish-American organizations, successfully lobbied the US House of Representatives. On March 9, 2005, the United States House of Representatives unanimously adopted House Resolution 41, which designates April 6 of each year as “National Tartan Day.”
So now you know.
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