SUNDAY, October 16th sees the annual ‘Kirkin’ O’ The Tartans ceremony at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, 505 N. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The address will be given by Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie, chaplain to the US Senate from 1995-2003. The ceremony begins at 11am.
While the service celebrates Scotland and Scottish heritage, it is a truly a Scottish-American custom. If one searches the Internet for information, stories abound of the Kirkin’s roots being in days of the Act of Proscription enacted following the battle of Culloden, when the wearing of the kilt was banned in the Highlands – according to the legend, Highlanders hid pieces of tartan and brought them to church to be secretly blessed at a particular point in the service.
The Rev. Peter Marshall, originally from Coatbridge, Scotland, was the pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington DC, and served as Chaplain of the United States Senate before his untimely death in 1949. Rev. Marshall is believed to be the originator of the Kirkin o’ the Tartan service on this side of the pond. During the Second World War Marshall held prayer services at New York Avenue to raise funds for British war relief. At one of the services on April 27, 1941 Rev. Marshall gave a sermon entitled “the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans” -and thus a legend was born.
All are welcome at the church continues the tradition, and there will be an informal lunch following the service at the Robin Hood Pub, 13640 Burbank Boulevard (at Woodman) in Van Nuys following the event.
