Tartan Day

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Sean Connery at a Tartan Day celebration in Washington D.C. with members of the USAF Reserve Pipes and Drums.

Tartan Day is a celebration of Scottish heritage on April 6, the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320. A one-off event was held in New York City in 1982, but the current format originated in Canada in the mid 1980s. It spread to other communities of the Scottish diaspora in the 1990s, and was first celebrated officially in Scotland in 2004. In Australasia the similar International Tartan Day is held on July 1, the anniversary of the repeal of the 1747 Act of Proscription that banned the wearing of tartan.

Tartan Days typically have parades of pipe bands, Highland dancing and other Scottish-themed events. VisitScotland, the Scottish national tourist board, now exploits the festivities to promote tourism in Scotland.

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[edit] Origins

In 1982, under the auspices of the New York Caledonian Club, New York State Governor Hugh Carey, and New York City Mayor Ed Koch declared July 1 1982, as Tartan Day, a one-off celebration of the 200th anniversary of the repeal of the Act of Proscription of August 12 1747, the law forbidding Scots to wear tartan.

On 9 March 1986, a 'Tartan Day' to promote Scottish heritage in Canada, was proposed at a meeting of the Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia.[1] Jean Watson, President of Clan Lamont, petitioned provincial legislatures to recognize April 6 as Tartan Day.[1] The first such proclamation was by Nova Scotia in April 1987; other provinces followed suit until Québec was the last to fall in line, in December 2003.[1] The day has not yet recognized by the federal government.

In Australia, wearing tartan on July 1 has been encouraged since 1989. The day has been promoted as International Tartan Day in Australia since 1996[2] and has been formally recognized by many states, but not yet at national level. The United States Senate recognized April 6 as Tartan Day in 1998.

[edit] Canada

Canada estimates 15.1% or 4.7 million Canadians claim Scottish descent.[3] As discussed above, Tartan Day in Canada originated with a proposal from the Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia and has since been proclaimed by all the provincial legislatures. In 2007 Peter Stoffer introduced a Private member's bill for "An Act respecting a Tartan Day". Progress of the bill was interrupted by the 2008 election, but it has been resubmitted.[4]

An annual 'Gathering of the Clans' will take place each April 6 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa at noon with pipes, drums, and dancing hosted by the Sons of Scotland Pipe Band, Canada's oldest civilian pipe band.[5]

[edit] Australia and New Zealand

Three million Australians are either Scottish or of Scottish descent. International Tartan Day in Australia and New Zealand is celebrated on a local basis in most states on 1 July (or by some community organizations on the nearest Sunday), the anniversary of the Repeal Proclamation of 1782 annulling the Act of Proscription of 1747, which had made wearing tartan an offense punishable with up to seven years' transportation.[6][7] According to Scottish House secretary Moyna Scotland, the tendency to disguise Scottish associations was mirrored in Australia: 'Scots did what they were told to do when they came to Australia assimilate and integrate and they almost disappeared', and consequently one aim of Tartan Day is to help Australians reconnect with their Scottish ancestry.[8] A tartan revival started in 1822, and Queensland and Australia have their own tartans.[9]

In 1989 the Scottish Australian Heritage Council began to encourage Australians to wear tartan on 1 July,[10] when more than half a million Australians gather for a celebration of Scottish heritage,[11] combining nostalgia with Australian citizenship ceremonies,[12] and fund-raising for charitable causes such as drought assistance.[13] Australians without a family tartan are invited to wear the Royal Stewart tartan or the military tartan of the Black Watch.[14] Tartan articles worn on the day include hats, ties and socks.[15] There are many pipe band associations in both Australia and New Zealand, some originating in disbanded Second World War army battalions,[16] and almost 30 heritage events in Australia alone.[17] Some clans, notably the McLeods of South Australia, come together in private events to honor their chief, recite Burns, consume haggis and take part in Highland dancing.[18] A butcher in Maclean, New South Wales, 'the Scottish town in Australia', reportedly celebrates the day by selling haggisburgers.[19]

Since 2001 the Scottish Australian Heritage Council and Australian branch of the Scottish National Party have petitioned Canberra for federal recognition of International Tartan Day to celebrate the Scottish contribution to Australian history,[20] including the influence of Scottish radicalism on the trade union movement and the Labor Party, and Australia's allegedly 'egalitarian and meritocratic' society.[21] In 2008 Linda Fabiani, the then Scottish culture minister, floated a proposal to expand the Australian event into an official Scotland Week as part of the Scottish government's international business strategy.[22]

[edit] United States

In the United States it is estimated that there are 6 million[23] people who claim Scottish descent. Little was done to follw up the New York event in 1982. In 1998 the National Capital Tartan Day Committee, a coalition of Scottish-American organizations, successfully lobbied the Senate for the designation of April 6 as National Tartan Day "to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish Americans to the United States".[24] Senate Resolution 155, passed on March 20 1998, referred to the predominance of Scots among the Founding Fathers and claimed that the American Declaration of Independence was "modeled on" the Declaration of Arbroath.[24] While this link is plausible, it has not been definitively proven.

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.” H.Res.41 Chief Sponsors were Congressmen Mike McIntyre from North Carolina and John Duncan from Tennessee.[25]

The Tunes of Glory Parade organized by Magnus Orr and Thomas Grotrian in 2002 saw 8,250 pipers and drummers march through the streets of New York led by Sir Sean Connery and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.[26] They were the centerpiece of the event where thousands of Americans celebrated their links to Scotland. One of Scotland's national treasures, William Wallace's sword, left Scotland for the first time in 700 years and was flown to New York for the Tartan Week celebrations of 2005.

Outside New York City, one of the largest Tartan Day celebrations in the United States takes place each year on the weekend closest to April 6 on the banks of the Missouri river in St. Charles, Missouri. The Missouri Tartan Day Festival began in April 2000, after successful lobbying at the State Capital in Jefferson City, members of the St. Andrew and Celtic Societies of St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City and Springfield, Missouri, gathered on the steps of the State Capitol in Jefferson City to receive the first proclamation of Tartan Day in Missouri. This was for the year 2000 only.

In addition to the above celebrations, the Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland, Scottish-American Societies hold Tartan Day Celebrations. These celebrations include a Congressional Reception hosted by Congressman McIntyre and Congressman Duncan and organized by the National Capital Tartan Day Committee, a Tartan Day Festival in Alexandria, Virginia, and various social and educational programs in the first two weeks in April.

[edit] Scotland

Angus Council, whose region includes the historic town of Arbroath, established the first Tartan Day festival in Scotland on April 6 2004, and has since joined other regional councils in attempting to develop its potential as a global celebration.[27] In 2006 events were held in Arbroath, Aberdeen, Montrose, Kilmarnock, Stirling, Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh.[28][29]

[edit] Argentina

Argentina claims around 100,000 people of Scottish descent, the largest such community outside the English-speaking world. The Tartan Day parade of Scottish porteños was inaugurated in Buenos Aires on 6 April 2006.[30] The bearer of the key to Arbroath Abbey attended the march in 2008.[31]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Events - Tartan Day in Canada (April 6th)". Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia. 2007. http://www.scotsns.ca/events/tartan-day.asp. Retrieved on 2009-05-15. 
  2. ^ Suzanna Clarke, 'The Pipes Are Calling', The Courier-Mail (2 July 2005), p. 60.
  3. ^ "www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All". http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All. 
  4. ^ C-214 An Act respecting a Tartan Day, Library of Parliament, 2009-05-14, http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/index.asp?Language=E&query=5578&List=toc, retrieved on 2009-05-15  The Canadian bill got its first reading as C-402 of the 39th Parliament on October 16, 2007, and was reintroduced as C-218 of the 40th Parliament on November 21, 2008.
  5. ^ "Sons of Scotland Pipe Band > Home". http://www.sospb.com. 
  6. ^ Celeste Ray (ed.), Transatlantic Scots (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2005), p. 17, n. 19.
  7. ^ Jodie Munro O'Brien, 'Tastes of tartan on the Coast', Gold Coast Sun (28 June 2006), p. 1.
  8. ^ 'Scottish pride is in for a bonny time', Hornsby and Upper North Shore Advocate, p. 1.
  9. ^ 'Coastal Scots get into kilts', Gold Coast Bulletin (27 June 2002), p. 23.
  10. ^ 'Regular Shorts', Sydney Morning Herald (30 June 1989), p. 1, col. 8.
  11. ^ Media Release: The Hon. Teresa Gambaro MP, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (30 June 2007), AAP MediaNet Press Releases.
  12. ^ Scottish celebration, Southern News (30 June 2005), p. 22.
  13. ^ Suzanna Clarke, 'The Pipes Are Calling', The Courier-Mail (2 July 2005), p. 60.
  14. ^ Kilmeny Adie, 'Celebrating a Highland heritage', Illawarra Mercury (1 July 2004), p. 9.
  15. ^ Catriona Mathewson, 'Scots all tartaned up for big day', Courier-Mail (28 June 2004), p. 6.
  16. ^ 'Things to do this weekend', Daily News (Warwick, Queensland, 11 July 2008), p. 4.
  17. ^ Ray (ed.), Transatlantic Scots, p. 88, n. 53.
  18. ^ Jenny Hullick, 'McLeod’s daughters, and sons, form local clan', News Review Messenger (19 September 2001), p. 14.
  19. ^ 'News and Features', Sydney Morning Herald (1 July 1993), p. 1.
  20. ^ 'Ex-Pats Demand Day Down Under', The Express (London, 19 February 2001), p. 1.
  21. ^ John McTerman, 'Why the true patriots do not wear plaid', Scotland on Sunday (7 April 2002), p. 18.
  22. ^ Marc Horne, 'No flies on Alex as Tartan Week goes walkabout', Scotland on Sunday (30 March 2008), p. 3.
  23. ^ "United States - Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2006". http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-qr_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_DP2&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false. 
  24. ^ a b Congressional Record – Senate, Library of Congress, March 20 1998, p. S2373, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=1998_record&page=S2373&position=all 
  25. ^ Congressional Record – House, Library of Congress, March 9 2005, pp. H1029-31, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2005_record&page=H1029&position=all  In addition to the two chief sponsors, H.Res.41 had 54 co-sponsors, including Congresswoman Candice Miller of Michigan, Congressman Danny K. Davis of Illinois and Congressman Alcee Hastings of Florida, who all addressed the House of Representatives in favor of the resolution.
  26. ^ "www.tartanweek.com/". http://www.tartanweek.com/. 
  27. ^ Frank Urquhart , 'Arbroath declares itself the centre of Scots Tartan Day', The Scotsman (18 January 2006), p. 23.
  28. ^ "www.scotlandstartanday.com/2005_programme_new2.htm". http://www.scotlandstartanday.com/2005_programme_new2.htm. 
  29. ^ "Tartan Day Events". http://www.rampantscotland.com/features/tartanday.htm. 
  30. ^ Jim Gilchrist, 'Stories of Homecoming: We're on the march with Argentina's Scots' The Scotsman (15 December 2008), p. 18.
  31. ^ Tom Shields, 'We hold the reason for this holiday to be self-evident', Sunday Herald (20 March 2008), p. 36.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartan_Day"
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