Lowland/Scotch-Irish/American Colonists vs. Highlanders.

[davidlpope]

I stumbled across this article today while following a rabbit trail relating to Thomas Jefferson:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2009151...n_tab_contents

It's a short but interesting article that points out that American colonists who were the descendants of Lowland Scots and the Scotch-Irish were, in most cases, supporters of the Revolution. They were often at odds with Highlanders who often supported the Crown.

This was the case with the Revolution in North Carolina. The Highland broadsword charge at Moore's Creek was met by the musket fire of backcountry militia, many of them Scotch-Irish. Similarly, in the Mecklenburg region, Scotch-Irish militia fought against Montgomery's (77th) Highlanders.

It's ironic, then, that descendants of Lowland Scots and Ulster Scots in North Carolina have adopted the trappings of Highland culture (tartan, kilts, bagpipes) as a means of celebrating their own heritage.

[The Q]

It should be remembered that at various intervals between European mainland wars and the Jacobite rebellions that there were lots of spare soldiers looking for a job.
there were even Jabobite soldiers and officers serving in the Government army in the Americas.

[Tarheel]

There is certainly a varied history in N.C. There are the Scots that were also Quakers (my family being one) that supported neither side in violence but kept trade with both sides.

Even some of these had family members that fought for one side or another in wars since ... um ... the beginning of time. I am, as well as one member from every generation (as far back as 1740) have served proudly in the military. We take the burden of civil responsibility for our family upon our shoulders.

Wearing the kilt seems natural for a Scotsman (highlander or lowlander) but only a few of us can don a Quaker hat with ease.

[Jock Scot]

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Wearing the kilt seems natural for a Scotsman (highlander or lowlander) but only a few of us can don a Quaker hat with ease.

You must be joking! Its only in very recent times----the latter part of my lifetime----- has the kilt been accepted by some Lowland Scots. There are still places in the Lowlands where the kilt is regarded with vicious scorn.

I kid you not.

We in the Highlands often have considerable difficulty to this day, in listening to Lowlanders claiming the kilt as theirs and giving out kilt attire advice----often incorrect------ without a rather cynical smile at best and not a little disbelief!

[ThistleDown]

Its only in very recent times----the latter part of my lifetime----- has the kilt been accepted by some Lowland Scots. There are still places in the Lowlands where the kilt is regarded with vicious scorn.

I kid you not.

We in the Highlands often have considerable difficulty to this day, in listening to Lowlanders claiming the kilt as theirs and giving out kilt attire advice----often incorrect------ without a rather cynical smile at best and not a little disbelief!

Therein lie the nuts of two things: 1. The reasons why many Highlanders don't wear Highland dress south of the Highland Line, even today, and 2. one good reason why the kilt is not -- by many -- worn daily in Scotland: the Lowland population is 20 times that of the Highland and much of the Highland population is Lowland or elsewhere in origin.

[Peter Crowe]

Therein lie the nuts of two things: 1. The reasons why many Highlanders don't wear Highland dress south of the Highland Line, even today, and 2. one good reason why the kilt is not -- by many -- worn daily in Scotland: the Lowland population is 20 times that of the Highland and much of the Highland population is Lowland or elsewhere in origin.

Conversely Rex, many Scots in the Lowlands have Highland forebears as well as Lowland Scots, English, Irish, Welsh and others. The Highland/Lowland cultural division outwith the earlier Lordship of the Isles was also at it's most pronounced from about 1500-1800, the era when the great kilt and later little kilt developed from the older saffron robes of the clan elites, and can be over-stated today. Gaelic was once spoken in Galloway and variants of Scots long spoken in Caithness. For example most of Argyll and Bute is Highland (the geographic boundary fault line passes through Rothesay), but culturally closer to Glasgow and west-central Scotland, than Inverness and its hinterland.

In my experience as a kid in a kilt-wearing family (and although a minority there were others like us) in Lowland Scotland in the 70's and early 80's, I was often teased by some for wearing the kilt as my Sunday best or as part of Scout uniform, but it owed more to the socio-economic class of those who affected to despise it than to their cultural or ethnic origins. In the past 20 years this seems to have changed somewhat, but whether that is because my peers grew up or indicative of a deeper change I am not sure. Children and teenagers love to tease that which is different or they perceive as old-fashioned and I believe that was where it was coming from when I was younger.

[ThistleDown]

Yes, I agree, Peter. Other than my university years at Aberdeen I've never lived in the Lowlands. At school in the Highlands I was kilted and that continued most often during my university years. My fellow students respected my choice just as I respected theirs. Children in the streets I walked to my lodgings called 'kiltie kiltie cauld bum' but that was the extent of it. (My second degree was at Manchester and after a very few strange weeks, I packed my kilt into a box and and sent it home.)

Those young Aberdeen townies were, as you say, of a different socio-economic class than I was, but they have grown up to be the middle-aged users of kilt-hire shops today. Most often they take their instruction from the owners of those shops, without having the advantage of generations of kilted ancestors. Even if their names are Highland.

[Terry Searl]

You must be joking! Its only in very recent times----the latter part of my lifetime----- has the kilt been accepted by some Lowland Scots. There are still places in the Lowlands where the kilt is regarded with vicious scorn.

I kid you not.

We in the Highlands often have considerable difficulty to this day, in listening to Lowlanders claiming the kilt as theirs and giving out kilt attire advice----often incorrect------ without a rather cynical smile at best and not a little disbelief!

...... I have dear friends from the Lowlands and when I suggest I wear my kilt the lady says she won't be walking beside me if I do.........she isn't derogatory about it, and won't elaborate further, but she says she just doesn't like to see men in Kilts

[Tarheel]

I, have again, made a broad statement that needed clarification. This is the reason I look to the guidance of the Rabble. With my family removed for so long from the Highlands, I can only speak of the family feelings as I have grown up knowing them.

[Jock Scot]

I, have again, made a broad statement that needed clarification. This is the reason I look to the guidance of the Rabble. With my family removed for so long from the Highlands, I can only speak of the family feelings as I have grown up knowing them.

You are not alone, we see it all the time on this website. Which is precisely why the Scots think as they do on a very contentious subject on this website that has recently drifted away.