I had the privledge of being invited to Birmingham, AL, this week to speak to the Antiquarian Society there, a collection of very dear women and a few of their guests (including a few kilt wearing husbands who are also members of the local St. Andrews Society).

I was invited to come speak on the subject of tartan. The way the woman who is in charge of their programming put it, she was tired of hearing about antique silver and old private gardens, but had always been interested in Scottish tartans and kilts, so she found me!

There were about 100 people present for my talk, mostly older women. I have to say, they were quite attentive and seemed very interested in the subject. The talk I gave was a variation on my "The Sources of the Tartans" article, detailing some of the 19th century references we have about tartans, how they came to be, and their impact on tartan today. Along the way I got to give a good overview of how tartan came to be such an important icon of Scottish identity, and its role in Scottish (and Scottish-American) culture today.

What was interesting to me was being able to give a presentation of this sort to a group that was not particularly geared towards Scottish historical or cultural interests. Usually I am invited to speak to St. Andrews Societies, Clan gatherings and the like. These women had no particular background or interest in Scottish culture, but they were very much into genealogy and many had Scottish background. The comments I received after the talk were all very positive, and I was particularly praised by one woman for being "not at all snooty!" (I had them all laughing a few times during the talk, which is always a good thing).

The Antiquarian Society were very gracious hosts, and treated my wife and I to a wonderful lunch afterwards. My wife snapped this photo of me on the grounds of the club we stayed at the night before, while waiting for our escorts to come collect us for the talk.