The Diaspora - Keeping Scots Traditions Alive

[tulloch]

As is often the case one's longing for or remembrance of places and people far away leads to a greater conservation of traditions including music, language and stories. Those of us at 'home' are going about our daily lives, trying to make ends meet, raise children and then die in dignity. We tend to not be sentimental or conservative about what we might see of our heritage. A Yank in Calcutta may get a rush of satisfaction from a Chicago pizza joint or a nice sizzling burger - smells, sounds, feels like 'home.'

College students in the 1950s got Scottish music out of the hills of West Virginia that could not have been gotten in Scotland.

I look around my plain little town and try to see it from a different perspective - how one could be homesick for the weather, the poor but character-full small wood framed houses. Thank goodness we have things like this site to help keep it all alive.

[piperdbh]

It's not just in Scotland that "local" traditions seem to be on the wane. There are lots of events, festivals and so forth that don't draw in the local crowd, but are appreciated by folks from "somewhere else".

[westy1970]

I feel fortunate to live so close to so many festivals in the summer. Some are great and others are so-so. It saddens me to hear of them waning in Scotland and the fact/opinion that heritage takes a back seat to life. It would be wonderful to visit Scotland and see it be like Asia where the people embrace their heritage side by side with modern dress.