Identity in the Scottish Diaspora

[davidlpope]

In America and Canada hyphenating citizenship and a selected ancestor's place of birth is frequently, but not always, the norm. That's combining heritage and citizenship; I understand the fact but not yet the reason.

The question that I asked earlier is why? What's the difference that makes this the way in the new land of North America and not in the new land of Scotland?

First, it should be noted that we are dealing with a sub-set of Americans here. Most Americans don't know and don't care about their genealogy.

For those that do care, my hypothesis is this: The difference is that there is no unifying American culture. Immigrants to Scotland have a new culture that comes with their new adopted country. There is no singular American culture. So, in a sense you get to choose. Usually that choice is based on your family's ancestry. Italians in New York do the whole Columbus Day thing. Descendants of Greeks in Charlotte, NC have a big Greek festival. Germans have Oktoberfest and Polka. The Irish (from the South, who arrived after ~1860) have St. Patrick's Day. Descendants of Scots have the Highland Games.

Here's how simple it is for me: I like history. I like to have history personalized. I want to know the story of "my people" (the "my" is important), and what their history was. Where am I from?

I have heard that America is a big land and that's the reason. That would seem to me to be saying that a move from Florida to California five generations ago results in the hyphenated Floridian-Californian. I don't know; does it?

Yes. Yankees who move to North Carolina are still Yankees. Their kids are Yankee kids raised in the South. My wife's parents are both from Maryland. She and her siblings were all born and grew up here. But she's not a North Carolinian in the same way that I am. Our children's heritage is a mixed bag. Where were your great-grandparents from? "Who are/were your people?"

Is it a need for deeper roots than those to be found in NA after even as many as five or ten generations?

Yes, sometimes. But even then, it's complicated. It's complicated because the organic culture that's been created over 5-10 generations was the result of the mixing of the original immigrant cultures. The region of North Carolina that I am from was strongly influenced by it's original immigrants- Ulster Presbyterians of Scottish ancestry. So, my cultural identity is still tied to/influenced by the historical culture of Scotland. In other words, my North Carolinian heritage is still largely reflective of its Scottish roots. Hey, the last Highland broadsword charge occurred at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, right here in North Carolina...

If so, why is the selected ancestry Scottish and not another of the myriad genealogical lines?

Scotland is the selected ancestry because it is the only one that has a clearly definable culture that is cool. If you go back to my g'g'g'grandparents, they are about 1/2 Ulster Scots/Scots (Mom's side) and about 1/2 English/Welsh (Dad's side). What would it look like for me to celebrate my English heritage? Morris dancing? My Welsh heritage? Choral singing? Those things can't compete with tartan and kilts and bagpipes. Sir Walter Scott did his job too well...

Is it an admiration for earlier times in Scotland? An admiration for the Scotland of today? A feeling of spiritual connection and, if so, with what aspect of 'Scottishness'?

An admiration for earlier times, yes. We tend to trace our own sense of freedom and independence from our ancestors- Magna Carta, the Declaration of Arbroath, the Solemn League and Covenant, the Sugar Creek War, the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, the Halifax Resolves, the American Declaration of Independence.

An admiration for the Scotland of today? Only in the sense that you still have a definable culture. Yes, I know it may seem shortbread-tin to you all, but when someone sees a kilt or bagpipes they immediately know "Scotland". The same isn't true with the US.

A feeling of 'spiritual connection' with certain aspects of "Scottishness"? Sure: Fierce independence, willingness to defy kings when one's religion is at stake, loyalty to one's family to the extent that bloodshed is not out of the question...

Look, I know that there is probably shuddering all around the world when they watch America's current machinations. But I think that perhaps we're still just a bit wilder than you. A bit less refined and reasonable and tame. A little less civilized. It's not necessarily flattering for us. But I do think it harkens back to our shared ancestry in a way that is a bit truer to them.

Nemo me impune lacessit, right?