Distant Scottish Connections - how to honour it?

[JohnnyO]

Hi Jamie, speaking as a kilt wearing Scot, living in Scotland, there are few 'Tartan Police' going about and I haven't met one in over 50 years of kilt wearing.
If you're really wanting to go by the book then you could write to the Clan Chief of the clan to which you feel the closest family link, if there is no present Chief then the Clan Association should there be one, asking permission to 'officially' wear the tartan. This is what I did as the original name was lost through marriage.
Or, you could just give the traditional answer of, "It was my grannie's tartan", the advice given to me by my first kiltmaker, the late Jimmie Kilpatrick of Luss.
Please enjoy wearing your final choice.


Bring Forrit the Tartan

[Tomo]

"It was my grannie's tartan"

What he said. I actually do wear my grannie's tartan.

If you like the idea of wearing tartan - pick something you like and just go for it.

As Steve highlights there are tartans that would reflect your Scottish and Canadian heritage - maybe that sits better in terms of justifying wearing it, but beyond asking what the tartan is most people will not question why you are wearing it and no-one will check your credentials.

It's worth keeping in mind that most of the traditions (and for that matter many tartans) are actually fairly recent inventions and a lot of the rules are somewhat bogus if you start to dig into it.

[JamieN]

@ Steve:
Have you thought of doing an ancestry test- perhaps with 23 and me? They have updates now that define the ethnicity regions more precisely to specific counties, towns. My UK breakdown of regional Glasgow (#1 on the list), etc.. hotspots were what made dig into my Scottish links and lone and behold- that's where they were from. Granted the tests are only as good as the current science, and you may not of inherited all of the relevant DNA, but given your ancestral link, I think that it could triangulate an area at the very least if your ancestor was Scottish. (Now that I think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if Aberdeen or Fife- other hotspots of mine - was where Keillor my ancestor was from).

@Karl R.
Thanks for the honesty. I will remember that line if someone asks me.

@johnny O.
Now this is an avenue that I haven't thought of. Are you suggesting that I ask the Canadian or Scottish clan society for that family name? Is this common practice in Scotland?