Kirkin' of the Tartan

[Troglodyte]

The best I can find on the antiquity of kirkin o' the tartan, was that it was thought up by an enterpirising New York priest after the USA had entered the second world war.

He offered to 'bless' any tartan brought along, in exchange for the purchase of war-bonds, and so is quite a patriotic act or service.

By the time the Americans got active in early 1942, Britain had been 'at it' with Germany for the best part of three years, and were getting stuck in with the Japanese, too.

So I guess Scots at home and on active service had their attentions concentrated in other directions, and tartan-kirkin' slipped in under the radar, so to speak.

But it's curious. How long does it take for a new action to become a tradition? Around 80 years ought to be more than enough, you might think, and there are many 'traditions' that are really nothing more than the fashions of a past generation, and a huge chunk of what we now accept as ago-old traditional has come about in the past 100 years or so.

Perhaps we need to be less pedantic on these issues...