Kirkin' O' the Tartins
What does it mean?
www.scottish-tartans-society.co.uk/
www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/dress.html
www.infokey.com/hall/tartans.htm
albanach.org/official.htm
The Presbyterian Church in Scotland
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In 563 an Irish Monk named Columba sailed with his twelve followers to Iona, an island off the west coast of Scotland. He preached the gospel to the native peoples who readily accepted the new religion and practiced its teachings in relative isolation from the Mediterranean church. However in the 11th Century Roman Catholicism became the official church of the land until the advent of the Reformation in the16th century when John Knox led the movement toward Protestantism in Scotland. Known as the father of the Presbyterian Church, he persuaded the Scots Parliament to renounce the corrupt Catholic Church and adopt the reformed faith. The Presbyterian Church remains the Church of Scotland today. |
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The Celtic Cross The early missionaries who came to Ireland and Scotland wisely recognized the spiritual value of much of the
native Celtic culture and learning and adapted as much of it as they deemed compatible with Christianity. For the
Celts the symbolism of the cross (representing the four directions) and the circle (the ancient symbol of the divine
sun wheel) were already revered. The Christian missionaries simply taught them to recognize new levels of meaning
in those symbols. |
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 The thistle is the national emblem
of Scotland and recognized as a symbol of all things Scottish. According to legend, when Scotland was being ravaged
by the Vikings in the Middle Ages a group of Scottish warriors were resting overnight in a field. A raiding party
had landed on the nearby shore and the attackers were approaching the sleeping Scots. Suddenly one of the barefoot
Norsemen stepped on a thistle and cried out in pain. His cry alerted the Scots and they arose and won the ensuing
battle, a decisive one in their struggle against the Vikings. The Scottish thistle grows to a height of six feet; it has spiky leaves and is topped with lavender flowers. One of the stiffest and thorniest of the genre, its touch inflicts great pain on anything that touches it! The emblem was used by early kings of Scotland as their personal heraldic crest and is borne by the Arms of the Realm as well as many ancient clans as part of their coats of arms; the Order of the Thistle is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a person. |
 Woven according to very specific
patterns, the tartan is a brightly colored, symmetrical plaid that we immediately recognize as “Scottish!”The tartan was made and worn by the Scottish Highlanders as early as 300 AD. Originally woven of the wool shorn from local sheep and colored with locally made vegetable dyes, the unique cloth may have been identified with a region, but was not intentionally associated with any particular people or place. It was, however, so closely associated with the Highlanders and clan loyalty that it was banned by the British after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s troops at Culloden in 1745. It wasn’t until the time of Queen Victoria when her husband Prince Albert got into the habit of wearing a kilt at their summer estate at Balmoral Castle that wearing the tartan became desirable again. Sir Walter Scott is credited with romanticizing the tartan’s importance and bringing it to the forefront of popularity. Scots throughout the land have developed a keen interest in reestablishing or reinventing family patterns (called setts), reconnecting families with their ancestors. |
| St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. The diagonal cross on which he died has been adopted as the symbol
on the national flag of Scotland, shown in white against a sky-blue ground. It was later incorporated into the
Union Jack flag of Great Britain. Andrew was one of Jesus’ disciples and the younger brother of Simon Peter. It
is said that he was traveling throughout Asia Minor and Greece winning converts for Christianity when he was arrested
by the Roman authorities who were trying to stamp out this new religion. He was crucified on the saltire, a diagonal
cross, in Southern Greece and buried there. Some 300 years later a number of his bones were brought to a Pictish settlement on the east coast of Scotland. In the 12th Century these relics were place in a specially constructed chapel in St. Andrew’s cathedral. It is not known what happened to the bones in later years, but all that remains today is a plaque among the ruins of the Cathedral. |
The Flag of Scotland
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THE SCOTTISH CULTURAL SOCIETY
The Scottish Cultural Society of Fort Wayne is dedicated to the promotion of and education in Scottish culture and heritage. It was founded to provide social and cultural activities for its membership and the community. The Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan is just one of many activities and events sponsored by the society. Other events include a Robert Burns dinner. New members are always welcome.