National Tartan Day
“I’ll take the high road and you’ll take the low road and I’ll be in Scotland before thee”. This is a familiar phrase to many of us traditional and relocated Scots. Since 2010, April 6 has been observed as National Tartan Day in Canada. April 6.1320, marked the date for the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath, the date for Scottish independence.
There has been a long and impressive history of the Scots and their impact on North America since the early 1300 hundreds. Although their contributions to the development of Canada have been many, as a culture they they still remain a bit recluse or even “clannish”, celebrating their customs and music with one another. Unfortunately, they seemed to get lumped in with the “English” population when it comes to census time.
So if you haven’t already dragged out your family tartan and adorned your kilt (maybe a bit of a challenge for the instructors in the trades) tonight you can dress up in your clan colors and head to your neighborhood local for a few glasses of cheer with some of the tartan army. Or quite possibly it’s a night at home in front of the big screen watching the overused Braveheart DVD, and maybe a touch of blue war paint to get you in the mood.
Take time to acknowledge Canada’s National Tartan Day, not to be confused with national Plaid Day.
A true story:
An America couple was visiting Scotland and were touring Edinburgh Castle. Outside the Castle a Piper was playing the bagpipes. The American woman (unfamiliar with the sound of the bagpipes) turned to her husband and shouted, “If he would only stop squeezing it so hard, then maybe it would stop screaming”.
Slangevar.
James Mc Williams, SAFA President.