From: Ancestry Daily News, 5 April 2001
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"TARTAN DAY: MARKING THE ANNIVERSARY
OF THE DECLARATION OF ARBROATH,"
by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA
(Scot)
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The Senate of the United States
declared 6 April to be Tartan Day
several years ago. The day
is an occasion to recognize and reflect
upon the tremendous contribution
the Scots have made to the nation.
It is acknowledged elsewhere
too, in Canada, for example.
If you are interested to know
whether there are Tartan Day events in
your area, begin by checking
this Web site:
http://scottishculture.about.com/aboutuk/scottishculture/mbody.htm
or
inquire through local information
sources.
DECLARATION OF ARBROATH
Why 6 April? This is the anniversary
of the Declaration of Arbroath,
a strong statement of Scottish
independence sent to the Pope in 1320.
Such a view was understandable.
After all, it was soon after
Bannockburn, 1314, and the
recapture of Berwick, 1319, two decisive
victories over the English.
The Pope had not acknowledged Scotland as
a separate nation and the
38 lords were, in very strong terms,
telling him to do so. Their
document had the desired effect. To read
more, and for links to the
text of the Declaration, in both the
original Latin and English,
visit:
http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/arbroath.html
TARTAN
Like the word 'plaid' which
formerly meant a blanket, tartan used to
mean a piece of cloth. It
is a modern interpretation to think of the
pattern of the cloth when
we see either of these words. Scots of any
background, Lowland or Highland,
can be found proudly wearing tartan
today; but it wasn't always
so. From 1746, after the defeat of the
supporters of Charles Edward
Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) at the
battle of Culloden, until
1782, it was against the law to wear it. In
those days, Lowlanders were
not at all interested in dressing
themselves in the attire of
a group of people they held in low
regard.
A little research into tartans
in various books and Web sites will
tell you that the tartan as
a means of identification is a modern
thing. (Start with the excellent
resources at:
http://www.rampantscotland.com
or any of the guides published by
HarperCollins, e.g., the Pocket
Reference, "Clans and Tartans,"
1995.) Some sources quoted
claim that recognition was possible from
tartan as early as 1703, while
others dispute this, pointing to the
varied garb of the Scots at
Culloden. What is agreed is that by the
second half of the 1700s,
mainly due to the influence of the army,
tartans were being aligned
with particular groups and names. The
influence of the tartan manufacturers
helped this along, and in 1831
the first book on clans and
tartans was published.
STEP BACK IN TIME
I suggest you get in touch
with your Scottish past on or about 6
April by examining the parish
reports written by local ministers in
the 1790s and the 1830s. Many
of you will already be aware of the
recent arrival on the Web
of the complete first and second
Statistical Accounts of Scotland
at:
http://edina.ac.uk/cgi/StatAcc/StatAcc.cgi
Up until now access has not
been easy--the 1978 reprint of the First
Statistical Accounts is in
the Family History Library in Salt Lake
City on fiche and film but
does not circulate to Family History
Centers. The lucky ones among
us find them in nearby reference
libraries.
In 1791, Sir John Sinclair,
a Caithness landlord with a particular
interest in the Scottish economy
and agriculture, conceived the idea
of surveying the status of
every parish is Scotland. He believed that
"public policies and actions,
especially Parliamentary legislation
intended to benefit the populace,
needed to be founded on something
better than prejudice or mere
hunch." (D.J. Withrington and I.R.
Grant, eds. "The Statistical
Accounts of Scotland, Volume 1, 1978,"
page xiv).
Sinclair designed a questionnaire
with 160 queries and then went to
the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland seeking to harness the
knowledge of local ministers.
The questionnaire not only probed
issues economic, it asked
questions about natural features,
antiquities, population, political,
and moral matters. Some 500
ministers responded quite
quickly and by 1794, 775 of 938 parishes
had sent in reports. Sinclair
did not yet realize the trouble he
would have cajoling reports
out of the remainder--those whom someone
described as the incapable,
the indolent, and the busy. In the end he
had replies from all but twelve,
and to these parishes he sent his
"statistical missionaries".
The majority of ministers had
lived in their parishes for five years
or more. They were knowledgeable,
if occasionally somewhat
patronizing. Some went on
at great length, carefully addressing the
issues raised in the questionnaire--most
wrote a narrative rather
than specific answers. The
facts are there, and though names are few,
the material is of interest
to family historians. For example, at the
united parishes of Logie and
Pert in the county of Forfar 30 persons
died in 12 months, 1787-88,
from a malignant fever (the symptoms are
described). Forty years before,
in the 1750s, one important business
was the snuff factory, which
had processed over 40,000 pounds of
snuff per year, but in the
1790s only one person was employed and
production was down to 5,000
pounds. If facts are few in your parish
of interest, and even if they
are not, read also about those
adjacent.
In addition, at this Web site,
you can scrutinize what ministers had
to say roughly 40 years later.
Changing to the report of the Second
Statistical Account is only
a click away. Comparing the reports is
very interesting and can offer
clues about living conditions,
changing fortunes and why
people came or went. The second account is
one way to find out about
secession or dissenting congregations in a
parish or nearby. Be sure
to read it.
Sir John Sinclair wanted proceeds
from his accounts to go to the
benefit of children of Church
of Scotland ministers, so it not
surprising that production
of the second account was supported by the
Society for the Benefit of
the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy.
When reading the accounts think
of the wonderful people at EDINA
(Edinburgh Data and Information
Access) who have made this
incomparable resource available
to all, and of Sir John Sinclair, a
man of amazing vision. Should
you be in Thurso, his statue stands in
the square.
___________________________________________________________________
Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot)
has been researching her British
ancestry for 30 years. She
founded Interlink Bookshop and
Genealogical Services (http://www.interlinkbookshop.com)
in 1988; she
currently lectures in Canada
and the United States and is vice
president of the Association
of Professional Genealogists. Sherry is
also the author of:
"Your Scottish Ancestry: A
Guide for North Americans"
(TODAY'S PRODUCT SPECIAL at:
http://shops.ancestry.com/product.asp?productid=1046
and
"Your English Ancestry: A
Guide for North Americans"
http://shops.ancestry.com/product.asp?productid=1045
You can e-mail Sherry with
suggestions for future British genealogy
articles at mailto: [email protected].
She will not be able
to send personal replies,
but will feature some questions in upcoming
issues of the "Ancestry Daily
News." Sherry also regrets that she is
unable to assist with personal
research.
Copyright 2000, MyFamily.com.
This article may be reproduced
in whole or in part for non-commercial
purposes provided that proper
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End
Kind Regards,
Karen from Ohio,USA
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