A brief History of the Kirkin' of the Tartan

On the 25th day of July, 1745, the young Prince Charles Edward Stewart (Bonnie Prince Charles) returned from France and landing at Lochnanaugh began the enlistment of the Highland Clans for his abortive attempt to dethrone George II of England and to restore the Scottish throne to the Royal House of Stewart.  After a succession of victorious battles with the English at Prestonpans, Falkirk, Stirling, Edinburgh, and Carlisle, vastly outnumbered, exhausted and hungry, the reduced Highland ranks were utterly routed to Culloden on April 16, 1746.

To subdue the spirit of the vanquished Highlanders, the English Parliament at Westminster invoked the Act of Proscription that banned the wearing of any sign of the Tartan, forbad any speaking in Gaelic, outlawed Scottish music, dancing, or the playing of the pipes, which the Act said "emitted an aggressive and warlike sound."

It was 36 years before the Act of Proscription was revoked and, during all those years, Highland churches had a special day when the Highlanders gathered, each with a small piece of Tartan concealed under their outer clothing and, with the right hand held over the precious piece, they all joined in the prayer that it might please God speedily to cause the repeal fo the devastating Act of Proscription.

When finally the Act was repealed, the highlanders, as Cunningham in his History of Scotland has written: "returned with joy to their beloved kilt, no longer bound to the unmanly trews of the lowlanders." It is in spiritual continuity with this era of Scottish History that we celebrate the liturgy of the Kirkin'O' the Tartan.
- The Late Dr. H. Douglas Stewart

The Kirkin' O' The Tartan
In 1941, the Rev. Peter Marshall, chaplain of the U.S. Senate and minister of Washington's New York Avenue Presbyterian Church created a special Sunday service to give solace to Scottish-Americans involved in the war. This service was similar to the ones conducted in the Scottish Highlands after the Battle of Culloden in 1745 that led to the Act of Proscription, which banned the wearing of any tartans, Scottish culture and music and the speaking of Gaelic for 36 years.

Since 1941, this ceremony has been practised throughout Canada and the United States but this is the first time it has been introduced to Waipu, as part of our Tartan Week festivities.

In many ways Scots away from home become more Scottish than people still living in Scotland, but services like this help to interest children in the culture of their parents or grandparents and give them a sense of the history of their families.

Winter@Waipu Contact: Rosemary Neave 239 Massey Rd, RD 2 Waipu 0582 Ph: 64 9 4321234