I've been living outside the US for nearly 15 years now, and can't
remember having Tartan Day then, but we definitely had the Kirkin' of
the Tartan in the Los Angeles area--which is definitely a US custom;
wasn't and isn't done in Scotland, but it's a lovely way to assert
Scottish heritage. (I remember how proud our nine-year-old was, to be
allowed to carry forward a sash of MacMillan tartan and lay it on the
altar, along with the sashes of all the other clans represented. I
also remember how we prevented Madam Leask of Leask from sitting on a
whoopie-cushion smuggled into the church by that same nine-year-old.
Has anyone ever tried to disarm a whoopie-cushion quietly, in the
middle of a church service? Madam Leask knew nothing of it at the
time--she was in the row directly in front of us--but afterward, when
we told her what had been averted, she was most amused!)
Re America's Masonic heritage (and tooting my own trumpet), I can
recommend my novel, Two Crowns for America, for a treatment of both
Masonic and Jacobite themes, and all based solidly on history. (For
my Sinclair tribute, you'll have to read the Adept series. See my
website at www.deryni.com.)
Regards,
Katherine Kurtz
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