HIGHLAND HERITAGE: Scottish Americans in the American South
Celeste Ray, R. Celeste Ray, HIGHLAND HERITAGE: Scottish Americans in the American South. , $16.95 (280pp) ISBN 978-0-8078-4913-2
Ray, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of the South, examines "the phenomenal growth of the Scottish heritage movement across the U.S. in past decades" and presents it as a case study in how American ethnic identity is formed over time. Interestingly, for instance, Ray notes that the movement is dominated by "highlandism," the phenomenon whereby Scottish Americans, regardless of their ancestral region, "claim a Highland Scots identity constructed in the 19th century through romanticism, militarism and tourism." A preponderance of Scottish societies, games, cultural events, military reenactments and venues for the study of genealogy and clan traditions exist in the South, where Scots have settled for centuries. Indeed, according to Ray, the "memory of Scottish ancestral tradition has merged with that of the Southern experience." Founded in 1955, North Carolina's Grandfather Mountain Highland Games annually draws crowds of 30,000. Half of all Scottish societies and one-third of the 200 U.S. clan gatherings and festivals are located in the South. After nine years of participating in and interviewing at community events, Ray studies the identity politics borne out in the attire, oral traditions, publications, clan pride, the role of women, songs and dances, heritage dinners, game innovations, displays of weaponry and other Scotticisms encouraged by the movement, as well as by film and TV (
Reviewed on: 02/26/2001
Genre: Nonfiction
Hardcover - 280 pages - 978-0-8078-2597-6
Open Ebook - 280 pages - 978-1-4696-2580-5