History of Kirking of the Tartans
This Sunday all over the world many churches will observe the Kirkin’ o’ th’ Tartans, a celebration of Scottish heritage and culture.
What is The Kirking of the Tartans?
Etymologically it simply means:
- Kirking, from the Scottish Gaelic word kirk which means church, in this usage means “blessing.”
- Tartans are the traditional plaid emblems of Scottish clans represented in unevenly spaced colored lines and rectangles on woven wool cloth.
Historically, the story is a bit more varied. The popular legend goes as follows:
On July 25, 1745, the young Prince Charles Edward Stewart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" returned from exile in France and landed at Lochnanaugh in Scotland where he began to enlist the Highland Clans for an unsuccessful attempt to dethrone George II of England and to restore the Scottish throne to the Royal House of Stewart.
Following this defeat, the Act of Proscription — to subdue the vanquished Highlanders — banned the wearing of any sign of the Tartan, forbad any speaking in Gaelic, outlawed Scottish music, dancing, or the playing of the pipes. The Scottish Highlanders subsequently hid pieces of tartan under their clothing and brought them to church for a secret blessing or kirkin’ at a particular point in the service by the minister.
During the 36 years following the Disarming Act of 1746 when the Hanovarian English government strictly enforced this ban, during the Sunday service Highlanders would touch the hidden cloth when the minister gave the benediction, thus rededicating themselves to God and their Scottish heritage.
A curious wrinkle in this legend is that many people in Scotland don’t know this so-called "history" about the Kirkin’. It is difficult to find an unbroken line of history tracing the practice back specifically to this origin in the mid-18th century.
A more recent and better documented version of the story is that this began as a Scottish-American custom:
The Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans service was created or "revived" during World War II by Reverend Peter Marshall, perhaps best known by the biographical book and film A Man Called Peter — who was originally from southwest Scotland and at one time pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. In 1947 he served as Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. In order to encourage Scottish-Americans to sign up to fight on behalf of Great Britain, Peter Marshall recreated the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans ceremony to try to instill pride among Scottish-Americans in their Scottish homeland. The ceremony was at that time held in Presbyterian churches of Scottish heritage across the US. Today, the celebration is not limited to Presbyterian churches, but is found in Episcopalian, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and other denominations across the world. Now, in present day celebration, the Highlander patriotism, faithfulness, and strong independence are remembered by the displaying of tartans and public parade of the clans to the sound of the bagpipe.
While often celebrated on Reformation Sunday the last Sunday in October, Kirkin’s are also celebrated at other times of the year, as on St. Andrew’s Day — the patron saint of Scotland — on November 30, and Tartan Day on April 6. In 1954, the Kirkin‘ service was moved to the National Cathedral (Episcopal) in Washington — home of the Episcopal diocese of Washington — where it is still held to the present day.
In churches, and even at Scottish Highland Games, the Kirkin’ is celebrated by Scots — and those who would be Scots — accompanied by prayer, scripture, preaching, blessing, bagpipe, and of course, the singing of Amazing Grace.
Bill MacPetro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com
[…] History of Kirking of the Tartans | Bill Petro. […]
Alba Gu Bra! Scotland Forever…for the godly heroism of Sir William Wallace and John Knox! 🙂
First, I wuld like to say to Melody Seppi, please do not mention the great Sir William Wallace in the same sentence as sucha weasel like John Knox!!!
Secondly, I would just like to say that the “kirking o’ the Tartans never has been, nor never will be a Scottish tradition.
It started in the U.S.A and is only practiced in North America and parts of Australia.
It has nothing to do with Bonnie Prince Charlie or any Jacbite traditions.
It all sounds ridiculous to me!!
Còmhragair,
Thanks for the comment.
I guess you didn’t read far enough down to see that I mentioned:
– People in Scotland don’t know this “history”
– It was created during World War II by Reverend Peter Marshall
Bill
[…] ceremony during which family tartans are blessed or recognized by the local church. There is some discrepancy as to whether this is a tradition dating back to the 1740′s when Prince Charles Edward […]
I only heard of ‘The Blessing of the Tartans’ a few days ago . I am an Elder in The Community Presbyterian Church in the town of Wasaga Beach, Ontario. Our Student minister asked if he could include this in his service. I was born and raised in Scotland into the ‘Old Church of Scotland’ rites and ceremonies.
This was not a part of our Church traditions. Being a bit of a ‘Historian’ and having read about the English rule in the aftermath of Culloden I can understand where and more-so why this ceremony would be of such importance to the Scots.
I am all in favour of promoting ‘The Blessingf of the Tartans’
as part of the Presbyterian Church order of service.
John Knox was the first to speak out against the Church of England. Were he here right now who knows what he would achieve. Billy Graham status …maybe ???
Peter Marshall was NOT the 4th Chaplain of the Senate. he was the 58th Chaplain of the Senate—which in itself is misleading because you have ministers that served multiple times. The Chaplain of the US Senate goes back to 1789 in New York City, not 1941.
Thanks for the correction Glenn, the article is now updated. Not only did I have the order incorrect, but the year. He served in 1947.
-Bill
My understanding is that ‘kirk’ is not a Gaelic word. ‘Kirk’ is the Scots for ‘church’ and is etymologically related to other Germanic words such as Dutch ‘kerk’ and German ‘Kirche.’ The Gaelic word for church is ‘eaglais.’ most likely from Latin/Greek ‘ecclesia.’
Mark,
Agreed, as corrected last year and noted in the previous comments.
-Bill
[…] History of Kirking of the Tartans October 2008. This quasi-historical article hooked the interest of Scots all over the world. 10 comments […]
I am looking forward to this service of blessing at St Stephen’s Uniting (formerly Presbyterian) Church on St Andrew’s Day this year (2014) but aware of course that this is of 20th century American origin and also that the present-day kilt and the clan-based differentiation of tartans were inventions of Englishmen in the 19th century. The fascinating work on this subject is The Invention of Scotland : Myth and History, by the distinguished historian, the later Hugh Trevor-Roper (Lord Dacre).
Thanks for the comment John.
Wherever it came from or who thought it up, it’s a lovely tradition to start.
We in the Episcopal Church often do it on the day we commemorate Samuel Seabury, our first American bishop. It would not sit well to have ‘Church of England’ in the new country.
the church remembers Samuel Seabury, First American Bishop, 1796.
On this day in 1784 the first American bishop was ordained as bishop in Aberdeen, Scotland, in a quiet ceremony in the private chapel of Bishop John Skinner. In this way the episcopate was brought to America, and it was possible for Americans to organize an episcopal church, independent of the Church of England. The English bishops could not legally ordain an American bishop who would not swear allegiance to the English Crown, and for this reason Seabury had to go to Scotland for episcopal orders. Soon the English laws were modified to allow for the ordination of American bishops in the English succession.
Samuel Seabury of Connecticut was a controversial figure and hardly conformed to the traditional idea of a “saint.”� Unlike our other early bishops, White of Pennsylvania, Provoost of New York, and Madison of Virginia, Seabury opposed the American Revolution. For this, and because he was considered terribly “high church”� for the times, he was not generally popular. Yet he performed an invaluable service for the American church in securing the episcopacy for it. Feelings ran high against bishops in those days, especially in New England. It took considerable courage and determination for Seabury to go to England and Scotland and then return to Connecticut as a bishop.
Grant that we may serve you diligently in our day. Amen.
Eternal God, you blessed your servant Samuel Seabury with the gift of perseverance to renew the Anglican inheritance in North America: Grant that, joined together in unity with our bishops and nourished by your holy Sacraments, we may proclaim the Gospel of redemption with apostolic zeal; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Joanna,
Thanks for the comment.
-Bill
[…] in an Orchestra , Ar K Est Ra means 'where Ar fell' . Till Scotland where we find names like this . History of Kirking of the Tartans Kir King of the Tartans of […]