This morning I attended Lakeside Presbyterian Church for the Kirking of the Tartans service.
"What's that," you might ask. Well, Kirk is Scottish for church and kirking is a "churching" or a "blessing." Although plaids are worn throughout the world, only Scots wear the tartan. Tartans are steeped in history, saturated with blood of martyrs and and extremely important for those from the Scottish tradition.
A clan is a family, and Scots wear the tartan of their clans or families with pride and a sense of history. Once a year, following Scottish tradition, Scottish folk come together in church to have their family tartan blessed.
One of my co-workers, Ben, one of our great PA's at the hospital was a part of the ceremony and he invited me to attend. His lovely wife Diana is a great lady and it was good to see her again.
The significance of the Kirking is significant when I reflect on my own family history. My mom comes from a part of West Yorkshire, England called "The Kirklees", from a town called Huddersfield. Huddersfield which was founded by Scottish businessmen who moved their textile industries there from Scotland a couple of hundred years ago. My grandfather was a supervisor in one of the many Huddersfield textile mills. When he wanted to move his family to America, he put his resume in at textile firms throughout the U.S. Most Huddersfield textile workers went to Connecticut to work in one of the the mills. Grandpa Taylor took the job in Ohio.
It was a beautiful service. I'm glad I went.
Heritage is something that has to be taught. It has to be passed down. It is so important that as Americans, we learn about where we came from and honor the traditions or those who came before.
Regards,
Gordon
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