A Touch of Tartan

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
Red McKinnon, MacKinnon tartan sash with The Scottish Clans Association of London badge

Do you want any more Flora Woodman,  or have I said enough?! I published an article earlier this year – same subject matter as my paper today, but certainly not the same piece of writing:-

‘The ‘Scottish Soprano’ and the ‘Voice of Scotland’: the Importance of Nationality to Flora Woodman and Robert Wilson’, History Scotland Vol.25 no.1 (Spring 2025), 74-81

Public library e-magazine apps may still provide access to the issue, though History Scotland is no longer published. I believe you can access it via the former publisher, too. Let me share the message I received from History Scotland a few weeks ago:-

“As you may know, the Spring 2025 issue of History Scotland will be the last issue of the magazine. Thank you so much for your support over the years.The good news is, we’ll still be exploring Scotland’s past in our expert webinars and our monthly history newsletter, and there is still a huge range of back issues of the magazine for you to enjoy…

“Visit the pocketmags.com website and you can download back issues going back to 2010. How to buy back issues:

“Log in to your pocketmags.com account or register for an account. Visit the History Scotland page and browse the many back issues of the magazine.

“The ‘Complete Collection’ offer gives you all the History Scotland digital back issues you don’t own yet for a special discounted price. How to complete your collection:- Log in to your pocketmags.com account or register for an account. Visit the History Scotland page and click on COMPLETE COLLECTION“

I made a McKinnon tartan sash as a ‘prop’ for my talk. That was Flora’s mum’s family tartan, going back a few generations. Flora said it – I haven’t verified this!  It also bears the Scottish Clans Association of London badge – oh, I take these things seriously!  (If you are reading this after the event but missed it – I only wore the tartan sash for 15 seconds to show how it would be worn.  Minimal cultural appropriation was committed.)

As we answered questions after the first three talks, something occurred to me. Flora had something significant in common with her Scottish Clans Association of London audiences. The vast majority of them were of Scottish descent, and – like Flora – quite a few of them would have been born outwith Scotland. To them, she was quite simply, Scottish, the same as they themselves were. No-one was going to accuse her of not really being Scottish, because that would negate their own sense of Scottishness too. If Scottish blood flows in your veins – you’re Scottish, wherever you are.

(Me? No, no, I’m only as Scottish as my surname!)

Conference Programme: Actors, Singers and Celebrity Cultures across the Centuries

Abstract

Define ‘Scottish’ without a Scotch Snap (human asking human!)

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

OK. We’re thinking about ‘classical’ music. 🎶

Art music, if you like.

If you’re a serious classical composer, wanting to convey your Scottish identity – but also aspiring to avoid clichés – how do you do it?

  • No ‘Scotch snaps’
  • No ‘modes’, flat sevenths, or gapped scales
  • No Scottish song or fiddle melodies
  • No titles derived from Robert Burns or Walter Scott’s literary output
  • Oh, okay, you can have a clarsach, fiddle, whistle or pipes if you absolutely insist!

Why am I asking you this riddle?

I read in an old newspaper that a certain composer had truly captured ‘Scottishness’ in his music. I didn’t know the piece they were referring to. Did he evoke Scotland in his soundscape? How?

We say that Sibelius’s music evokes Finland. To be truthful, many of us have probably just accepted that it’s a ‘Finnish sound’, making us think of steep valleys, tall pines, and vast echoing lakes. Fair enough. We’ve heard something, and learnt to associate it with a set of visual images.

So what would evoke Scotland? Can we look at some Romantic-era tone-poems and point to elements that sound Scottish, or could only be Scottish?

What are your thoughts about this 🤔