Written by tanja-sdb on January 25, 2018
Robert Burns – Scottish Diaspora Icon
Research StorySt Andrew’s Day undoubtedly was one of the main celebrations in the annual events calendar of the Scots abroad. On equal footing stood, however, the celebration of Burns Night in honour of Scotland’s national bard, Robert Burns. Burns societies and clubs were formed all around the world to organise events, and it was their activities
Written by tanja-sdb on December 27, 2017
Caledonian Games and New Year’s Day in New Zealand
Research StoryThe lusty sports of “Caledonia, stern and wild” have been celebrated in prose and verse by the greatest masters of both. They have a peculiar charm of their own. The combination of massive strength with deerlike agility, which is characteristic of the proficient Highland athlete, is seldom to be found in the athletes of other
Written by tanja-sdb on November 30, 2017
The Global Saint: St Andrew’s Day Celebrations around the World
Research Story‘No saint in the calendar’, observed a reporter in the Hong Kong Daily Press in 1886, ‘receives the hearty and regular devotion paid to St Andrew by his flock in all parts of the world.’ And indeed, next to Burns Night, St Andrew’s Day has long since been the key holiday in the annual events
Written by tanja-sdb on November 14, 2017
Forwards and backwards
Research StoryIn July 1909 the love story of Gabriel R. Gibson of Kilsyth – a small town halfway between Stirling and Glasgow – and Myrtle MacIntyre made headlines in the San Francisco Call. Gibson had fallen in love with MacIntyre and ‘wooed his sweetheart’ during his school days in Kilsyth. But, in 1903, Gibson left for the United States, seeking
Written by tanja-sdb on October 31, 2017
Celebrating Halloween in New Zealand
Research StoryIt’s that time of the year again when people all over the world celebrate Halloween – a good moment to remember that Halloween has long since been one of the many cultural traditions Scots took with them to places all around the world where they settled. This included New Zealand, where Scottish communities in both the North
Written by tanja-sdb on September 20, 2017
Caledonian societies in the Antipodes
Research StoryCaledonian societies emerged as the primary driver of Scottish ethnic associationalism in the Antipodes, especially so in New Zealand, where the promotion of Caledonian Games was their very raison d’être —many societies were effectively born on the sports ground. Ultimately, the hosting of Games was to exert so significant an influence in colonial New Zealand that they became an integral part
Written by tanja-sdb on August 17, 2017
A perfect associationalist
Research StoryWhen Archie Crosbie Haig died in Mount Gambier, South Australia, in the spring of 1945, the local paper was full of praise for his involvement in the community, focusing in particular on Haig’s contributions to the city’s many clubs and societies. He was, in fact, what we might call a perfect associationalist: The late Mr.
Written by tanja-sdb on July 25, 2017
The Scottish Horse
Research StoryA very specific politicization of Scottish ethnic associational activity is worth pausing over as we continue to remember the First World War: in that war the Scottish Horse played an important role. The regiment’s roots, however, lay in the South African War over a decade earlier, and were in no small way a direct expression of
Written by tanja-sdb on June 20, 2017
A Scottish Physician in Hong Kong
Research StoryI am currently in Hong Kong for fieldwork and went for a meeting at Hong Kong University today. On the way up from the new HKU station panels telling the University’s history have been installed. Among the early panels were many references to the the medical training the University provided in the early days. And
Written by tanja-sdb on May 16, 2017
The Sons of Scotland in Canada
Research StoryThe Sons of Scotland association was established as a mutual aid society in Toronto in 1876 to provide insurance to its members, also including in its activities elements of sociability and the celebration of Scottish culture. The specific objectives were: To unite Scotchmen, sons of Scotchmen, and their descendants, of good moral character, and possessed of some known reputable