Scottishness and identity

[seaweasel]

This might be an ominous opening sentence here but, I don't mean to offend people, I'm interested on the opinions of both Americans/Canadians/etc and Scots regarding this.

There seem to be quite a few people on this forum looking into their genealogy and whether they're connected to a clan, however I'm curious about their use of "Scottish" (as well as "Irish", "English" and "Welsh") in describing themselves. For example, my fiance is Irish and I remember her getting quite riled by an American girl she was in halls with who described herself as Irish despite not having any Irish family or other connections to Ireland (except for possibly having a vaguely Irish name).

I'm also interested in my family history as I have great-grandparents from Ireland, Lithuania and Germany as well as Scotland, however when people ask where I'm from I never tell them I'm Lithuanian. I know that things get complicated for those who have parents of different nationalities for example, however even my half-Polish friend (who is proud of her Polish roots and periodically visits and works there) considers herself Scottish. Given this, I find it strange and sometimes irritating that some Americans (to be fair, other nationalities are also guilty of this) describe themselves as Scottish when their connection is far more obscure than my Lithuanian, German or Irish roots (which I don't consider to be particularly strong).

As I said, I don't mean to offend anyone here however I just wanted to get some thoughts about why some people latch on to some foreign nationalities so vehemently, sometimes with very tenuous connections.

[Polwarth]

Hiya Seaweasel..... you're opening a can of worms here, as you will see if you just scan down some of the fora on here.... stooshies galore!

[BornAgainScot]

Polwarth, seaweasel might be opening a can of worms, but the fact remains what he says is absolutely correct. I have read the comments of many Americans, Canadians among other nationalities on here and they all seem to be of the same opinion - a Scottish name or grandparent from Scotland makes them as Scottish, if not more, than those of us born here to Scottish parents - or at least one Scottish parent! We all know about various migrations to the States, etc - whether through the clearances or otherwise - and we should all be aware, if not always proud, of our roots. However, the constant claims of "I AM Scottish because a distant relative who I cannot trace might have left Scotland many decades - if not hundreds - or years ago" gets a bit irritating! If someone does have Scottish, Irish, Welsh, etc roots that's great, but they don't make a person Scottish, Irish, Welsh, etc! What makes them even more irritating is they then try to tell US how we should be running OUR lives in the country WE are from! Can of worms? Let it be open - and let these pdeudo-Scots/Irish/Welsh/etc say what they like! In my opinion they are as likely - NOT - to make me believe their dubious claims as ever!

[Polwarth]

WHOA..... you're preaching to the converted here, BAS....! Just look at the dog's abuse that has been heaped on me over the years for making just that distinction...

[BornAgainScot]

Fact is Polwarth, some people just can't handle the truth - is that our problem though? Somehow I don't think so!

[seaweasel]

I'd be interested to see what the opinions of some American users are on this too, however it might not be very representative. I have a few American friends who don't claim to be "Scottish" or "Irish" but they're probably not the type to post in the Clans forum (e.g. one of them is a doing Medieval Irish Literature PhD, another is from Mexico).

And BTW, hi Polwarth, BornAgainScot.

[Polwarth]

Originally Posted by seaweasel

I'd be interested to see what the opinions of some American users are on this too, however it might not be very representative. I have a few American friends who don't claim to be "Scottish" or "Irish" but they're probably not the type to post in the Clans forum (e.g. one of them is a doing Medieval Irish Literature PhD, another is from Mexico).

And BTW, hi Polwarth, BornAgainScot.

Hiya Seaweasel - and gonne tell us hoo ye came up wi thon name?! I've got a few American friends who are also not the type to post on this forum - but I've been here so long, I kinda feel obligated to stay and give a Scots dimension to the fora!