Do Americans Love the Scottish?, and Why?

[KauaiGirl]

I SOOOO totally agree with GaelicGirlNYC on soooo many points. I can totally identify because I too am originally from Hawaii (still live here at the moment and am saving desperately for a trip to Scotland!). Basically what GGNYC and Moonpie said is all true. If you want my own version why I'm obsessed with Scotland, you can go here: http://www.zeninthecoffeeshop.org/bi...obsession.html

[baarchitect]

My name is Mike Graham, I live in Houston Texas and I know why I love Scotland. I was born here in Texas, raised in a big city, Houston. My last name says alot, it tells of a Scottish or Irish background, but you would never know it by talking to me. Here in the U.S., at least where I am, it seems something is lacking. Houston is a very modern city, not hundreds of years old, it has been defined by the automobile and the pedestrian has been pushed into second place. Its flat here, full of concrete and modern architecture, rather cold actually. I love Scotland for what it represents to me, an Amercian born from a family transplanted here generations ago, but it seems not lond enough for strong roots to be in place. I look back to history and see my family tree origianted in Scotland, I look forward and see this cold city, and its lack of roots.
Some may say that the glass is half full, Houston has lots of potential, I say the automobile has detroyed that, pushed people further from one another. I am considering moving to Scotland or Ireland, maybe even London, in search of a place with a History, where the people say hello, not honk hello.
Anyway, Im not saying that technology is evil all together and I do own a car out of neccesity, Im saying I love scotland because of my personal experience in this place, and what Scotland might hold for me.
Mike from Houston

[bluefelt]

As Mike Meyers put it so elequently, "If it's not Scottish, it's Crrrrap!"

But seriously, Americans love Scotland because we have these grand images of William Wallace, and being able to drink 4 pints and take the coach home - not having to drive and worry about getting killed on the way home. We love the beautiful landscape, the incredibly friendly people who helped me every step of my trip there - just hold up a map and look confused and a handsome Scottish man would come running - We love your accent, the bagpipes and the rich culture. The fact that your police don't carry guns.

We don't love the food, which I can vouge for. I lived in Oxford for a semester and snuck out to Pierre Victoire and McDonalds at night. In Edinburgh, I loved Chez Jules and the Elephant and Bagel, but opted against all things fried and boiled. (You do have to work on the health part.) But even Scottish people do a good job of simulating foreign food, much better than English. We love the romantic, cold nights, looking at castles, the lochs, being able to chat up the people in pubs (in L.A. it's called a meat-market, in Scotland, it's a social thing....so different. And the men are so much more charming with that accent.) We love the fact that you really believe that there is a moster in your lake, and not a coelocanth.

It's just a fabulous place, and it's so much older than the U.S. that there was practically a battle on every hill, a person buried under every road, celtic civilizations underneath new grocery stores. You just can't get that anywhere! We also love Scotland because many of us are of Scottish ancestry. We dream of our forefathers fighting against those who would have taken the land, marching up the hills, and settling down to a pint to celebrate afterwards.

I love the U.S. for reasons that are completely different - we know how to make good Mexican food, and I can be a millionaire and never have gone to college - but we don't have lochs, we don't have castles, we don't say "wee," and I'm not marrying a man without an accent.

-shelley

[susanmclean]

I am an American with a Scottish soul. My grandmother was from a small town in Scotland. I have inherited her maiden name as my middle name and have passed it on to my daughters and they in turn will pass it on. I am extremely proud of my heritage and when talking about it to fellow Americans, the responses are always positive. I haven't met an American friend who didn't like or admire the Scots. I am sorry if you heard anything negative about Americans not liking the Scots, but in any culture, their are bound to be people like that. My dream is to one day fly to Scotland, stand at the edge of one of the beautiful cliffs above a loch, with a castle at my back and just breathe it all in. I envy anyone who lives there. So, from one American's point of view, I love you

[MinKerrGuy]

Yes, we do love Scotland (Americans) undestand that I can't speak for all Americans, but it seems like most of us do. I think it stems from the Scottish struggle to be indepentant from England and the fights with the English. We all have something in common. Don't get me wrong, geneally speaking we are fairly fond of England too, but given a vacation choice I would rather go to Glascow than London. Besides who can pass up the opportunity for a good Shepards pie and a good scotch egg!

[Guinevere]

love those scotch eggs, even haggis is tasty.

[WillsNTexas]

With some parts of our society, this "love" is money-making obsession. Walk down the Romance section of any bookstore in America, and the number of paperbacks with Scotland in the title is just mind-boggling. Something like 60% of the book market in the U.S. is romantic fiction, this amounts to alot of books with dashing Highland lords and shy lassies. One of my favorite blurbs is purportedly about my ancestors in the middle ages "The Clan Gunn men - Warriors of legendary passions". What woman, American or otherwise, wouldn't want to read and fantasize about men of "legendary passions" Where does this line form? And, of course, the biggest draw has got to be the best-selling time-travel series "Outlander" et al. Women all over the world have voted Jamie Frasier as their all-time ideal man. There's a wonderful chat room that is composed of women who express what is their favorite quote from Jamie Frasier. He is the penultimate Highland Scot hereo to a U.S. reading woman. Wonder how far these fictional men, who are the best-selling focus of our fantasies, differ from their real-life counterparts? This trend in popular fiction coupled with the hit movies in recent years like Braveheart and Rob Roy have made alot of us want to visit Scotland and find out for ourselves.