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Tartan Day Ceilidh
This event is Free for all ages!
When: A Sunday in late March or early April 2014
Join us as we celebrate
National Tartan Day,
with a festive gathering known in Scotland and Ireland as a ceilidh (like: kay-lay
or kay-lee). The afternoon event will be filled
with the sounds of bagpipes, drums and Celtic music
courtesy of: the
The North Texas Caledonian Pipes & Drums;
Seamus Stout; demonstrations of
Highland dancing, courtesy of the Dallas Highland Dancers; traditional Scottish
country dancing and more.
As a nation we have a good deal to celebrate, for native Scots and their
descendents have figured in the life this country since colonial times. (Note
that exact same statment can be applied the great state of Texas, as well!)
Based on the presence of their surname, or that of an
ancestor, in the book Tartan for Me, upwards of 75% of U.S.
Presidents have potential ties to Scotland! Clans Munro,
Buchanan, and Grant are all "still alive and well" in the 21st century! (James
Monroe [5th president], James Buchanan [15th] and Ulysses S. Grant [18th].)
Even Mr. Lincoln's last name has a tartan associated with it: Inverness District!
Did you know that Austin, Dallas and Houston are
all Scottish names? There's even wee village in northern Scotland today, called
Dallas! (Just how Dallas, Texas got its name is
unclear and there is little evidence to support the idea that it was somehow based
on its smaller, Scottish "cousin.")
Andrew Carnegie and
Andrew Mellon (49th, U.S. Treasury Secretary),
for whom
Carnegie Mellon
University is named, were both of Scottish descent.
The first man to walk on the moon,
Neil Armstrong, is descended from the southern border
clan of the same name. At least two letters from him, on NASA letterhead, can be
seen at the Clan Armstrong Centre and Museum, in
Gilnockie Tower, near the village of Canonbie, in the border
country of southern Scotland.
Educational displays at the ceilidh will address: "Why we
celebrate National Tartan Day."
The information presented describes the contributions that
Scots have made to Texas, the U.S. and the world at large. From
inventors, scientists and medical pioneers; to engineers, industrialists,
poets and authors; to political theorists and theologians, people from
this tiny (and often very poor) island nation have made significant
contributions in almost every field of human endeavor since the early 18th
century! (For more see:
"Why Tartan Day?")
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