Scottish diaspora in the context of "Tartan"

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⭐ Core Definition: Scottish diaspora

The Scottish diaspora consists of Scottish people who emigrated from Scotland and their descendants. The diaspora is concentrated in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland (especially Ulster), and to a lesser extent Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. The Scottish diaspora has been estimated by the Scottish Government to be between 28 and 40 million people worldwide. Other estimates have ranged as high as 80 million.

According to Marjory Harper (2003) of the University of Aberdeen, Scottish emigrants and their descendants have maintained connections to Scotland though formal and informal means including "church, school and Scottish society" and "place names, correspondence, family and community networks, and chain migration". Rogers Brubaker (2005) wrote that immigrants from Scotland have regarded the ancestral homeland as "an authoritative source of value, identity and loyalty". According to Lauren Brancaz (2016) of the Centre for Breton and Celtic Research: "Scottish culture has not been contained within the borders of Scotland. It has lived on in the minds of migrants who have remained attached to it".

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👉 Scottish diaspora in the context of Tartan

Tartan (Scottish Gaelic: breacan [ˈpɾʲɛxkən]), also known, especially in American English, as plaid (/plæd/), is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as setts. Tartan patterns vary in complexity, from simple two-colour designs to intricate motifs with over twenty hues. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated with Scotland, where it has been used for centuries in traditional clothing such as the kilt. Specific tartans are linked to Scottish clans, families, or regions, with patterns and colours derived historically from local natural dyes (now supplanted by artificial ones). Tartans also serve institutional roles, including military uniforms and organisational branding.

Tartan became a symbol of Scottish identity, especially from the 17th century onward, despite a ban under the Dress Act 1746 lasting about two generations following the Jacobite rising of 1745. The 19th-century Highland Revival popularized tartan globally by associating it with Highland dress and the Scottish diaspora. Today, tartan is used worldwide in clothing, accessories, and design, transcending its traditional roots. Modern tartans are registered for organisations, individuals, and commemorative purposes, with thousands of designs in the Scottish Register of Tartans.

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Scottish diaspora in the context of Diaspora

A diaspora (/dˈæspərə/ dy-ASP-ər-ə) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently reside elsewhere.

Notable diasporic populations include the Jewish diaspora formed after the Babylonian exile; Romani from the Indian subcontinent; Assyrian diaspora following the Assyrian genocide; Greeks that fled or were displaced following the fall of Constantinople and the later Greek genocide as well as the Istanbul pogroms; Anglo-Saxons (primarily to the Byzantine Empire) after the Norman Conquest of England; the Chinese diaspora and Indian diaspora who left their homelands during the 19th and 20th centuries; the Irish diaspora after the Great Famine; the Scottish diaspora that developed on a large scale after the Highland and Lowland Clearances; the Italian diaspora, the Mexican diaspora; the Circassian diaspora in the aftermath of the Circassian genocide; the Armenian diaspora following the Armenian genocide; the Palestinian diaspora; the Lebanese diaspora due to the Famine of Mount Lebanon and to a lesser extent the Lebanese civil war; Syrians due to the Syrian civil war; and the Iranian diaspora which grew from half a million to 3.8 million between the 1979 revolution and 2019.

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Scottish diaspora in the context of Halloween

Halloween, also known as All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is at the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the Christian liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. In popular culture, Halloween has become a celebration of horror and is associated with the macabre and the supernatural.

One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots. Some theories go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallows' Day, along with its eve, by the Church. Other academics say Halloween began independently as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallows' Day. Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants brought many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century, and then through American influence various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.

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Scottish diaspora in the context of Celtic diaspora (disambiguation)

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Scottish diaspora in the context of Robert Burns

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.

He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.

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Scottish diaspora in the context of Scottish Gaelic literature

Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literary works composed in the Scottish Gaelic language, which is, like Irish and Manx, a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Gaelic literature was also composed in Gàidhealtachd communities throughout the global Scottish diaspora where the language has been and is still spoken.

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Scottish diaspora in the context of Tartan Day

Tartan Day is a celebration of Scottish heritage and the cultural contributions of Scottish and Scottish-diaspora figures of history. The name refers to tartan, a patterned woollen cloth associated with Scotland. The event originated in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1987. It spread to other communities of the Scottish diaspora, such as Australia, the United States and New Zealand, and to Scotland itself, in the 1990s to 2000s. Tartan Day is held on April 6, the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in 1320. It is celebrated in Canada (since 1987, officially and nationally since 2010), the United States (since 1997, with increasing recognition in 1998, 2005, and 2008 as National Tartan Day), and Argentina (unofficially from 2006).

The same date is used for locally official Tartan Days in Aberdeen and Angus, Scotland (from 2004). In the former, it has since shifted into the charity fundraiser KiltWalk, now running in four Scottish cities. In the latter, home to the town of Arbroath, the day is increasingly renamed Declaration Day, since 2016, and associated with events commemorating the Declaration of Arbroath and other aspects of Scottish history.

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