History of the Kirking of the Tartans: is it really Scottish?

Bill Petro
3 min readOct 31, 2021

This Sunday, all over the world, many churches will observe the Kirkin’ o’ th’ Tartans, a celebration of Scottish heritage and culture.

What is The Kirking of the Tartans?

Etymologically

  • Kirking, from the Scots word kirk, which means church, in this usage, means “blessing.”
  • Tartans are the traditional plaid emblems of Scottish clans represented in unevenly spaced colored lines and rectangles on woven wool cloth.

Historically, the story is a bit more varied. The popular legend goes as follows:

Legend of Kirking of the Tartans

On July 25, 1745, the young Prince Charles Edward Stewart, “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” returned from exile in France and landed at Lochnanaugh in Scotland. There he began to enlist the Highland Clans for an unsuccessful attempt to dethrone George II of England and restore the Scottish throne to the Royal House of Stewart.

Following Prince Charlie’s defeat, the Act of Proscription — to subdue the vanquished Highlanders — banned the wearing of any sign of the Tartan, forbade any speaking in Gaelic, outlawed Scottish music, dancing, or the playing of the pipes.

--

--

Bill Petro
Bill Petro

Written by Bill Petro

Writer, historian, technologist. Former Silicon Valley tech exec. Author of fascinating articles on history, tech, pop culture, & travel. https://billpetro.com

No responses yet

What are your thoughts?