Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Notes on the Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- A Tribute to Sir Tom Devine
- 1 Introduction-Global Migrations: The Scottish Diaspora since 1600
- 2 ‘As Hewers of Wood, and Drawers of Water’: Scotland as an Emigrant Nation, c. 1600 to c. 1800
- 3 ‘You Have Only Seen the Fortunate Few and Draw Your Conclusion Accordingly’: Behavioural Economics and the Paradox of Scottish Emigration
- 4 Scottish Diasporas and Africa
- 5 ‘Have the Scotch no Claim upon the Cherokee?’ Scots, Indians and Scots Indians in the American South
- 6 Conflicts of Interest, Crises of Conscience: Scots and Aboriginal People in Eastern Australia, 1830s–1861
- 7 The Importance of Scottish Origins in the Nineteenth Century: James Taylor and Ceylon Tea
- 8 ‘Our Old World Diff'rences are Dead’: The Scottish Migrant Military Tradition in the British Dominions during the First World War
- 9 ‘Part of my Heritage’: Ladies’ Pipe Bands, Associational Culture and ‘Homeland’ Identities in the Scottish Diaspora
- 10 Understanding Scottishness among Sojourners, Settlers and Descendants in Hong Kong and New Zealand
- 11 Encountering an Imaginary Heritage: Roots Tourism and the Scottish Diaspora
- 12 Home is where the Heart is: Affinity Scots in the Scottish Diaspora
- 13 What Scottish Diaspora?
- 14 Afterword
- Index
12 - Home is where the Heart is: Affinity Scots in the Scottish Diaspora
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2017
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Notes on the Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- A Tribute to Sir Tom Devine
- 1 Introduction-Global Migrations: The Scottish Diaspora since 1600
- 2 ‘As Hewers of Wood, and Drawers of Water’: Scotland as an Emigrant Nation, c. 1600 to c. 1800
- 3 ‘You Have Only Seen the Fortunate Few and Draw Your Conclusion Accordingly’: Behavioural Economics and the Paradox of Scottish Emigration
- 4 Scottish Diasporas and Africa
- 5 ‘Have the Scotch no Claim upon the Cherokee?’ Scots, Indians and Scots Indians in the American South
- 6 Conflicts of Interest, Crises of Conscience: Scots and Aboriginal People in Eastern Australia, 1830s–1861
- 7 The Importance of Scottish Origins in the Nineteenth Century: James Taylor and Ceylon Tea
- 8 ‘Our Old World Diff'rences are Dead’: The Scottish Migrant Military Tradition in the British Dominions during the First World War
- 9 ‘Part of my Heritage’: Ladies’ Pipe Bands, Associational Culture and ‘Homeland’ Identities in the Scottish Diaspora
- 10 Understanding Scottishness among Sojourners, Settlers and Descendants in Hong Kong and New Zealand
- 11 Encountering an Imaginary Heritage: Roots Tourism and the Scottish Diaspora
- 12 Home is where the Heart is: Affinity Scots in the Scottish Diaspora
- 13 What Scottish Diaspora?
- 14 Afterword
- Index
Summary
THE KILTED MEN ARE a yearly fixture. Visit the Swiss city of Basel during the three days of carnival – and you will come across the Scots. They will be marching in parades, playing bagpipes, wearing tartan – and often wearing other things as well: demonic masks of papier mâché, oversized heads and noses, garish fantasy costumes. They combine the Scottish pipe and drum band tradition with the local carnival aesthetic. These are the men (and only men) of Schotte Clique; their name quite simply means Scottish krewe or band. Founded in 1947, they have performed every year since without interruption. Many consider Schotte Clique one of the finest and most prestigious carnival krewes in the city; sixty-six active and several hundred passive members wear their Scottish gear with pride and meet regularly throughout the year. Carnival in Basel lasts for only three days, but the cliques provide a social identity that delivers all year round. Schotte Clique change their masks and costumes with every season – the production of such material at home or at the clubhouse is one key aspect of Basel's carnival culture. But every year there will be some Scottish element involved. In February 2014, Schotte Clique marched as a group of kilted Santas, and the year before they were medieval knights, their skirt-like leg wear resembling a Scottish fashion.
The group was not created by Scottish migrants, but by Swiss enthusiasts. Official band history has it that the founders of 1947 took the idea from a decorated shop window in Basel, advertising ‘Schottenwoche’, a week of prices so low that they would even please a stereotypically mean Scot. The old cliché of the penny-pinching, thrifty Scot continues to resonate across Europe. It stems from the time when sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Scottish merchants and pedlars came to the continent in great numbers and made their name as hard-headed businessmen. The stereotype is still very much alive and often used by retailers when marketing to the parsimonious. In Germany you can find an entire non-food supermarket chain by the name of MäcGeiz – combining the German word for thrift (‘Geiz’) with a pseudo-Scottish ‘Mac’.
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- Global MigrationsThe Scottish Diaspora since 1600, pp. 219 - 239Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2016