New Member from Maryland

**ObiSeanKenobi** · 2nd December 21, 08:54 AM

Hi all, I'm Sean and I live in Laurel, MD, USA (in the Baltimore-Washington corridor) with my wife, two sons (ages 4 and not-quite-2) and our three cats. I'm a web developer by trade, but I've worn a lot of hats including eight years as a cook in the Indiana Army National Guard, eight years in musical instrument retail management, and even five years as a yoga teacher. I'm a big fan of nerd/pop culture, including comic book movies and Star Wars, and my hobbies include playing music—I've played guitar for about twenty years and sang in a rock band for a number of years—board games, homebrewing mead and cider, and making art.

My kilt journey began four or five years ago at the MD Renaissance Festival when I purchased a Black Watch great kilt from a regionally local kiltmaker called Wolfstone Kilts. Since then, I've worn rented kilts for black-tie-optional holiday parties for my wife's work for the past couple years (discounting 2020). This year, I purchased my own kilt, another Black Watch, and am looking forward to building out the rest of a wardrobe around it. The next kilts I'd like to add to the collection are US Army and MacFarlane (my wife's family tartan).

I unfortunately don't have a lot of good genealogical records for most of my family, as three of my four grandparents and at least one great-grandparent were adopted, but a DNA test revealed about 80% ancestry from the Celtic Isles in aggregate and about a quarter from Scotland specifically. I'd love to find some resources that might help me in my search to find the Mystery Scots in my bloodline.

I'm happy to be here, and can't wait to join in the discussion!

**Father Bill** · 2nd December 21, 08:59 AM

Welcome to the "Great Rabble"!

**kilted2000** · 2nd December 21, 09:37 AM

Welcome from the home of the Blues!

**VegasKilted** · 2nd December 21, 12:13 PM

Welcome from Las Vegas.

Fellow Gen X nerd, here. Just started my kilt journey. Tons of great folks and loads of information here.

Cheers

**KennethSime** · 2nd December 21, 08:41 PM

Welcome, from California!

Too bad you're in Maryland - we've got a lot in common!

Genealogy without records is pretty hard. My fiancée's paternal side is very well-documented - I quickly got them back to Ireland. Her deceased mother was adopted, and Maryland adoption records are closed once the adoptee has passed on. Depending on where the adoptions took place, you might have better luck. Genetic genealogy is an emerging field. Family History Fanatics is a pretty good YouTube channel that covers it, as well as a lot of other genealogical topics.

The best advice I can offer when it comes to genealogy is not to trust any data you find on the internet unless you can verify it by seeing the actual source documents yourself. There are thousands of Ancestry.com users who erroneously believe their great-great-great grandmother was Pocahontas because some distant relative put their family's mythology into Ancestry.

The best advice I can offer about building up the rest of your kilt wardrobe is to try to check sites like Etsy + eBay for vintage deals. Over the past year or so, I've managed to put together a Prince Charlie outfit (jacket, waistcoat, dress sporran) for less than $100. I do need to buy some black leather shoes, which will probably set me back another $100, and a bowtie, which will be another $20 or so, but I still think I've done pretty well so far.

Finally, if you haven't joined yet, I highly recommend the Kilts & Culture group on Facebook. It's certainly no replacement for the XMarks forum, but a very worthwhile group.

**kilted2000** · 2nd December 21, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by KennethSime

Finally, if you haven't joined yet, I highly recommend the Kilts & Culture group on Facebook. It's certainly no replacement for the XMarks forum, but a very worthwhile group.

I second the Kilts and Culture group. Warning, both XMarks and Kilts, and Culture both have their own tartans. So two possible new kilts you may need to own.😀