Generation to Generation

[Cygnus]

My great-great grandfather, Alexander, left Scotland when he was 14, and the family seems to have left their kilts behind. His father stayed behind, leaving his wife and teenage children to travel to the American West on their own. A year and a half later, he finally joined them.

It was a necessity that the people in the small communities that were springing up throughout the West at that time work together and be tightly knit, which is why Alexander's father worked to speak with the accent of the people around him and encouraged his children to do so. Even with coaching from her husband, though, Alexander's mother never replaced her Scottish accent with an American one.

Despite the attempt to blend in, Alexander's father was proud to be Scottish, and was especially proud of his family's service with "the Highland Regiments". He would still dance and sing the songs of his homeland, and that was the only time his accent would return. My grandfather was probably the last in my family that directly inherited this sense of pride, going so far as to name my father "Scot" with only one "T" to show that we are "Scots but not Scotts". Aside from this unusual spelling, he was not one for passing on tradition and focused more on the practical, day-to-day necessities.

Most of this information comes from the journal of my great-great uncle and, with most of the traditions and stories of my forbears having been forgotten, I've been left to piece together what I can from this one first-hand account and build the rest from scratch.

As far as ensuring that I am dressed properly and following tradition correctly, X Marks has been an invaluable help and I'd be remiss if I didn't thank everyone who contributes to the efforts of myself and others who are rebuilding lost tradition!