Namesakes

[BoldHighlander]

Well said sir!

Hey, good topic. I myself have an English name - Lethbridge, but I have more Scottish ancestry than anything else! My mother's tree is almost completely Scot, and my father's has a share as well.

It does occasionally vex me when someone says 'Oh, you're Scottish?' (meaning family-wise) and I reply 'Yes, but stuck with an English name' - because I always get 'that' look.

I try not to let it bother me though - both my parents are pipers, I grew up sporting a kilt and marching with a pipe band. I learned side snare and am learning the pipes. I have a very basic grasp of Gaelic (and getting better all the time), practice Scottish swordsmanship and enjoy the foods (and drinks!) of my ancestral homeland. Am I Scottish? Maybe I wasn't born there, and maybe I try too hard at times, but yes, I like to think I am.

So anyone who wants to deny me because of a name isn't worth my time, nor should they be worth yours. You are who you are.

[long_hand]

Being an American I tend to look at things on both sides. I follow to the best of my ability the trails of blood where they specifically go...but at some point it also helps to say..."well, it looks as if I'm so and so part Gaelic, so and so part Gaulish, so and so Germanic and what...where in the world did that Italian come from?" take it all with pride AND a grain of salt and realize that our culture today is but a continuance of those great heritages. We may not entirely self-identify as a Gael or a Saxon or whatever since our more immediate ancestors forged a new American identity, but it is still what we are if we bother to look deep into our beliefs, ethics, and cultural institutions.

[Stratherrick]

I always say that it was just an accident of geography that I was born in England (Torquay, Devon)!

Whatever the characteristics of English folk, well, I just don't identify with them. My BIG decision came in 1981 when, while walking up 'Wembley Way' towards a football game between England and Scotland, I had to choose which team to support. I was 21 years old. I'd always favoured Scotland through my youth, especially as England didn't qualify for the World Cup finals throughout the 1970s.

It really didn't take more than a moment's thought to side with the Tartan Army hordes thronging the streets. The rest, as they say, is history...

Slainte

Bruce

[macwilkin]

And lets not forget that after the 9th Lord Reay, 23rd Chief of Mackay died without issue, the title passed to Baron Aeneas Mackay, whom became the 10th Lord Reay, 24th Chief of Mackay in 1875. The full title of the present Chief of Mackay is the Right Honorable Sir Hugh William Mackay, 14th Lord Reay, Baronet of Nova Scotia, Baron Mackay of Ophermert, Holland.

Kilted Sapper: don't get too stressed about the name thing. I'm a Holmes & as far as I know they were English. Do I wish I had a Scottish or Irish surname at times? Sure, but I can trace my ancestry to various Highland Scots & Irish families, and I carry their blood, heritage/legacy, & (in some cases) wear their tartan with pride & honor, and NO man can take that from me!
Wear it well my friend & don't give a hang what others may (or more likely) maynot think

And another Dutch Mackay, Hugo Mackay, served as a captain of a submarine in the Royal Netherlands Navy in the Second World War.

T.