Kirkin' o' the Tartans on the Square in Carrollton
In the swirl of pipes and the beating of the drum, CPC brings a time-honored Scottish tradition to town- the “Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans.”
The Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans is a ceremony based on Scottish history and legend. After Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Scottish forces were defeated by the English at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, a British act was passed that forbade the Scots from wearing tartan. In fact, orders were given for British troops to shoot, on sight, any person dressed in Highland garb.
Tartan was the hand woven plaid material that was worn by the occupants of that rugged country. It not only provided warmth, its different designs and colors represented the wearer’s family connections. Forbidding the display of the tartan was like cutting them off from their community. But the stubborn Scotts prevailed, secretly carrying a scrap of the cloth hidden in their clothing when they went to Kirk (church). The minister slipped a blessing (a Kirkin’) into the service for those tartans and the families they represented.
After fifty years, the Act was repealed, and the Church of Scotland celebrated with a Service of Family Covenant, where the tartan of each family was offered as a covenant expression for the Lord’s blessing.
Every October, Carrollton’s own Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans recalls that tradition, beginning at the Square and continuing to Carrollton Presbyterian Church, where the actual service takes place under the gothic arches of the historic sanctuary.
Jan Stewart Tolbert, the pastor at Carrollton Presbyterian Church says this about the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan, “This part of the country was settled in great part by people from the British Isles . . .Scotland, Ireland, England. This service is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate that heritage that so many of us here share.”