St George's Anglican Church
A Traditional Episcopal 1928 Prayer Book Parish

The Anglican Church’s Scottish Heritage

A Kirking of Tartans (often mispronounced, “Kirkin’ o’ Tartans) is a peculiarly American tradition. These ceremonies are held on behalf of Scots Abroad (and their descendants) who have been sundered from their native land and roots. A Kirkin’ is most often held in conjunction with St. Andrew’s Day in November, or at a Highland Games or other large gathering of Scots. They are often held in Presbyterian Churches, but sometimes in Anglican or Roman Catholic parishes, especially in those with a high percentage of Scottish parishioners. While details may vary from church to church, they always include a presentation of Tartans and blessings pronounced on behalf of all those of Scottish blood, whether present or not.

A Kirkin’ celebrates the freedoms cherished by traditional Scots, their heritage and their general reliability and sturdiness (not to say, stubbornness) as they brought their traditions to our shores in their own quest for freedom, whether religious, political or cultural. At a Kirkin’ we acknowledge our debt to our Scottish ancestors, and pray for benefit the of their descendants. We celebrate Tartans and Highland Dress as the outward and visible sign of our inward Scottishness.

The first Kirkin’ of the Tartan was held in the 1940s by The Rev. Peter Marshall, a Scot who became Chaplain to the United States Senate, in Washington DC. Contrary to popular belief, Kirkings are not based on any legendary Scottish rite, nor do they have any connection with the ‘45 or the Act of Proscription, though the Repeal of the Act Proscribing the Wearing of Highland Dress1 is often read (in Gaelic and English) at Kirkings.

As the website of the Clan Campbell Society NA2 correctly states, “There is absolutely, totally and fundamentally no truth whatsoever, in any way at all, in the “legend” that the idea of having tartan blessed originated during the banning of tartan after 1746. This invention has been traced to an old and very charming minister in Florida who deeply believes that he heard it stated at the original “Kirking” held in Washington DC in the 1940s. If the Rev. Peter Marshall mentioned such an idea at that event, he was mistaken.”

It may not have been a tradition in 1746, but it’s a wonderful tradition now. We’ll celebrate at St. George’s with pipes, dance, prayer and shortbread.

The Anglican Church in the United States has been shaped more by Scottish than by English Anglicanism. The reasons are two: first, the American line of Bishops traces back through Scotland, not England, and, second, the essence of the American Book of Common Prayer was shaped by Scottish influence rather than English. 

To be consecrated bishop in England, an American Anglican would have had to take an oath of allegiance to the British Crown. That, of course, was antithetical to the ethos of America. Samuel Seabury, therefore, went to Scotland to be consecrated. The Episcopal Church of Scotland was founded by English bishops who had given up their dioceses rather than violate the oath of allegiance they had given to the English King James II by taking a new oath of allegiance to Willim of Orange while the exiled James II still lived. These bishops were called non-Jurors. All they took with them when they went into exile was their integrity and their consecration as bishops. It was to these dedicated bishops that Samuel Seabury turned. He sailed to Aberdeen where, on the fourteenth of November 1784, he was consecrated the first American Anglican bishop by Bishop Coadjutor of Aberdeen and the Bishop of Ross and Caithness. Bishop Seabury thus brought home from Scotland the unbroken line of bishops extending back to the Apostles.

In gratitude to the bishops who had consecrated him, Bishop Seabury promised to do everything he could to use the Scottish rather than the English Prayer of Consecration in the Holy Eucharist. In this effort he was largely successful. The American Book of Common Prayer, with very few changes, reflects Scottish usage, which itself was adopted directly from the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549.

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