But what about...?
Dec. 11th, 2022 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigidI'm watching a show where these two Scottish guys explore Scotland and share native cuisine, folklore, landscapes, history, etc with the audience.
But they've made the sweeping claim that Scotland has a completely unique form of dance, that they're unique in using bagpipes, that they're unique in communicating rebellion through song (lol), and imply that they're unique in that the English committed genocide against them and outlawed their language and ethnic symbols.
And I'm sitting over here side-eying them in Irish (American). I'm sure there's many a person from India and other colonies who will take exception to these last claims as well.
And having competed in Irish Dance and encountered Scottish dancers they have a real superiority complex and perform choreography that mocks Irish step dancers. It is, frankly, weird.
I'm REALLY hoping that they dig into how the English went on to fetishize Scotland and Scottish Warriors and began claiming distant Scottish descent the way many Americans claim to be totes Native, you know (often specifically descended from Matoaka. (This is why J. K. Rowling bought a castle in Scotland, btw.)
It's a really interesting show, don't get me wrong. But that stuff really leapt out at me.
As my husband said, "there seems to be a theme here - 'and then the English came, and destroyed our way of life.'"
(n.b. - My brother played bagpipes in a pipe band when he was in high school and we lucked out because the dad of a friend of mine was a teacher and when his school was cleaning out storage they found a bunch of bagpipes so we didn't have to buy one, we just had to get it restored. He had a whole kilt and sgian-dubh and everything. We're MacCallums through my mother's side.)
But they've made the sweeping claim that Scotland has a completely unique form of dance, that they're unique in using bagpipes, that they're unique in communicating rebellion through song (lol), and imply that they're unique in that the English committed genocide against them and outlawed their language and ethnic symbols.
And I'm sitting over here side-eying them in Irish (American). I'm sure there's many a person from India and other colonies who will take exception to these last claims as well.
And having competed in Irish Dance and encountered Scottish dancers they have a real superiority complex and perform choreography that mocks Irish step dancers. It is, frankly, weird.
I'm REALLY hoping that they dig into how the English went on to fetishize Scotland and Scottish Warriors and began claiming distant Scottish descent the way many Americans claim to be totes Native, you know (often specifically descended from Matoaka. (This is why J. K. Rowling bought a castle in Scotland, btw.)
It's a really interesting show, don't get me wrong. But that stuff really leapt out at me.
As my husband said, "there seems to be a theme here - 'and then the English came, and destroyed our way of life.'"
(n.b. - My brother played bagpipes in a pipe band when he was in high school and we lucked out because the dad of a friend of mine was a teacher and when his school was cleaning out storage they found a bunch of bagpipes so we didn't have to buy one, we just had to get it restored. He had a whole kilt and sgian-dubh and everything. We're MacCallums through my mother's side.)
no subject
Date: 2022-12-13 10:05 pm (UTC)The official language of the legal system in England, Wales and Ireland was Norman French from 1066 until 1362, and they kept the damn thing as a written language for records until Cromwell dumped it as archaic in the 17th Century (although by then it had become its own horrific mishmash, as of course nobody spoke anything like Norman French by then). My history teacher said the switch to English was a great relief when she was doing her doctorate on the era