The first event for colgaffneyis on Sunday was to serve in the honor guard for a religious observance known as the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan. When first described to me 20+ years ago I thought “Wait a minute! This makes no sense. The Kirk was Presbyterian. Presbyterians do not bless material objects.” Sure enough, some years later I found an article on the ‘Net thoroughly debunking the whole thing. The Kirkin’ is bad history and bad theology.

So I was not totally thrilled that colgaffneyis, which is supposed to be committed to accuracy in the presentation of Scottish history, was involved in this. The event as it actually happened at Ramble was not so bad. They made it clear that it is not an authentic Scottish event; being instead something “traditional” that originated on this continent. I suppose that is OK, for values of “traditional” that include 1940. Also, it was good to see religion taken seriously. Much of Scottish history, including the era of colgaffneyis, is incomprehensible if you ignore the religious issues.

The officiant was a local Episcopal priest. He wore choir vestments–cassock, surplice and a black tippet (not a colored stole), which is correct for a non-sacramental service like that. Such vestments would also be period correct for a minister who favored the Episcopal party in the age of colgaffneyis. Strict Presbyterians, e.g. the Covenanters, considered surplices to be “popery” and their ministers would never have worn such a vestment.

Also, Episcopalians will bless material objects, in this case tartan fabric, so that made sense for Sunday’s Event. OTOH, the Scottish Episcopalians were thrown out of the Kirk after the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689. So being an Episcopalian would have meant you were not part of the Kirk, and in fact were part of a persecuted minority.