What do you say when Americans tell you they are Scottish?

[micmac 6]

Right, so in my time here on visits and now living here, American people keep proclaiming themselves as Scottish.

So after hearing their "lineage", and sometimes even famous Scots that are in their genealogy (Flora MacDonald and Robert the Bruce to name a few) or asking me what my lineage is (something I have never investigated), I never know what to say and just kind of smile and nod. I was asked one day if I knew information about a surname, and where they originated and I was met with a baffled expression when I didn't have a clue. Or like throwaway comments like "Oh, I am Scottish as well!", from people born and raised here to American parents.

I am glad people care about our country but I find it funny that a lot of these people research Scottish history (some even relaying it to me like I didn't live in Scotland for 22 years) and probably don't know what real Scotland today is like!

Like, I would recommend Chewin the Fat, Kevin Bridges, Biffy Clyro, Glasvegas and Paulo Nutini to anyone wanting a taste of modern Scotland. Any other suggestions welcome!

Of course I have nothing against Americans loving Scotland, its how I met my husband!

Does anyone else get this all the time?? (applies to all UK people for sure, I met a descendant of one of Nelson's illegitimate children!)

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Thankfully no, where I live I actually meet very few born-and-bred Americans; most people are immigrants, and so in the same boat as me!

Usually the only question I get is where in England I am from, and this is only asked either by a) other English people or b) someone who has recently visited England!

But I have come across people like this online, and what I've found is that people nearly always claim to be descendants of famous people who don't actually have any living descendants!

[lilly1986 5]

haha if i say i am german i get it all the time too "i am german, too" and i am thinkin all the time" no u r not. u r born and raised in the u.s. both of ur parents and grandparents are, just because some grand grand grand uncle once came from germany doesnt make u comparable to me

but i just smile and they nothiing...of course most of americans have european roots, duh!!!!! :-) i just smile about it.

[Jewel-8 21]

Yes, that happens a lot! I said the same thing to my husband when I met him. We live near SLC and these mormons LOVE them some geneology. My mom, a jack mormon, has spent so much time at the Family History Library tracing back our ancestry it's funny!

I love Glasvegas! And Ian Rankin books! Modern Scottish culture is a lot of fun.

[micmac 6]

hahaha! yeah they only ask if they have been. That is when I know I will get an OK conversation out of it! haha

Yes, that happens a lot! I said the same thing to my husband when I met him. We live near SLC and these mormons LOVE them some geneology. My mom, a jack mormon, has spent so much time at the Family History Library tracing back our ancestry it's funny!

I love Glasvegas! And Ian Rankin books! Modern Scottish culture is a lot of fun.

YES! I figured the mormons were a factor! My grandmother in law is like genealogy advisor for her ward, so she is of course very into it!

[beejay 125]

It's just an American thing. For the most part almost everyone living here came from somewhere else (even if it was many generations ago) and to claim that as part of your identity is part of our American cultural heritage. Outside of the US it sounds silly to claim you are "Dutch" or "Irish" or whatever when you have never been there but here it is very common if that is where your ancestors came from. Think about Italian Americans ala Jersey shore and their perceived connections to their Italian heritage. In my state we have a large Scandinavian population who claim similar ties to their 'mother land' and have traits that they identify as being from their 'Scandinavian' roots.

It's a concept that, as Americans, we are raised with (growing up I knew the 'heritage' of all my friends from school and they knew mine) and it probably stems from the fact that many immigrant population came over in waves and would stay in their given communities until over the generations they became more enculturated into American society. The pattern still continues to this day. Think about more recent immigrant populations from Somalia for example. There are 1st gen kids that have never been to Somalia but of course are going to identify as being Somalian. Over the generations the further removed they are going to become from their 'homeland' but most will probably still identify as being Somalian to some extent.

You can get upset but it's normal for them, and they are just trying to bond with you. Although I do think claiming famous people in your lineage is a little silly. Who really cares.

[micmac 6]

It doesn't upset me, it is just mildly irritating. There is more to Scotland than kilts, Braveheart and whiskey. Haha.

[beejay 125]

Yeah I can understand that the bastardized watered down version of the understanding of your nation could be irritating but I would take it as a compliment. Braveheart ain't a bad thing to be known for. The poor Scandinavians here have to claim lutefisk and passive aggressiveness.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

It is saying "I'm scottish too?" or the fact that back in their history it's there? For instance if they said "I have a bit of scottish in me" is that as insulting? Or telling you that their ancestors were Scottish?

I myself was born in Australia. My mother is Australian, my father is Scottish (born in Aberdeen) but he moved over when was 3. I have never BEEN to Scotland but I have my British Passport. Am I, in your eyes, Scottish? Or is the fact I've never lived there not make me Scottish? Or should I say I'm half Scottish? When asked I tell people I'm Australian (usually it's to do with my accent which is hardly Scottish ). I rarely reveal that I have a UK passport (for some reason a lot of people I've encountered don't like dual citizens... like we're trying to take over the world or something) but when people ask if I'm going to go for USC I tell them if I do I'll be a tri-national.

[micmac 6]

It is saying "I'm scottish too?" or the fact that back in their history it's there? For instance if they said "I have a bit of scottish in me" is that as insulting? Or telling you that their ancestors were Scottish?

I myself was born in Australia. My mother is Australian, my father is Scottish (born in Aberdeen) but he moved over when was 3. I have never BEEN to Scotland but I have my British Passport. Am I, in your eyes, Scottish? Or is the fact I've never lived there not make me Scottish? Or should I say I'm half Scottish? When asked I tell people I'm Australian (usually it's to do with my accent which is hardly Scottish ). I rarely reveal that I have a UK passport (for some reason a lot of people I've encountered don't like dual citizens... like we're trying to take over the world or something) but when people ask if I'm going to go for USC I tell them if I do I'll be a tri-national.

If you have Scottish parents it is less irritating by a mile. Because you have been raised by a Scottish person you will have an understanding of Scottish culture and places that you didn't have to research, you will most likely understand the accent quite well having grown up around it (assuming your grandparents were around). You don't have to trace back hundreds of years to ancestors you never met to prove a link. But of course you yourself are probably really Australian, you were born there and your dad lived nearly all his life there and your mother is Australian.

I actually had a status update the other day on facebook about the UK or something and a girl I know (lovely girl, don't get me wrong)from the US said her opinion and was like "Hell, I am Scottish too" afterwards. It is that kind of throwaway comment that doesn't make sense to me.

Of course I am no authority on the matter :-P

[micmac 6]

Yeah I can understand that the bastardized watered down version of the understanding of your nation could be irritating but I would take it as a compliment. Braveheart ain't a bad thing to be known for. The poor Scandinavians here have to claim lutefisk and passive aggressiveness.

Funnily enough Braveheart is useful because the town where I grew up is smack bang in the middle of two of the "battlefields" in the movie :-P

[VanessaTony 3,567]

If you have Scottish parents it is less irritating by a mile. Because you have been raised by a Scottish person you will have an understanding of Scottish culture and places that you didn't have to research, you will most likely understand the accent quite well having grown up around it (assuming your grandparents were around). You don't have to trace back hundreds of years to ancestors you never met to prove a link. But of course you yourself are probably really Australian, you were born there and your dad lived nearly all his life there and your mother is Australian.

I actually had a status update the other day on facebook about the UK or something and a girl I know (lovely girl, don't get me wrong)from the US said her opinion and was like "Hell, I am Scottish too" afterwards. It is that kind of throwaway comment that doesn't make sense to me.

Of course I am no authority on the matter :-P

No to the accent. My dad is much older (64 when I was born). Has no accent but can occasionally "put it on" and uses a lot of scottish sayings and stuff (though probably REALLY old school). His mother was long dead before I was born, as was his father (though under much more nefarious circumstances than my grandmother).

My personal opinion is i can say I'm half Scottish but my kids could not. I think if my grandfather was scottish (which he was of course) but dad wasn't I wouldn't call myself scottish.

[wee carrington 33]

I suppose it can just be a general topic of conversation. Most people back home in the US usually just assume GH is Irish anyway. Hah. I think someone asked him if he were Swedish once too.

But, ugh, the "Hell, I'm Scottish too" comment is lame...

I get where you're coming from, that it can be daunting at times with people making those comments.

I will say, though, that Scottish folk trying to put on an American accent when they talk to you can be equally cringe worthy. It's my father-in-law's forte

[beejay 125]

If you have Scottish parents it is less irritating by a mile. Because you have been raised by a Scottish person you will have an understanding of Scottish culture and places that you didn't have to research, you will most likely understand the accent quite well having grown up around it (assuming your grandparents were around). You don't have to trace back hundreds of years to ancestors you never met to prove a link. But of course you yourself are probably really Australian, you were born there and your dad lived nearly all his life there and your mother is Australian.

I actually had a status update the other day on facebook about the UK or something and a girl I know (lovely girl, don't get me wrong)from the US said her opinion and was like "Hell, I am Scottish too" afterwards. It is that kind of throwaway comment that doesn't make sense to me.

Of course I am no authority on the matter :-P

I try and tell my mother that she cannot tell people when she is traveling abroad that she is her heritage.

Outside of the U.S. people will think she is from that country when she tells them 'I'm from America but I'm blah blah.' Her response to me is that she *is* that even though she's like 4th and 5th gen on either side. She doesn't bother to correct people who then walk away thinking that she is from that country

(Although she has been there once. We took a family trip when I was a teenager and I have pictures of us standing awkwardly next to a family owned bar and it's owners who happened to share the same last name as us.)

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

So micmac, you're moving to America. Jump forward two generations. Would you feel irritated if a grandchild or great grandchild of yours had heard stories about you and wanted to know more about you and maybe the town where you came from? It's just a curiosity about one's roots.

America is a land of immigrants. My roots are German. Many German immigrants settled in rural Texas and married other Germans and so on for generations. I have many relatives still living near the same area. It was interesting enough for me to go to the town in Germany where the families originated, so tiny somebody had to lead us there. We walked around the church and grounds where they had lived as children. There were gravestones older than America. We were invited in to a gathering next door that happened to be the town museum. I smiled when I saw all the men outide eating together, while the women ate separately. It was so much like my childhood memories of my kinfolks in rural Texas. Herr Mueller gave me a lovely book and showed me on a map where my paternal ancestor's land was. It was a lovely day. I don't speak German or like German food or think Germany is all cuckoo clocks and beer steins and bratwurst. But like it or not, my ancestry is German.

And the really weird thing I experienced while driving all over Europe--- I felt this sense of comfort in Germany that I didn't feel in other countries. I'd see old ladies that reminded me of grandma and and my great aunts. And the German accent felt oddly familiar. Guess it just recalled nice childhood memories of lovely people with German accents who baked cookies.

We Americans can't go back very far without running out of Americans, so we have to jump the pond to know the rest of the story. Don't take it in an offensive way.