Strange Gap in Historical Knowledge

This morning was RB's annual birthday party at Le Madeleine, where I gave him a Special Anti-Defogeyification Edition KSAL Radio Mix CD featuring songs from albums released since 2000 by artists who I anticipate were not yet born when the first record by RB's current "old guy wearing dog tags and who looks kind of like somebody's grandmother" favorite singer-songwriter came out.

At this party, talk turned to RB's brother-in-law T's kilt, which he did not wear to the party; he did however wear a t-shirt that had the Utilikilt logo. (T also talked about buying a helicopter, which another guest thought was crazy, but I pointed out that he still has a long way to go toward aeronautic insanity if he isn't talking about building his own airplane like my brother-in-law is doing. T was of the opinion that getting a kit, putting it together, and ending up with three spare screws was scary. For anyone who is basically not an engineering god, I am sure this is the case.)

When we got home, I questioned Robert (basically to the point of annoyance) about the circumstances under which he would wear a kilt. I told him that this was all build up to my dream of having an all-kilt wedding (note: dressing in costume is a running joke because RB's sister made everyone dress up in medieval garb a la Society for Creative Anachronism for her wedding, which I found laughable) and he responded that yes, this would be a celebration of our shared Scottish ancestry.

Sally: "But as a Campbell, you aren't a real Scotsman. You guys were probably on the wrong side at Culloden." (Robert's mother's mother is a Campbell.)

Robert: "They were on many sides of many things over the years, even their own."

Sally: "But I think they took the side of the English at Culloden and that's not acceptable."

Robert: "..."

Sally: "I have that right, don't I? That was the big battle between the Scots and the English government for the Scottish throne."

Robert responded that he didn't know all of the battles. So I googled "Culloden" and indeed, it was the battle I was thinking of, between the supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie (the Jacobites) and the supporters of the current king. It was amazing how much I knew about this battle, given my general ignorance of British history, but apparently I retained a lot of accurate knowledge from my reading of the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series. It's always dangerous to assume that any work of historical fiction is accurate (e.g., Traveler, in which Robert E Lee's horse is not a good source of facts about the Civil War), and since this series included a time travel-based plot, it was known to take certain licenses with the truth. But in this instance, my having read these books put me one up on Robert, which is a very rare event when it comes to history. So if Robert goes on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," perhaps he will need me as a life line for a wider array of information than we would have guessed.

And yes, the Campbells were on the wrong side at Culloden, where "wrong side" = supporting the victorious British army and the German king of Great Britian.

I decided to give Robert an opportunity to regain some trivia credibility by questioning him on facts about the Clan Campbell. He correctly identified the meaning of the clan name in Gaelic ("wry mouth") and the animal on the clan badge (the boar), but missed the third question, the clan motto, which amusingly enough, is "Ne Obliviscaris." I.e. "Never forget." Heh. I'm sure he won't now. But I gave him make-up points for offering up something I didn't know - the reason that the Campbells are so frequently hated by other Scots. It's not just their opportunism and lack of allegiance to the Scottish cause during the uprising, but the Massacre of Glencoe: the murder of 38 men, and the death of 40 women and children due to exposure after their homes were burned, that Robert Campbell undertook by order of the British king.

This being said, the Black Watch tartan is really classy looking stuff, I must admit. I think it's the lack of red. The Buchanan and Gunn tartans are just so garish.