On this episode of The Rambling Boy, Lonn Taylor hypothesizes about why Americans, and especially Southerners, are so fascinated by all things Scottish, including kilts, tartans, and bagpipes. Lonn references an article which appeared in Harper’s entitled “How Walter Scott Started the American Civil War" by Scott Horton. Horton argues convincingly that the Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), is responsible for the popularity of all things Scottish in the American South. Scott invented the historical novel and during his lifetime published 21 novels and 12 books of poetry. Most of the novels were set in Scotland and most dealt with chivalry, knights in armor, feudal times, or Scottish patriotism. Scott is also credited with reviving the wearing of the kilt, which had been banned after the Jacobite rising of 1745.
