Durham E-Theses Regional and national cultures in North-Eastern Scotland: tradition, language and practice in the constitution of folk cultures Knox, Daniel Leonard How to cite: Knox, Daniel Leonard (2003) Regional and national cultures in North-Eastern Scotland: tradition, language and practice in the constitution of folk cultures, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3655/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Regional and National Cultures in North­ Eastern Scotland: Tradition, Language and Practice in the Constitution of Folk Cultures Daniel Leonard Knox Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD The copyright of this thesis rests with the author or the university to which it was submitted. No quotation from it, or Information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author or university, and any information derived from it should be acknowledged. University of Durham Department of Geography 2003 Regional and National Cultures in North~Eastern Scotland: Tradition, language and Practice in the Constitution of Folk Cultures Daniel leonard Knox Abstract This thesis examines the processes of the formation and re-formation of folk cultures in north-eastern Scotland. Focusing on the area surrounding Aberdeen, I am interested in the historical and contemporary relationships between Highland and north-eastern versions of Scottishness. During the 1990's, a burgeoning north-eastern regional and cultural self-awareness, centred on the "Doric" dialect, was evidenced in the founding of the Elphinstone Research Institute at the University of Aberdeen, and in the founding of an annual Doric Festival. This institutionalisation has taken place in a situation in which Scottish national traditions have remained popular in the region and the Scottish nation has experienced a greater degree of political autonomy. The continued reproduction of both Scottishness and north-easternness is resultant of the ways in which culture and language have been mobilised, politicised and legitimised through the erection and operation of institutional frameworks. The role of expert and enthusiast knowledges in the propagation of cultural trends is analysed here through an exploration of the spectacularisation and banalisation of tradition. In particular, I unpack the tensions that claims for authenticity create with regard to the ballad and literary traditions of the north-east, and to the Highland Games and Gatherings of the same region. Exploring joint actions and knowledges, I demonstrate the efficacy of performative language and embodied practice in communicating, stabilising and normalising rhetorical ideas concerning Scottish cultures. As the contingent factors that give language and practice variable meanings become fixed through citation, the formation of dominant readings is enabled. The normalisation of spectacular events is crucial in the communication of authenticity and the establishment and recreation of national or regional identities. As perceived authenticity substitutes for objectivity in the popular imagination, everyday apprehensions of Scottishness and north­ easternness are both made more durable and infused with a strong legitimacy by their very performance and naming. CONTENTS List of Contents List of Figures vii Declaration IX Acknowledgements X Section 1: Background and theoretical approach Chapter 1: Introduction: The performance and practice of Scottishness Essentialised Scottish identities 3 North-eastern Scottishness 5 Representations of north-eastern Scotland 7 From representation to banality 9 The structure of the thesis 10 Chapter 2: Banalities and fatalities: Language-games, performative utterances and joint-actions 12 A non-representational theory of the banal and the spectacular 14 Everyday in everyway 14 The banal and the spectacular 16 Discourse of course 18 Language-in-use 20 Performative utterances 21 Ready-mades and rhetoric 22 The context of language-in-use 24 Rules and rule following 25 Unhappy performatives and joint-action 26 Some caveats 27 Relativism 27 Agency 29 Bodies and embodiment 31 Ahsences and presences 32 11 A partial closure? 33 Clltapter 3: Keeping it real: Invention, imagination and authenticity in the everyday nation 35 Imagining the nation 35 The practice of the nation 38 Invented traditions 38 Authenticity 40 National song and literary traditions 42 Song traditions 42 Written traditions: National narratives 43 Myths of origin 44 The intentions in the inventions 46 Ready-made beliefs and ready-made nations 47 Towards an understanding of tradition 49 Heritage tourism: locating authenticity in the past 50 Banal and spectacular traditions 52 Concluding and moving on 52 Chapter 4: Reflexivity, irony and methodology 54 Escaping narrative entrapments 54 Research methodology 55 Interviews 55 From field encounter to anecdote to thesis 56 Participant observation 58 Textual analysis 59 Visual analysis 60 Transcription, coding and analysis 61 Writing the thesis 62 Reflexivity and irony 63 Rejlexivities and situated knowledges 63 Reflexivities beyond the mirror 64 ii Ill Evel)•day reflexivity in the field 65 Section 2: Doing the Doric Chapter 5: How the Doric gets done: The everyday institutions of north-eastern Scottishness 66 A north-eastern Scottish cultural community? 66 The Doric 68 Doric, Scots and English 69 Banal north-eastings: cumulative cartographies 71 The institutional framework 76 Local media and publishing 76 The Elphinstone Institute and the University of Aberdeen 77 Who are the Elphinstone Institute? 78 Elphinstone activities 80 The Doric Festival 82 Who are the Doric mafia? 83 How do institutions institute things? 84 Chapter 6: A Dash o' Doric: Literary and publishing tradition in the north-east 87 Scottish Renaissance vs. Doric Revival 87 Keeping Doric Real vs. Doric Tokenism 90 Prose, performance and comedy traditions 92 The figure of Lewis Grassic Gibbon 93 Popular Doric tradition 95 Refiguring the regional tradition 97 An everyday tale of Doric folks 97 The Doric Festival Writing Competition Awards 98 'The Guid Scots Tung' Reading Meeting 100 iii iv The rhetoric of north-easternness 105 The cycle of things and the hairst 105 The Living Doric: Doric personified 108 Conclusions 110 Chapter 7: Anither Dash 0' Doric: The spectacularisation of the Bothy Ballad tradition 114 Bothy Ballads as a cultural forn1 116 The Bothy Ballads and everyday life 120 Agricultural fieldwork and ethnological fieldwork 123 Scottish ethnology 127 Ploughman turned showman 128 The Big Five of the Bothy Ballads 129 The Aberdeenshire Bothy Ballad Championship Final 133 The Traditional Song of North East Scotland 135 Evoking the past and creating the present 137 The spectacular north-east 139 Section 3: Highland Games and language-games Chapter 8: Making Scotland Highland 140 The Highland Culture of Scotland 141 How the Highland savage became noble 143 Scotland Today 147 Crossing (out) the Highland Line 149 The Grampian Highlands? 149 Chapter 9: On the scope and methods of Scottishness 153 Highland Societies and Highland Games 153 North-eastern Scottish Highland Games 154 An Aberdeenshire Summer Season 155 Me/drum Sports 156 iv V Aberdeen Highland Games 157 Stonehaven Highland Games 159 Elgin Highland Games 159 Aboyne Highland Games 160 The Lonach Highland Gathering 160 The Braemar Gathering and Highland Games 161 Myths of origin of the Highland Games 162 The origins and development of the north-eastern games 163 Highland Games Events 168 Highland Dancing 168 Heavy events 169 Spectating 170 Conclusions- A Highland Society of the Spectacle 171 Chapter 10: The Highland Society of the Spectacle 174 Highland Dancing 174 Rules and rule-governed behaviour 175 Highland Dress 177 Scottish Official Board of Highland Dance 179 The origins of Highland Dancing 183 Highland Dancing Competitions 186 Heavy events 192 The organisation of the 'Heavies' 193 Heavies competitions and heavy athletes 194 The disciplines and material culture of the heavy events 199 The rule-bound creation of the nation 204 Section 4: Discussion and conclusions Chapter 11: Ready-made Scottishness and north-eastern Scottishness 206 Cyclical time and linear time 211 Authenticity 213 V VI The north-east as the context of north-eastern and Scottish culture 215 Chapter 12: Conclusions: Tradition, language and practice in the constitution of folk cultures 222 Looking at and listening to the nation 222 Normalisation and spectacularisation 223 Embodied practices and citation 224 Joint-action 226 The Celtic and the otherwise inclined 227 Intentionality 228 Folk cultures and popular culture 230 Conclusions: A final thesis 231 Bibliography 233 VI VII Figures 1.1 Scottish Regions (Railscot 2002) 6 1.2 Scottish Regions (Taste of Scotland 200 I) 7 5.1 National Trust for Scotland Visitor Map (1997) 74 5.2 Doric Festival (1998) Map 75 5.3 Doric Festival (2000) Programme 81 7.1 Bothymen- 1920s Farm Workers (NEFA 2000) 115 7.2 Bothy Ballad Album Artwork 128 7.3 Tarn Reid Album Artwork 130 7.4 Tarn Reid Video Artwork 130 7.5 Joe Aitken- Bothy Balladeer 131 7.6 Advert for Bothy Ballad Championship Final (Doric Festival Programme 1999) 134 8.1 Gordon 2000 Programme (Huntly Ltd. 2000) 151 9.1 Press coverage for Aberdeen Highland Games (Taken from the Evening Express 1999) 157 9.2 Programme for Aberdeen Highland Games ( 1999) (Aberdeen City Council) 158 9.3 Lonach Highlanders (From Lonach Gathering Programme 2000) 161 vii VIII 9.4 Highland Dancer (D.