Tartan kirking

This afternoon we attended the annual Kirkin' of the Tartan service sponsored by the St. Andrew's Society of Washington, D.C. at the National Cathedral. Our 3:10 bus never bothered to show up, so our 3:25 bus got us to Mount St. Alban's about 3:50. Since this service took the place of Sunday Evensong, I didn't know if it would take place in the Great Quire or if it would be big enough to overflow into the nave, but once we walked into the nave, my questions were answered. It was packed. The main nave seating was full of lads in kilts and obnoxiously bold tartan plaid sportcoats, and their womenfolk, some of whom had tartan skirts and sashes of their own. Even the side aisle seating was filling up, but I didn't want to sit in the aisles, since one can't see either the chancel or the crossing from there due to the enormous pillars. So, we wandered up to the North Transcept, which turned out to be reserved seating for the Society. I "innocently" asked an usher woman if all the seats in this section were reserved, and as she was explaining the section reservation, a male usher came up to us and said to her in a classic Scottish brogue, "Look at his tie, woman! Of course he can sit here!" I quite fortuitously had worn my family tartan tie this afternoon. So, we got prime seats. :-)

You haven't heard a racket until you've heard an entire bagpipe band with drums playing "Over the Sea to Skye" full tilt in a limestone pillared, marble floored, stained glass windowed cathedral. They processed in from the narthex, and stopped at the crossing, where they played for quite some time whilst the Society members, clan representatives, choirs, and clergy all processed.

I found the service music to be interestingly unusual for a Scottish service. Of course, it was, essentially, a Presbyterian rite, but still, I thought there'd be Scottish music. The three hymns were the English Lauda Anima, the Irish Slane, and the Russian Russia. And, every time I hear a hymn sung to Russia, I can't help but remember back to my youth and all those Order of the Arrow conclaves and ceremonies at Boy Scout camp. The usual cathedral choir and organists did not perform this afternoon. The choir was an all-girls' ensemble from West Potomac High, a snooty prep school in Alexandria, Virginia. The choir sang Mendelssohn's "Laudate Pueri Domimum" for a Gradual anthem and for the offertory a Psalm 23 setting by Z. Randall Stroope, a living composer who is neither a Scot nor a Presbyterian. After the sermon and offertory, the pipers returned in procession with the presenters of the tartans to "Highland Cathedral," and they all actually landed in the Great Quire, where the organ joined in, and I can't imagine the deafening noise there must have been in there! After the Necrology, the pipe major played a solo verse of "Flowers of the Forest." The recessional for the pipers and the Society members was "Scotland the Brave," followed by an organ postlude of the Toccata from Symphony No. 5 by the French composer Charles-Marie Widor.