4 ms·

Scots in “will capitalise on credulous foreigners” shocker.

smcl 9y ago
I think even many Scots aren't aware that the three things mentioned - the tartans or beltane/up helly aa - are relatively recent revivals
arethuza 9y ago
I think that's a bit harsh - I've been at the Beltane festival and it hardly seemed targeted at tourists (unlike the Edinburgh Military Tattoo) and Up Helly Aa is on Shetland in January - so hardly a natural destination for tourists. There are also quite a few local customs that few people outside the immediate area will have heard of (e.g. Burning the Clavie at Burghead and the fireballs at Stonehaven) - which these probably do draw a few tourists I get the impression that they are local customs for local people. Edit: Mind you there is plenty of daft stuff for tourists in Scotland.... :-)
rsynnott 9y ago
In practice, it's actually quite common for parts of countries' culture to be deliberately created. A lot of the US's patriotic customs only go back to the early 20th century, for instance.
- stult 9y ago
  There's a post on the AskHistorians subreddit right now which discusses that very phenomenon. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7egibb/comment/dq4z0o7 https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7egibb/comme...
smackay 9y ago
There are quite a range of firey things to do around the end of the year in Scotland, https://www.visitscotland.com/blog/events/fire-festivals/ https://www.visitscotland.com/blog/events/fire-festivals/ Up Helly AA is definitely more touristy in recent years but in general I think this is targeted at the locals as much as the visitors. Most are middle-aged, 100 years or more, so it's likely this is a revival of something older at least in a romanticised version.
raesene6 9y ago
Up Helly Aa isnt' designed to capitalise on credulous foreigners, it's very much a festival for the local population of Shetland. Apart from anything else, I can't imagine many people wanting to go to Shetland in January for a holiday :)
- sambeau 9y ago
  I've known people go up for the Up Helly! I went to the one on Arran once, but I seem to recall it was in the Summer or Autumn. There was camping up the glen involved so it couldn't have winter time.
  - raesene6 9y ago
    If they like a drink (or several) and a party, indeed it's a good place to go. I've been to Shetland 7-8 times for holidays, lovely place, but not really in the winter. Apart from anything else the crossings can be really rough, or cancelled altogether if the weather is bad. I only did the ferry from Aberdeen once in really bad weather, they handed out leaflets to everyone getting on saying it was "at the passengers own risk"! Lets just say, even several of the crew were seasick on that voyage...

smcl 9y ago

I think even many Scots aren't aware that the three things mentioned - the tartans or beltane/up helly aa - are relatively recent revivals

arethuza 9y ago

I think that's a bit harsh - I've been at the Beltane festival and it hardly seemed targeted at tourists (unlike the Edinburgh Military Tattoo) and Up Helly Aa is on Shetland in January - so hardly a natural destination for tourists. There are also quite a few local customs that few people outside the immediate area will have heard of (e.g. Burning the Clavie at Burghead and the fireballs at Stonehaven) - which these probably do draw a few tourists I get the impression that they are local customs for local people. Edit: Mind you there is plenty of daft stuff for tourists in Scotland.... :-)

rsynnott 9y ago

In practice, it's actually quite common for parts of countries' culture to be deliberately created. A lot of the US's patriotic customs only go back to the early 20th century, for instance.

stult 9y ago
There's a post on the AskHistorians subreddit right now which discusses that very phenomenon. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7egibb/comment/dq4z0o7 https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7egibb/comme...

smackay 9y ago

There are quite a range of firey things to do around the end of the year in Scotland, https://www.visitscotland.com/blog/events/fire-festivals/ https://www.visitscotland.com/blog/events/fire-festivals/ Up Helly AA is definitely more touristy in recent years but in general I think this is targeted at the locals as much as the visitors. Most are middle-aged, 100 years or more, so it's likely this is a revival of something older at least in a romanticised version.

raesene6 9y ago

Up Helly Aa isnt' designed to capitalise on credulous foreigners, it's very much a festival for the local population of Shetland. Apart from anything else, I can't imagine many people wanting to go to Shetland in January for a holiday :)

sambeau 9y ago
I've known people go up for the Up Helly! I went to the one on Arran once, but I seem to recall it was in the Summer or Autumn. There was camping up the glen involved so it couldn't have winter time.
- raesene6 9y ago
  If they like a drink (or several) and a party, indeed it's a good place to go. I've been to Shetland 7-8 times for holidays, lovely place, but not really in the winter. Apart from anything else the crossings can be really rough, or cancelled altogether if the weather is bad. I only did the ferry from Aberdeen once in really bad weather, they handed out leaflets to everyone getting on saying it was "at the passengers own risk"! Lets just say, even several of the crew were seasick on that voyage...