Tartan Day:  Tartan Day celebrates the existing and historical links between Scotland and Scottish descendants in North America. In the United States it is estimated that there are 6 million people who claim Scottish descent.  Tartan Day is held on April 6, the anniversary of the date on which the Declaration of Arbroath was created in 1320. Definition from en.wikipedia.org. 

 

Declaration of Arbroath:  The Declaration of Arbroath was a declaration of Scottish Independence,  and set out to confirm Scotland's status as an independent, sovereign state and its use of military action when unjustly attacked. It is in the form of a letter submitted to Pope John XXII, dated 6 April 1320. Sealed by fifty-one magnates and nobles, the letter is the sole survivor of three created at the time. The others were a letter from the King of Scots, King Robert I, and a letter from four Scottish bishops which all presumably made similar points. Definition from en.wikipedia.org. 

 

Kilt:  The kilt is an item of traditional Scottish Highland dress. Nowadays most Scotsmen see it as formal dress. It is generally worn only at weddings or other formal occasions, although there are still a few people who wear it daily.

 

Originally a length of woollen tartan cloth 1.5 m in width and up to 5 m in length. Worn as a cloak, over the left shoulder with a wide belt, this was the 'great kilt', the Feileadh Bhreacain or Feileadh Mor. The great kilt was an untailored draped garment made of  cloth gathered up into pleats by hand and secured by the belt. The age of the great kilt is hotly debated but it certainly existed at the beginning of the 17th century.   

 

After the unrest of the 18th century, the kilt, along with other features of Gaelic culture became identified with the Jacobites. As a result the Dress Act of 1747 made it illegal to wear the kilt in Scotland; the law was repealed in 1783. An exception was made in the years following 1747 to allow the kilt to be worn in the military -- made to try to increase recruitment into the army and placate the Highlanders at a time when the British government could ill afford another civil war with the Highlands of Scotland.  Definition from knowledgerush.com

 

Tartan:  The Tartan describes the distinctive checkered pattern generally worked out in a woven material such as woolen cloth. Each particular pattern is known as a "sett". Such tartan material is a characteristically Scottish product. Historically in each district the local weavers produced a distinctive tartan pattern or sett. Thus members of the same clan probably wore the particular tartan woven and dyed in their neighborhood. The distinctive sett adopted by the chief and his relatives became traditionally the "Clan Tartan." When the statutory ban of Highland Dress was removed in 1702, the wearing of the clan tartan was a matter of pride. Definition from caber-records.com

 

Bagpipes:  When one thinks of Ireland, its national symbol, the Celtic harp, springs immediately to mind. In the case of Scotland, the same can be said of the Great Highland Bagpipes. Across all continents, more than 200 different varieties of bagpipes are being played today. In every corner of the world where Celtic people have settled, the bagpipes or Piob have been absorbed into and become an important part of the culture.

 

Over the centuries, as people have migrated from country to country along the major trade routes, the bagpipes made the journey with them. Reed pipes and bagpipes spread across the Middle East, and through Asia via the Silk Road, and then to points ever more distant. In each destination, the instrument took on a different form. Today, most European countries have their own unique type of bagpipes—including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Russia and Sweden, among others--and each type of bagpipes has its own distinctive sound. The reed pipe of ancient times underwent a process of evolution that would eventually produce not only the bagpipes, but also the orchestral woodwind known as the oboe, as well as the bombarde of French Brittany.  Definition from celtic-instruments.com