Welcome to the Yankee Jock blog. A place to discuss Scottish and American values.
For those who don’t know, ‘Jock’ isn’t just a type of sweaty athletic underwear. In the UK it is also a term used to address a Scottish person, like me.
Yankee, although associated with the North in the US Civil War, is also simply a term we use in Britain to describe anyone from the good ol’ US of A.
My name is Scott Campbell. I’m Scottish. However, I went to sea and married a girl from New York. I got my Green Card and lived in the states for some time, but I didn’t manage to make it in the land of opportunity. We now live back in Scotland.
After travelling the world, I’ve come back home with a fresh pair of eyes, and my homeland sometimes seems like a strange place to me now. I’ve learned from Americans and others, and I have a few things to say.
Also, I am now on a quest to renew my identity. My daughter was born in Charleston, South Carolina. My son in Scotland. My wife was brought up Jewish (reformed) but doesn’t practice. I was the child of a lapsed Catholic mother and a Church of Scotland Presbyterian father. My dad later married a Muslim and converted.
A product of the times in which we all live, and shall discuss.
Oh, and my brother tried Buddhism for a while too. Although, I think he was one of those protestant Buddhists, who likes to drink and smoke and eat meat.
So what the hell is the point of all this?
I’m trying to make sense of this crazy world, and find the right values to live by. To identify the water in which we swim, as Yanks or Jocks.
I love Scotland, and I love America. But sometimes I’m not sure why.
The internet has given me a deeper insight into our history and philosophy, and I’m a massive fan of the new radical breed of online journalists and commentators who have ruined my ability to make small talk at the office but have made my life infinitely better at the same time. However, their knowledge isn’t mine. Their story doesn’t fit my life. So, I’m going to take that trip for myself now.