Tartany, Kailyard and Brigadoon.

This essay will look to discuss the concepts of Tartanry and Kailyard through Brigadoon (1954, Minnelli), and how the film uses Location, dialogue, Mise-en-scène and more to promote a vision of Scotland which is not accurate. However, it’s important to first know what the film is about and what the concepts actually are.

The film is about two Americans who discover the mythical town of Brigadoon whilst on a hunting trip to the highlands. One of the Americans, Tommy Albright, falls in love with a local girl, Fiona Campbell, as well as her way of living. He eventually decides to stay in the village as he can’t stand the hustle and bustle of New York, leading to a long and happy life.

It’s important to note the circumstances of the film. Allan Hunter pointed out in a BBC news segment that “the musical was kinda just post world war 2, that sense of having somewhere thats a sanctuary that connects with lost loved ones is actually quite poignant” (2012) and adds to the wider context of late 40’s and 50’s Hollywood which would often make these big, cheerful musicals such as Singing in the rain (Donen, Kelly, 1952), The Pirate (Minnelli, 1942) and South Pacific (Logan, 1958). All these films feature vibrant colours, dance numbers and a romantic subplot. They all also take place in exaggerated and romanticised projections of the place they are set in, they aren’t meant to carry an objective look of what its like to live in these places but rather a subjective feeling of how the characters emotions shift and change throughout the story. This is shown in Brigadoon for example, when the main love interests are falling for each other and are surrounded by heather in the beautiful fields of the Scottish highlands which is later subverted into the dark and moody forest as the cast chase their fugitive before he can escape their town.

Tartanry is the use of Scottish iconography to market the country as only being kilts, haggis, thistles and other aspects of Scotlands culture.The whole film is full of examples of Tartanry and will be further discussed throughout. It has been described as "the false glamour that Scott had foisted on Scotland and which had turned it into Brigadoon.” By Scottish literary scholar Greg Whelan (2015), “Scott” referring to Sir Walter Scott. a romantic writer in the 19th century and unionist who planned the kings visit to Scotland in 1822 greeting him with tartan and kilts everywhere to present an inaccurate but profitable view of Scotland (Sir Walter Scott, his Life and Works, 2017).

Kailyard is how the villages and towns which populated the highlands are portrayed as simple, jolly and devoid of any real conflict or struggles. In reality, it was quite the opposite as the people of the highlands during the 18th and 19th century faced things like the clearances and poverty. Andrew Nash describes Kailyard best saying “Whether it is used in discussions of Scottish literature, cinema, television, tourism, history or politics, the word Kailyard invariably stands as a synonym for kitsch.” (2004)

Duncan Petrie wrote in a Scottish Affairs article “The genre of the western is nothing less than a mythologizing (and justification) of the United States” (2014) and the same applies to the mythologising of the Scottish Highlands. The filmmaker makes the simpler lifestyle of the characters seem pleasant, nobody has to work and they all have time to learn elaborate dance sequences. There are no landlords pushing people out of their homes to make space for sheep or people grieving the loss of their loved ones who never returned from war. It is a town devoid of real conflict or messiness, theres even a shot with a highland cow as the town fades into existence whose surroundings are pleasant with no mud or poo being stood on by the hooves of the hairy creature. The whole town of Brigadoon is there to act as a metonym for Scotland, it means that the audience can leave the film thinking that all Scottish towns and villages are like that when it is, in reality, a gross simplification. Even the trailer for the film pushes Scotland as a land of nature and calmness when it states “A courageous young fella, who isn’t afraid to admit he's fed up with the big hubbub. And he does something about it amid the quiet beauty of the highlands”. It’s a clear example of Tartanry as it sells Scotland as an alternative to the busy hustle and bustle of the American metropolis.

Theres a famous story of the producers coming to Scotland to do a location scout with the idea being to shoot in the highlands however when they returned to Hollywood they claimed Scotland wasn’t Scottish enough. As a result they built a very big, very beautiful set with painted backdrops and fake heather flowers. The colour scheme is very warm and inviting and creates a pleasant image to look at. 

The film also plays into the cliche of a character coming to Scotland from another land, whether it be America, England or even the central belt, to go on a redemptive arc. This type of story has been seen in many films such as Local Hero (Forsyth, 1983), The Angels Share (Loach, 2012) and even Trainspotting 2 (Boyle, 2017) when they go to pay respects to their friend who Renton feels responsible for killing after getting him addicted to heroin. When Tommy comes to Brigadoon his mind is cloudy with doubts about an upcoming marriage he has delayed, however after meeting Fiona and interacting with the different culture of the highlands he can’t get it out of his mind even when he returns to New York. The clearest example is when he talks to his fiancée but every time something related to the town is mentioned he zones out as the music fades in, his mind has been permanently changed by this fantasy land and almost ruins his life, he can’t go back to normalcy. This moment of kailyard paints Scotland as a mythical land where all your hopes and dreams can come alive so long as you’re willing to live a simpler lifestyle.

Units of meaning refer to the elements that make up characters, action and dialogue (Edgar et al,. 2010) that lead to an audiences understanding of what they are watching. For example, we know immediately whether Denis Lavant is playing a beggar or a mocap actor based on his costuming in Holy Motors (Carax, 2012). The film uses costuming to show the audience that the people in this scene are Scottish and from the 18th century due to the audiences understanding of cultural codes (Barthes, 1970) that states if a character is in a kilt they must be Scottish. This has seeped into modern culture with characters like Groundskeeper Willie (The Simpsons, 1989) being voted as one of the most recognisable Scottish people according to a blog by Kayleigh Donaldson (2018). It shows that films like Brigadoon or Highlander (Mulcahy, 1986) have conditioned audiences to only be able to perceive Scottish people with a narrow visual definition and is linked to the idea of signifier and signified. The kilt signifies a piece of clothing being worn by a person however it signifieds Scottishness. It tells the audience that this isn’t just a person wearing an item of clothing but is a Scottish man. The rest of the film further builds on this information thats been signified by making all the Scottish characters cheerful, happy and simple.

The films music mostly uses the same instruments as all these MGM musicals, with orchestral scores swelling and trombones being heavily utilised on a grand scale. The only time a bagpipe is used in the film is during the wedding scene however all the lyrics make use of Scots dialects and accents. The words “laddie” or “wee” are thrown in to make the film more legitimised in it’s portrayal in Scotland however it fails to fully commit to dialogue that sounds like a real Scottish person. This aspect of Tartanry looks to showcase Scotlands accent as exotic to the Americans, but no so exotic that it’s scary for the US audience. The accents are designed in such a way that the viewer is in a new environment which is distinct from the usual musical with American actors and American accents, now it is a unique experience with American actors and Scottish accents with little regard so how accurate it is. Dr Jonathon Murray in the 2019 show ‘Dream me up Scotty’ said it best with “if you can’t find anywhere that looks like Scotland in Scotland, then I think you don’t start to worry about people who sound like Scotland.” 

In conclusion, Brigadoon is a film more interested in selling a new and exotic land to American audiences than it is in telling an objective and realistic portrayal of the Scottish highlands. The heightened use of locations, costumes and music as well as leaning in character tropes all create a surreal and fantastical setting with the iconography of Scotland to give a context that the viewer can grapple onto without having to go in-depth into Scotland rich and tumultuous history.

Bibliography 

VIDEO

Allan Hunter (2012) Reporting Scotland. BBC1 Scotland. 16 February, 18:30.

Angels Share (2012) Directed by K. Loach. [Feature film]. France: Entertainment One.

Brigadoon (1954) Directed by V. Minnelli. [Feature film]. United States: Loew's, Inc.

Dr Jonathon Murray (2019). Dream me up Scotty. BBC Scotland. 12 December, 21:00.

Highlander (1986). Directed by R. Mulcahy. [Feature film]. United States: 20th Century Fox.

Holy Motors (2012) Directed by L. Carax. [Feature film]. France: Les Films du Losange.

Local Hero (1983) Directed by B. Forsyth. [Feature film]. United States: 20th Century Fox.

The Pirate (1948) Directed by V. Minnelli. [Feature film]. United States: Loew's, Inc.

Trainspotting 2 (2017) Directed by D. Boyle. [Feature film]. United Kingdom: Sony Pictures Releasing International.

The Simpsons (1989) Gracie Films, 20th Television. Available at: Disney+ (Accessed: 10/10/2023).

Singing in the Rain (1952) Directed by S. Donen, G. Kelly. [Feature film]. United States: Loew's Inc.

South Pacific (1958) Directed by J. Logan. [Feature film]. United States: Magna, 20th Century Fox.

WRITTEN

Barthes R., Miller, R., & Howard R. (1970) S/Z: An Essay. France: Hill and Wang.

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Whelar, G. (2015) Nearly Dark, Darkly Near Telling Tales: Storytelling in the Scottish oral tradition and the problems inherent in attempts to study, preserve or continue it: a suggested methodology for future interactions. PHD. University of Edinburgh. Available at: https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/11744/Whelan2015-vol2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (Accessed: 07/10/2023).