Blog 1: Folk Groups

After reading chapter 3, the major folk group that I believe I belong to is the regional group located in northern Virginia. If you also grew up here, you've probably experienced many school field trips to the Smithsonian or Washington D.C., have counted on an inch of snow to close down schools for at least a day, have sit for many hours per week in rush hour traffic, and have watched most of the places you've known from childhood turn into rows of townhouses. I've grown up here for most of my life now, and I definitely feel a sense of pride for this area - although the only other people I know who think this region is anything special are those who also have lived most or all of their lives here.

My family folk group is that of the typcial Scots-Irish-mixed heritage - we're thoroughly American and have no real Irish traditions, except for cooking quasi-Irish dishes for Saint Patrick's Day. My surname, McTaggart, originates from Gaelic, however, and means "son of the priest." Apparently a long time ago in Ireland, priests could get married and have children, so I may have one for an ancestor. My family and I don't have any other special traditions, but we do have a lot of personal stories, which I hope to share one day to my own children because of how much my family means to me.

I'm also a part of the 21-year-old folk group, the female folk group, the college folk group, and probably many others, but I decided to focus on the two that I feel the most about personally.