Whether or not Scotland prevails in the World Cup’s official capacity as a football tournament, the country began winning almost as soon as an estimated 50,000 fans from abroad, known as the Tartan Army, arrived in Boston for the country’s first two matches. Wearing kilts and bearing bagpipes, the Scots marched, chanted, romanced the lasses, cheerfully drained the city of its beer, and were so conscientious about cleaning up after their revelries that, as one city worker commented, they made his job easier than the locals do.
Perhaps just as important is that the Tartan Army’s presence can’t help but feel like a rebuttal to the cartoon masculinity here at home. Yes, its kilted, face-painted, bagpipe-toting members can resemble cartoons themselves, but all available reports confirm that the Tartan Army’s humor, humanity and ability to treat women like regular people are as abundant as its capacity for drink.
