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The Tartan Army is coming
World Cup play begins in Boston on Saturday night, with a match between Scotland and Haiti. Haiti's only qualified for the World Cup once before, in 1974. And this is the first time Scotland's qualified for the tournament in 28 years. They clinched a spot with a dramatic win over Denmark in extra time at the end of last year.
If you'd asked me what I knew about Scotland a week ago, I would've said kilts, whiskey, Braveheart (that's William Wallace) and bagpipes, probably in that order. Jason Waddleton, who owns The Haven, Boston's only Scottish bar, taught me about Tennent's, Cullen Skink — the original clam chowder — and Robert Burns, the 18th century Scottish poet and lyricist. There's a portrait of Burns hanging in a place of honor over a gas fireplace in the The Haven's main room; as we talked it over, Waddleton recited a verse of "Address to a Haggis" for me. (We also got into a long conversation about Burns' influence on Maya Angelou, but I digress.)
I was visiting The Haven, nestled in a Jamaica Plain neighborhood, a short walk from the Stony Brook stop on the Orange line. It was a few days before massive crowds of Scottish fans arrive in Boston to cheer on their team. The bar is hosting a three-day festival, called Home Ground, with food trucks, live music, watch parties, a kid zone and plenty of beer. Bagpiper Iain MacGillivray has come over from Inverness for the occasion — he's out with a new song for the tournament.
"I reckon there's about 40,000 people coming across the States from Scotland," Waddleton told me. "Everyone’s gonna see Scottish people around Boston for the whole week. You're gonna get sick of seeing kilts, for sure."
Scottish fans are known as the Tartan Army, and these kilt-wearing soccer super fans are known for bringing the party wherever they go. "No Scotland, no party is the phrase," said Waddleton.
But Scotland is about as likely to be crowned world champions this summer as the United States. It doesn't matter much, however, because for Waddleton and loads of other soccer fans, the World Cup isn't only about wins and losses.
"When the draw is made, you see your team in a group with other nations. Part of the fun, obviously, is analyzing it from a sporting perspective — who are we going up against? But then you also think about: What's it gonna be like in that stadium?" Waddleton explained. "Suddenly we've got Haiti versus Scotland, and that is a brilliant matchup. There's two cultures that are rich and vibrant — and it's a perfect example of the sorts of matchups that you get at the World Cup."
The Haven has at least a dozen beers on tap and 100 single malt whiskeys, neatly displayed on backlit shelves behind the bar. For 16 years, Waddleton's bar was the only one in Boston to have Tennent's, Scotland's most popular lager, on draft. "It's a standout when people walk in, you know, you see this beer tap. Scottish people just relax. They're like, Oh, he's got Tennent's."
He's also got some excellent Scottish fare on the menu: Rumbledethump (the Scots' version of mashed potatoes), the aforementioned Cullen Skink, which is clam chowder made with smoked fish (no bacon), a deep friend Mars bar, an award-winning burger (developed with Sam Heughan from "Outlander") and fish and chips made with haddock, a traditional fish in Scotland. "We don't serve it with cod 'cause that's what the English do, and we don't do scrod 'cause that's what the Irish do," he told me.
The Haven will be jammed with Scotland fans, especially throughout the first round of World Cup play, but all are welcome. And Waddleton can talk to anybody about anything: poetry, soccer, Scottish politics, beer, music, parenthood.
" I'm just a person living in Boston. I'm so excited," he said. " We've got France vs. Norway ... that's the two biggest strikers in the world arguably, Mbappé versus Haaland; it's a clash of the titans. And then we have Harry Kane from England playing Ghana. It's sensational — we're really, really lucky in Boston to have gotten these games."
No matter who your team, as Waddleton says, "it's an opportunity to express where you're from, who you are and how you celebrate."
The audio version of this piece was produced by Cloe Axelson with editing help from Tania Ralli. It was mixed by André Peralta.
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