The Kate Kennedy Procession A Revival of History and newfound Identity

Abstract

This ethnography examines the 99th Kate Kennedy Procession in St Andrews, exploring how remembrance, revival, and identity are produced through participation in this annual ritual. Drawing on participant observation, informal interviews, and the author’s own positionality as a member of the Kate Kennedy Club, the study argues for the sensory and interpretative dimensions of fieldwork. Findings reveal that the procession operates as an act of historical commemoration, animating factual and mythical narratives central to a local, ‘St Andrean’ identity. Through embodied performance, participants and spectators experience a temporal suspension, reviving memories, values, and symbolic figures. The procession reshapes personal and collective identities, fostering a united community while allowing individuals to project their own meanings onto key characters such as Lady Katharine. Ultimately, this ethnography argues that the procession constitutes a flexible, contested cultural space in which history, legend, and personal memory intersect, highlighting the subjective nature of anthropological interpretation.