Smitten from the start, Boston mourns the departure of the Tartan Army

It all seems so distant now, the weeks of squabbling ahead of the World Cup. A protracted standoff over security costs in Foxborough.A quarrel over crowd control at South Station. Delayed public-viewing licenses from FIFA. Overall confusion and delay.

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Then the Tartan Army arrived in force for Scotland’s first World Cup appearance in nearly 30 years, leading a surge of spirited soccer fans into the region. As they swept through the city with giddy abandon, all the logistical concerns fell aside, forgotten in a swirl of song and drink and shared devotion.

In the excitement of it all, Boston quickly forgot itself, shedding its skeptical reserve and embracing the joy of the event in full measure, cast under the Scottish spell.

Filling downtown with the sound of bagpipes, roaring chants, and impenetrable accents, Scottish fans were everywhere, packing the bars and making friends everywhere they went.

The anthem “No Scotland No Party” became Boston’s soundtrack, at times uniting fans from other countries — Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Haiti — in spontaneous street singalongs. In their signature kilts and soccer tops, the Tartan Army became folk heroes, taking countless selfies with admirers, playfully topping statues with traffic cones, and drinking on a truly epic scale.

“I’ve got a Samuel Adams right now, the Porch Rocker, and it’s lovely,” Daniel O’Neill told a reporter from the Samuel Adams taproom at Faneuil Hall. “So we’re gonna have about 10 more, see where we end up.”

Boston was smitten, and with crowds packing the Common and City Hall Plaza to watch the games on big screens, the city felt electric, fully in the grips of World Cup magic.

The day after Scotland won its first game in Foxborough (after fans may have set a World Cup decibel record during the singing of the country’s unofficial anthem, “Flower of Scotland”), jubilant fans celebrated with a victory march to Fenway Park, a grand procession of bagpipes, drums, and waving Scottish flags.

Inside the park, the raucous Tartan Army sang and drank and sang and drank some more, taking over the ballpark with their chants and captivating Red Sox fans with their boundless energy.

On Sunday, the Scottish national team posted a letter of appreciation it had received from Sam Kennedy, the president of the Red Sox.

“Kilts and Scottish flags filled our ballpark with a spirit that has no equivalent in American sport,” he wrote. “It was genuinely one of the most moving things we have witnessed at Fenway Park in a very long time.”

It was like nothing the city had ever seen, and Boston delighted in every moment, as videos, memes, and pictures of the Tartan Army’s genial mayhem pinballed across social media.

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Their love of country, of sport as connection, of flat-out fun, all done without a trace of pretension, was stirring. And at a time of divisive, angry politics fueled by a deep distrust of immigrants, the city’s joy as people from dozens of countries joined in celebration stood in clear defiance.

By all accounts, the affection was entirely mutual. In one poignant video that circulated widely, a Scottish fan expressed gratitude for the gracious reception she and her countrymen had received. She had been apprehensive about the trip given the “political climate” in the United States, but instead was struck by how decent and kind everyone was.

“The America that we are experiencing right now is the America we were promised growing up,” she said, adding, “the Bostonians are something special.”

Even in cynical Boston, it was hard not to feel proud, to see the city through softer eyes, to find new wonder in the familiar.

In a farewell over the weekend, a prominent Scottish video blogger named Shaun thanked the area for a wonderful visit.

“It has been the most fantastic, heartwarming time here in this city, not just Boston but the whole New England region,” he said. “The people here have been very warm and kind to us, they’ve opened their homes and opened their hearts. We’ve just had the best time.”

On Friday, Scotland lost its second game to Morocco 1-0, but on a beautiful afternoon the next day, downtown Boston was again bustling with festive soccer fans from Germany, Ecuador, the Netherlands, and more.

With Scotland playing its next game in Miami, the frenzied excitement of recent days had subsided. Still, many fans were still in the city before heading out.

At the Treehouse beer garden at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, fans wore Red Sox hats and Tartan Army-themed Red Sox shirts as they relaxed under a soft sun. It was a difficult loss the night before, some said, but Scotland had played well against a tough opponent. And there was still a chance Scotland could return to play in Boston later this month.

“Cheers to that!” one American chimed in.

“To Boston,” the Scottish fan replied, raising his glass.

As if on cue, a bagpipe’s skirl came across the way. The lonesome sound hung in the air for a few seconds, then was gone.

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