Greetings from central Oklahoma

[picker77]

Hello to all,
I've always heard from various family members we had a significant amount of Scottish blood in our veins, but I never though much about it until the subject came up at a reunion gathering a while back ago. When I recently took the time to dig deeper (and thanks to the Internet), it has turned out to be a very entertaining and interesting exercise in history. Just for starters, I had no clue there were so many ways to spell my surname! Apparently not that many folks 150-200 years ago could spell, so verbal-only communications ruled the day, and when rarely required for official records like births and marriages, the name was simply entered into public records using phonetic spelling. The result, at least in the USA, was a variety of "sounds-like" surnames being scattered around like Johnny Appleseed planted seeds. A bit of digging revealed just about all of the spellings originated with the same family from the Lowlands west of Glasgow. I'm having a great time reading about the good (and sometimes very bad) happenings that seem to have befallen those tough and highly independent ancestors since around the 13th century and the days of George I. Hardy folk, indeed.

As an outgrowth of all that, I naturally became interested in possibly wearing a kilt. Since I know next to nothing about kilts in general, I joined this board to do some serious reading and find out what's sensible and proper in the realm of Highland wear (in spite of apparently having no actual Highland area ancestors). I recently purchased a decent quality utility kilt from a popular U.S. company, with the idea of eventually ordering a top quality made-to-order wool version in my family's Ancient tartan. But before I blow $400 or more on a wool tartan version, I want to while see if I can get used to wearing this utility kilt, at least around my rural acreage. It remains to be seen whether or when I might have the onions to wear it into town, however. I definitely do not live in kilt country. In fact, I've lived here nearly 30 years and have never laid eyes on one in this area. So I'm not kidding when I say this is breaking new ground around here!

Being a newbie, I will of course be mostly lurking and reading. I am looking forward to soaking up the information and experiences shared by all you veterans kilt-wearers on the board. FWIW, I retired from 21 years in the U.S. Navy in 1980, and retired from Ma Bell in 2003. All of which means I'm obviously no spring chicken, but thanks to the Good Lord, I'm still going strong. Cheers to all.

[Father Bill]

Welcome to the "Great Rabble"!

[Liam]

Welcome from Western Canada!

[harl]

Welcome from Utah! I too have no highland blood I can easily trace back to, but I take pride in my lowland and border heritage!

[Stan]

Hello my friend, and (like the title says) I'm also kilted in Oklahoma. I'm in a fiarly rural setting too, but close to Tulsa. While I may be "close to town" (17 miles away) when I looked up my heritage (too) and found that my heritage was Scottish, I didn't know any one who worea kilt and so my first outing was (while still with friends) a solo one.

Frankly, I think that when you make that first step, you'll fnd that the reception is not only one of "OK, so he's wearing a kilt", but also one of "Hey, I've been thinking about getting one of those", but unlike YOU, "I DON'T have the Onions" to wear one....LOL....

Since those first days, I've come to understand that most people admire wearing a kilt, and the others (non admirers) don't seem to really care one way or the other.

Good on yu, and have a great time wearing you kilt.

[Mpfox1733]

I say just wear it. I'm the only guy I've ever seen wearing a kilt around town, but I have had nothing but positive interactions with folks. Then again I don't possess the ability of being embarrassed according to my wife. Either way welcome !!! Oh and by the way a utility kilt is awesome for wearing around a rural property. I usually wear mine while feeding and doing work around the property.

[Kiltedjohn]

Welcome from a Scotsman living in middle England.
I've done a fair bit of work on my family history, and have also wrestled with the problem of variant spellings! All the best with kilt-wearing.

[Tarheel]

Well met and welcome. 'Tis the party season here in my college town of Oxford (students are back). During the work week it takes me five minutes to don pants, shirt, sock and boots and hat. Evenings or outings, it takes ten minutes to don hose and shoes, shirt and tie, vest (with or without jacket) and kilt with sporran. I blame not being kilted on the situation (or my wife's instructions of appropriate dress) and my mood.

A mere four years into being kilted here in Mississippi and I still feel new to the experience. Every outing is worth the extra five minutes spent dressing.

Glad to have you with us and hope your kilted time is well spent and well received.

[Tomak]

Hello and welcome from Southern California.

[Jim Simmons]

Welcome !! from the COOL, Rainy, Green Highlands of Guatemala.