Food For Thought

[Jock Scot]

Mrs Jock and I have just spent two happy days and three hilarious evenings with a group of old(in every sense!) friends. Yes, the excuse for this gathering was that there were enough grouse about to have two days shooting and catch up with each other's news over long suppers. So ten couples, all old and dear friends, gathered for the occasion at a friends barn, er house. Well to cut a very long story short, the ladies decided that on the Saturday night, instead of playing "charades" after an informal dinner we would do something different. Us men with far more important things to do, like thinking up a better excuse for missing yet another grouse and such, left the ladies to it. Well I should have guessed, it was Mrs Jock's idea and the questions were on KILTS! She does keep a mild eye on you chaps and came up with 21 questions all of her own from what she has read on this website.

So with me as Question Master(kilted) and 9 kilted "victims" a hilarious and interesting post dinner fact finding event took place.

1. Have you ever worn another, apart from a band, school, or military , tartan other than your own?
Yes: 0
No: 9

2. Have you ever seriously considered doing so?
Yes: 1
No: 8

3. Have you ever heard of a civilian box pleated kilt?
Yes: 0
No: 9

4. When was the last time you bought a new kilt?
Within the last two years: 1
Within the last ten years : 3
Over ten years ago: 4
Never: 1

5. How often do you wear the kilt?
One or more times a week: 2
If not weekly, at least once a month: 7
Full time: 0

6. When do you wear the kilt?
Mainly during the day, including weddings: 3
Mainly for evening dress occasions: 4
About even amounts: 2

7. Where would you normally wear the civilian kilt?
Solely in the Highlands:2
Solely in Scotland: 4
In the UK: 3

8. Would you ever wear the civilian kilt outwith the UK?
Yes in exceptional circumstances: 4
Yes: 0
Never: 5

9. At what height do you wear the kilt?
About an inch above the knee cap: 2
About level with the top of the knee cap: 6
About level with the centre of the knee cap: 1
Lower than the centre of the knee cap: 0

10. Do you discretely take notice how others are wearing the kilt?
Yes: 9
No: 0

11. Do you mind who wears the kilt?
Highlanders only: 2
Scots only: 6
Anyone: 1

12. What type of cloth makes the civilian kilt?(TICK AS MANY AS YOU LIKE)
Wool tartan:9
Tweed: 4
Plain wool, or non tartan pattern:0
Synthetic , plain or patterned, cloth:0
Leather: 0

13. Do you know what a district tartan is?
Yes: 0
No: 9

14. Would you wear one?
Yes: 0
No: 9

15: Apart from your own Clan tartans, how many tartans would you easily recognise?
Five: 2
Up to ten:4
More: 3

16. Would you wear white hose with a civilian kilt?
Yes: 0
No: 9

17. How is the kilt that you are wearing at this moment pleated?
To the sett: 4
To the stripe: 3
Don't know: 2
NOTE! On inspection they were all(9) pleated to the sett!

18. Are more kilts being worn in Scotland today than say 50 years ago?
Yes: 9
No: 0

19. Have you ever been asked what you wear under the kilt?
Yes:5
No:4

20. Have you ever discussed the kilt in such detail before?
Yes:0
No: 9

21. Finally can I ask you to put your name,nationality and number of years you have been wearing the kilt? NOT YOUR AGE PLEASE!
Willie- Scot, 65+: Ham- Scot, 67+: Mac- Scot, 70+: Macd- Scot, 65+:
Maca- Scot; 63+: Scotty- Scot, 65+: Alec- Scot, 70+: Archie- Scot, 70+:
Wee Jock- Scot 62+.

So not a fair representation of Scotland by any means, but I don't think one can ignore over 500 years of collective kilt wearing experience and they were all amazed that anyone outside Scotland could be interested in the kilt in the detail that we are here. To be fair, please don't forget that none of those answering the questions go into the minute kilt wearing details that we do on this website. So please do not get upset with their answers if you don't like them.

I did not answer any of the questions on the survey or have any involvement in composing the questions.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Interesting information, Jock! I have to say the only thing that surprised me was the frequency that your friends all wear the kilt, with 100% of them wearing it at least monthly.

I was not, unfortunately, surprised that about half of them couldn't tell you whether their own kilt was pleated to stripe or sett. That has largely been my own experience over here, as well.

No surprise that 100% of respondents take note of how others wear the kilt. (Though I suppose we would do well to keep in mind that half of them apparently don't know the difference between pleating to stripe and sett!)

I suppose the questions about wearing the kilt outside of Scotland would be influenced by the fact that most, if not all, of these gentlemen live in Scotland, I assume. If I asked a similar group of Canadians "where would you normally wear the kilt" most would say Canada! Substitute in the US, or Australia, etc.

Now, it would be very interesting to see the responses to the same questions put these gentlemen's sons and grandsons!

[RockyR]

Interesting information, Jock! I have to say the only thing that surprised me was the frequency that your friends all wear the kilt, with 100% of them wearing it at least monthly.

I was not, unfortunately, surprised that about half of them couldn't tell you whether their own kilt was pleated to stripe or sett. That has largely been my own experience over here, as well.

No surprise that 100% of respondents take note of how others wear the kilt. (Though I suppose we would do well to keep in mind that half of them apparently don't know the difference between pleating to stripe and sett!)

I suppose the questions about wearing the kilt outside of Scotland would be influenced by the fact that most, if not all, of these gentlemen live in Scotland, I assume. If I asked a similar group of Canadians "where would you normally wear the kilt" most would say Canada! Substitute in the US, or Australia, etc.

Now, it would be very interesting to see the responses to the same questions put these gentlemen's sons and grandsons!

+ 1 on ALL points Matt raised and eloquently stated. I think a part (not sure if it's a large part or just 'part') of this has to do with age and traditions they grew up with or the swath of cloth they are cut from.

In 40 - 50 years when the 'acrylic kilt rugby match wearing Scots' grow into old age, I would wonder if the answers will remain the same.

[Ryan Ross]

I'm late in seeing this, but it provides some very interesting insight! Thanks, Jock.

NOTE! On inspection they were all(9) pleated to the sett!

Oh dear. Embarrassment.

Now, it would be very interesting to see the responses to the same questions put these gentlemen's sons and grandsons!

Very true!

[carlb]

We have a dear family friend in New Jersey who was born in Scotland (near Edinburgh, I believe), and emigrated to the US 40-50 years ago. Extrapolating from the number of years of kilt-wearing revealed in your informal poll, I suspect Mr. Mitchell is roughly the same age as you and your friends, Jock, perhaps a bit older. I would see him in a kilt a few times per year; St. Andrew's Day services at church, and one or two other celebratory occasions. There is a relatively active and seemingly large (although diminishing by the year) St. Andrew's Society in the area, the vast majority of whom appear to be ex-pat Scots as opposed to Americans of distant Scottish heritage.

I think I will pass your "poll" onto him, and see if he'd like to gather some anecdotal data points. It would be interesting to get a Scot-not-living-in-Scotland perspective on this matter. My guess, based on observation, is that a number of Scots (at least in the US) become just a tad more "Scottish" than when they actually lived in Scotland. I'm sure there are myriad reasons for this, and probably more than a couple of doctoral dissertations could be written on the matter.

Thanks for sharing. As with any cultural matter, the "Old Guard" and the "Young Turks" will likely never see eye-to-eye on all matters regarding the kilt, but I appreciate that we've got a place where both can be heard.

[Downunder Kilt]

From reading of your posts Jock, the answers of your friends does not surprise me in the least. They are traditionalists and I salute them. (and I would have liked to be a fly on the wall during this process to hear the comments outside of the answers given )

[creagdhubh]

From reading of your posts Jock, the answers of your friends does not surprise me in the least. They are traditionalists and I salute them. (and I would have liked to be a fly on the wall during this process to hear the comments outside of the answers given )

Me too! Very interesting indeed!

Thanks Jock,

[Phil]

An interesting observation there and had you been a fly on the wall the other evening you would have had to listen very long and very hard to detect even a smidgen of a Scots accent.

Jock, are you seriously trying to tell us that your opinion poll was compiled by a bunch of sassenachs? And are you then going to say that anything they say has any validity, whatsoever, for genuine Scottish opinion? Generals, Colonels, whatever they may be, they obviously have about as much relevance to actual life in Scotland as fly in the air. Please tell me that you do actually have contact with real Scottish people and that this is not the sort of opinion you are trying to promulgate as factual?

[Jock Scot]

Jock, are you seriously trying to tell us that your opinion poll was compiled by a bunch of sassenachs? And are you then going to say that anything they say has any validity, whatsoever, for genuine Scottish opinion? Generals, Colonels, whatever they may be, they obviously have about as much relevance to actual life in Scotland as fly in the air. Please tell me that you do actually have contact with real Scottish people and that this is not the sort of opinion you are trying to promulgate as factual?

Phil, if you care to read my last paragraph in my first post , I fully accept that 9 points of view was not, and never could be, a true cross section of Scots opinion. My point was that over 500 years of Scots kilt wearing experience could not be ignored.

The 9 interviewed are Scots born (the question Master, me, was born in Cheltenham, by accident for what it is worth) with deep Scottish roots and like many Scots(me included) moved outwith Scotland to make our way in life. I have made no secret of that. In point of fact I have made a very firm point of making that clear later in the thread. Take it for what it is, a bit of interesting(?) fun ----I claim it to be nothing more and if any one wants to draw a conclusion from it, then so be it.

[Phil]

Take it for what it is, a bit of interesting(?) fun ----I claim it to be nothing more and if any one wants to draw a conclusion from it, then so be it.

That is exactly how I took it, Jock, but there is a more serious side to this. As you know, the majority of members here are not Scottish, not even British, and, as such, unlikely to appreciate the finer nuances of nationality raised in your piece. I have no doubt, actually, from what I read in other posts that many here hang on your every word as the fount of all knowledge respecting matters Scottish, and Highland in particular. In actual fact, as you have plainly told us, neither you nor any of your guests have experienced much, if anything, of the day-to-day life of Scotland during their combined years. This is not meant to decry their opinions in any way, but it is as well to view them objectively for what they are. Opinions and nothing more.