Wearing the kilt in Scotland

[ClanRanald]

We just returned from a trip to Scotland. I drove a rented Vauxhall Astra 2.0 turbo diesel with a 6 speed standard - for two weeks and that was fun! I did get to wear my kilt for the first time in Scotland at the Tattoo at Fort George on the 7th. I saw no other non-participants wearing their kilts except for the dignitaries who were formally attired in trews or kilts. No other non-participant spectators were wearing kilts that I could see - perhaps because there was a steady cold breeze coming off the water and my eyes were watering! Other than one well-healed American tourist in a kilt at Culloden and the usual tour guides leading their tourists like sheep, there was very few times I saw someone else in a kilt. That said, I felt very comfortable wearing the kilt and would have worn it more except that the convenience of wearing jeans won out. Besides, I know the kilt would have been a mess the day I slipped on a rock at low tide in Cullen and ended sprawled out and soaked. The countless ruins, hikes up the highland hills, the graveyards and moving quickly away from a herd of stag on Knoydart were all good reasons for being in my jeans. The kilt was well received by the Scots and if not for the convenience of jeans on a fast paced visit, I would have worn my kilt more. One Scot at a B&B in Keith we stayed at said his son wore his kilt daily to high school and by the size of the young lad, you would be a foolish person to question that decision.