Personal flair

[CollinMacD]

I don't always agree with what you say Jock. Being a Canadian and wearing a kilt because I want to, not wearing it to imitate a highland person, but wearing it for my own pure pleasure and for the most part semi traditionally (heh! heh!), by that I mean with some personal "flairs".

Like I said, I am not trying to imitate a highland person, my heritage is; maternal Grand Parents were Scottish (Glasgow) and Paternal grand parents Irish (Dublin).

I wear my kilted attire for my own sheer pleasure and really am not concerned much about what others think.
A major concern though is that in my wearing of my kilted attire that I show the utmost respect for the tradition and heritage of wearing a kilt.

Having said the above, I would sincerely recommend that everyone should read Your archived "Food For thought" and "Food for thought Two (F4T2)"
To me in your survey number one, it was predominately of Older folk, (Thank-you Mrs Jock for putting the questions together) but in both cases the questions really did show how the kilt is worn in the highlands and how it is thought of by others, sincere others, rather than just the pub or sports crowd

Thanx again Jock it was very well put together, The comments to the thread proved that .......and if the moderators don't mind my saying it should be put back out for the " newbies" read
If Jock hadn't mentioned it, I would never have found it ........sometimes there are just too many sub headings to look into and I would imagine that is especially so for those that are new to this site

Terry I have to agree with you, while I do see Jock's point of view. I have done in depth research of many of the Scottish who left Scotland for the New World, being Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Ottowa. Including the customs both brought from Scotland and ones developed in the New World. In the an Historical Book called "A History of the County of Antigonish, Nova Scotia" (1929), written by Reverand Rankin, clearly describes in detail the arrival and adaptation of the Scottish into the new world. Good example is how the Scottish in Nova Scotia celebrated Christmas and the New Year, they took Scottish traditions and made them unique to Nova Scotia I have read that Kilts, and accessories were not present in quantity upon the arrival, these Scottish people left with only a small satchel with little if no personal belongings. An axe or knife was more valuable than a sporran. It more affluent Scottish, and many Military, who left was able to ship large trunks of personal items, and did take tartan material, or some clothing. So it is obvious, the kilt and accessories in Canada and United States was worn much later in the mid 19th century. Pockets of Scottish migrated to Outer Banks of North Carolina, Boston, Portland, Virginia, and Maryland, again no real proof kilts and accessories were present during the migrations of the late 18th and early 19th centuries to the US, was not until later, when the newly arrived Scots settles, and flourished did kilts and accessories appear, and only for special occasions.

Thus, the differences, as opposed to Scotland, especially the Highlands, where the early kilts and accessories are their daily clothing (back before the 45 uprising), banned for a while, and then brought back more for heritage and Scottish Pride. The Canadian and US Scots only imitated what was poplar in Scotland during that time, but added their own flair to dress. So in respect of what I learned, adding personal flair goes back to the time when the Kilt and accessories were re-introduced in the early 19th Century. Since an ocean separated Scotland from Nova Scotia, I am sure there were differences when this was worn more for special occasions than daily wear. In Canada and the US, we are not Highlanders, but the ancestors of Highlanders and Lowlanders living in same areas. So its obvious we will have a different perspective, approach, and values of Scottish Dress.

Maybe my thought process if flawed, but Jock comes from the pedigree, we in Canada and US are hybrids simply products of our environment and our migrated ancestors, who had to adapt to a new world with little to no belongings. Thus the difference in the way we both approach and wear the kilt and accessories has to do with leaving and staying and part of the New World or Scotland you live. Nobody is right or wrong, once again you need to look back at history to understand why we are the way we are where we are. Make sense, or am I off on a unrecoverable tangent?