Today, just like any other time I wear my kilt, I wore my sgian dubh. My college has a "no weapons" policy that I wholeheartedly agree with, but I don't think of my sgian dubh as a weapon. But anyways, soebody asked me why I wear it. I told him because it is traditional, a sign of friendship. He seemed confused, so I explained it to him: one would always carry a knife with him, and when among friends would keep it visable as a sign of frienship. He still didn't seem to understand why I felt like I had to carry a knife with me, and I finally told him to think of it as a piece of jewelry.

Then he asked why I wear my kilt at all. "Well that's a dumb question" I thought. I told him because I am tremdiously proud of my heritage and I like to wear them. He then said I wasn't Scottish at all, and asked me when my last ancestor was born in Scotland. I told him that Amos Laing was born outside of Aberdeen in 1804, but that's besides the point. I have Scottish blood though both sides of my family, and I feel a great connection to my Celtic ethnicity. He said that because it has been more than 200 years since anybody in my family was born in Scotland means that I'm more American than Scottish.

True, I replied, but that doesn't change the fact that I am Celtic by blood. You may be Anglo-Saxon, by my heritage is Celtic, and a strong one at that. I politely asked him to allow me to wear the clothes that I so choose and that in return, I'll let him express himself however he sees fit.


I love being Scottish, and despite the fact that my family has been in America since 1862, sometimes I feel like bursting with pride when I wear my kilt, or play my pipes, or taste a fine Scotch, or hear the gorgeous accent.

If this post was off-topic, I apologize, but I just wanted to say that.