If anyone can clarify the details of what this is about please do!

Friday night at the North Texas Scottish Festival a fellow-kilt wearer had some odd questions and comments for me that took me a bit by surprise. The discussion didn't relate to my kilt but to my hat oddly enough, something I really hadn't worried too much about breaking any rules on. For context rest of my casual outfit was: My olive-green, generic tartan (far as I know) home-sewn box-pleat kilt. Kilt hose with flashes of the same tartan with plain brown shoes (not brogues). A dark olive polo shirt.

My hat was one of my small beret/tam hats that I make out of my left over tartans from my kilts. It's the one I'm wearing in my avatar photo to the left only I've added feathers to the pin since then. The pin is a small brass pheasant with 4 small pheasant or quail feathers poking out of the top of it (a hackle?).

While trying to order a meat pie a fellow kilt-wearer with I think an Australian accent asked me if I had a crest. I thought he was asking if either of my pins had my clan badge on it so I showed my kilt pin. He said no, a crest as in a coat of arms, and explained that you can only have feathers in your hat if you have your own crest and are a laird. I can't type verbatim what he said as I was hungry, exhausted, and didn't understand most of what he was talking about. Something about how he can wear the feather because he's an armiger or armsmen or something and only the laird can have 1 feather or something or other. And that basically I shouldn't have any feathers in my hat. I'm a little socially awkward at times, especially when an already random conversation goes in a totally different direction than I was prepared for, so I think I just said that was interesting and maybe asked him to clarify what an armsman was. At some point he apologized to the meat pie vendor for "insulting one of his customers." I received no such apology of course.

Well I'm kind of OCD about trying to do things right and not insult Scottish culture by wearing something wrong or inappropriate or undeserved, so as soon as I got home I scoured the internet for any information to corroborate his accusation. And as far as I was able to find out what he said seems to only refer to eagle feathers. Every mention I found of the significance of feathers in the hat to station of rank within a clan referred very specifically to big long eagle feathers. Not little clusters of short pheasant feathers.

So who's right? Is my hat safe or does it somehow unintentionally proclaim me Lord of Pheasanton, High Protector of Hennery or something? Are feathers of all types reserved only for lairds, armigers and/or clan chieftains? Help!