I think the first time I came in contact with someone wearing a kilt was when I was about 8 years old. It was at my aunt’s wedding reception. There was a family there, who were friends of my aunt and their son (who was about my age) was wearing a kilt. I was fascinated by his kilt and I remember asking him all about it. It seems that the family were Scottish.

I didn’t get the chance to wear a kilt myself until about twenty odd years ago when I was best man at a Scottish wedding, and I wore a hired kilt outfit for the occasion. Although I liked the kilt a lot, I was not so keen on the rest of the outfit (I never have been one for formal wear), and as I thought at the time that one had to wear the whole outfit or not at all, I didn’t give it much more thought.

About three years ago I was doing some walking in the Scottish Highlands and stopped at a good viewpoint for a sandwich and a drink of water. Two guys, who were also out hill walking, approached and I noticed that they were both kilted in a casual hill walking style. They also stopped for a bite to eat, and we got talking. The conversation quickly got round to their kilts, and I expressed my surprise that they were hill walking in kilts, as I thought that kilts were only for formal wear. They told me that kilts were the most comfortable things to wear for such activities, and from that time on, I decided that I must get a kilt.

I looked up my family tartan, but decided that I didn’t like it. It was far too garish for my liking. However, I then discovered that my own English county of origin had two district tartans of its own, which I liked, so I had a kilt made in one of these. I mainly (but not exclusively) wear it for hill walking.