Too Traditional?

[Nick the DSM]

No, but we did develop some pretty strange headgear, you must admit. A little boat-shaped thing called a Glengarry that kept you neither dry nor warm (no worries about it as a sun-shade) and a cloth cappie thing I think we adopted from the English, just to name two.

I'm for practicality usually, that's why glengarries don't appeal to me.

[Dale Seago]

I'm for practicality usually, that's why glengarries don't appeal to me.

+ yet another one!

[Muddy]

Yes, simply appalling headgear. What was I thinking?

[Nick the DSM]

Yes, simply appalling headgear. What was I thinking?

Dude, don't worry about it! Like it as much as you want! Didn't say it was appalling, just not practical.

[Muddy]

I'm not offended LOL. I'm just messin' wit y'all. It's all good.

[MacLowlife]

A brief hijack as we trudge to 500...

I recently watched THE WAY, which I enjoyed. It is about a man walking the Pilgrim's Way of St James of Compostela and it features the father-son team of Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen. The Way is some 769km, or nearly 500 miles. In some ways, it might be compared to the Appalachian Trail, I guess. What bothered me was that few or none of the pilgrims / hikers seemed to be wearing protective headgear. We can debate hats all day long, but if you are going to be outside all day long- for days and weeks at a time, I think we can agree that some kind of protection is in order.

[auld argonian]

Speaking as one of those red haired/blue eyed mutants, covering the head and shading the face, ears and neck is just good sense. Ask your local dermatologist if you don't believe me. I would hope that our fellow members in more Northern latitudes will cut us a little slack when it comes to headgear because the brimmed hat is sometimes mecessary.

Best

AA

[davidlpope]

I'm wondering if the title to this thread might not be better phrased as "Are we simulacrums?" (i.e. are we creating a perfect, yet inauthentic, replica of a Highland gentleman for the sole purpose of attending a Highland Games here in the United States?)

Thus the balmoral, clan plant badge, cromach, sgian dubh, garters, etc...

The practical purpose of any one of these items is likely better served by some more practical means/device.

But, to misquote Miss Bingley:

"Indeed, much more practical,

but rather less like a Highland Games."

Just food for thought, as I am determined to see a lion dance video...

[CMcG]

This thread is really pure gold

If I may be permitted to use an academic analogy here, those who are following this thread -- and learning from it -- are hopefully updating their research methodology. In order for those not born into THCD to understand THCD, some special types of effort are required.

In the early years of my home discipline of ethnomusicology (the study of people making and experiencing music), people used to do "armchair" research. This involved analyzing the artifacts, recordings, and recollections brought back by people who had returned from exotic locations. This is like Xmarkers poring over old photos or even portraits. Sometimes an outside observer can find interesting things about music (or kilt wearing) that the locals might not have thought of because they have fresh eyes. More often than not, though, armchair ethnomusicology (or "ethnokiltology?) results in skewed findings due to a lack of contextual understanding.

These days, ethnomusicologists favour a more hands on approach and trying to understand a given music the way that the natives understand it. Often, this means not only observing data, but also participating in the native culture through long term, immersion aka fieldwork. Apart from involvement in both the daily and special activities of a community, an important part of that process is the interview, which can range from casual conversations to formal, structured, and recorded question and answer.

Ideally, everyone who is interested in THCD would go live in the Scotland for 6 months to a year. While that may not be feasible for most people, participating in discussions like this thread can still be very helpful. Going to events where there are other kilt wearers is also important because live observation and time between pleats n' aprons brings a lot of awareness that no amount of discussion can deliver. And one would hopefully get to meet, or at least see, some people who do come from hereditary THCD backgrounds.

Of course, wearing the kilt is not a research project for most people. Nonetheless, I think that the desire to try and understand THCD from a native perspective is very important. This is not to say that one has to cast off their own personal taste or the influence of their particular upbringing, rather that anyone who is serious about tradition needs to engage with that tradition on its own terms in order to make up for their own lack of inborn knowledge.

Part of what makes this all so fascinating is how much grey area there is. In speaking of THCD, it is perhaps important to keep reminding ourselves that it is more accurately a generalization of a group of similar but heterogeneous personal, familial, and local traditions, rather than a single, monolithic, and homogeneous thing. That is part of the reason why developing a "feel" for it and being prepared to use common sense is so necessary.

At the core of a living tradition is something old and yet current, which is a bit of a paradox. The boundaries and peripheries may be contested as to what is already historical, old fashioned, being revived, fading away, newfangled, gradually gaining favour, personal, idiosyncratic, flair, etc. Maybe we won't ever be able to get it right every time, but at least we might be able to look good, respect the tradition, and avoid getting it entirely wrong

[CMcG]

I'm claiming #500!

...
Thanks to the diligence and generosity of many people, this thread shows a little more about THCD- and tells even more than it shows. With any luck, CMcG will be doing the

FIVE HUNDREDTH POST -LION DANCE very soon.

Just food for thought, as I am determined to see a lion dance video...

By request, here is me doing a version of the lion dance that I mentioned way back in the OP.

About a month after this video was shot, I spoke with a friend who had been in the crowd that night. She said there were a lot of rumblings of dissent and dismay about a non-Chinese being under the lion head because traditionally, a Chinese lion dance is supposed to be not only entertainment, but also a type of blessing or exorcism ritual. Apparently once I started dancing, the grumbling turned to cheers and people decided that I was able to give an acceptable rendition of this tradition.

The event I mentioned in my first post that inspired me to ask the question "Too Traditional?" was a few months before this video, but the dance was basically the same. As you may recall, the organizer had told me that I wasn't a traditional enough performer to do such a traditional dance and should have been doing a more modern version of it, with lots of jumping and acrobatics. In this video you will see the lion do 3 bows, dance around for a bit, get hungry, cautiously search for food, eat the veggies (yes, a vegetarian lion ), then spit them towards the crowd, dance a bit more, and finally do 3 more bows. The fearsome aspect of the lion is supposed to scare away evil spirits and spitting the greens symbolizes spreading wealth because of a homonym in Chinese between "green" and "money."



And now back to your regularly scheduled programming with a segue image from the tradition-mixing, Gung Haggis Fat Choy folks out in Vancouver: