Scottish outlook on kilted Americans?

[Ian.MacAllan]

. . . To answer your question, no we certainly don't look down on North Americans or any other non-Scots wearing the kilt. On the contrary, almost all Scots are proud to see their culture being celebrated, whether as part of the vistor's personal heritage or whether the visitor simply likes Scotland.

. . . Scots are very happy for the tartan to be worn by Americans for many possible good reasons provided the tail does not come to wag the dog. The kilt is Scotland's National Dress!

The several Scots I have met while kilted have all been most graciously complimentary. Some have been a bit disappointed that I am an American---they hoped I would prove to be a brother Scot. A couple of the women were profoundly grateful to see a man in a kilt for the first time since they had left Scotland.

This past election day, as I stood in line at my polling place, a man sidled up behind me and in a Scottish accent said, "Kilty kilty cold bum---kilty kilty cold bum !"* It took me about 40 seconds to recall Major Sinclair's response, and then I brandished my walking stick and replied with a broad grin, "I'll warm your bum!" He laughed, and we had a very pleasant conversation for the ten minutes or so before we reached the head of the line.

In the five years that I have been kilted daily the only adverse comments I've received have been from high school boys rapidly accelerating away from me. That's my reward for living about 1/3 mile from a high school.


*Tunes of Glory, Alec Guinness and John Mill

.

[TheOfficialBren]

Hey! How about that, Ian! I was working at an elections site in Southern California, kilted.

One of my fellow elections officials, who is from India, asked me if I am of Scottish descent (which I am, partially) and then commented on how much he loved Scottish people. He told a story of when he was a young man, living in Glasgow, he became very ill-deathly ill. He was impressed by the compassion and care of his Scottish doctors and nurses.

It was a nice experience.

[mookien]

... *Tunes of Glory, Alec Guinness and John Mill

Ian: Thanks for the tip. I just added that movie to my Netflix queue.

John

[neloon]

There are people throughout the World and certainly in the US whose "spiritual" home is Scotland whatever their passport says and all Scots rejoice in that. If you are not able to live here then come to visit us as often as posible. Kilted, of course!

[neloon]

You are fairly new here, neloon,

Four months "younger" than you!

[MacSpadger]

I'd like to hear it, authentic or not.

Nae' if ye'd been a regular oot' by Echt and Foggieloan, ye' widnae'; Tak' mi' hame cunntrie roads, tae' the place, far' Ah belyng

Almost as good as the 30 Footers, a 70's Aberdeenshire soul band who used to sing: "I'll be graftin' mah wye back tae' ye, quine, wi' a burning love innertimmers"

[Domehead]

I think John Denver (RIP) just sat up!

[David Thorpe]

Nae' if ye'd been a regular oot' by Echt and Foggieloan, ye' widnae'; Tak' mi' hame cunntrie roads, tae' the place, far' Ah belyng

Almost as good as the 30 Footers, a 70's Aberdeenshire soul band who used to sing: "I'll be graftin' mah wye back tae' ye, quine, wi' a burning love innertimmers"

Music to my ears. But then I am a regular listener to the Bagpipes channel on Pandora, and therefore not considered "normal" by many. I don't let that bother me. In school, I learned that "normal" is an infinitesimal point on an imaginary distribution curve.

[CMcG]

I am curious to how folks from Scotland perceive kilt wearing Americans?
<snip>
Do Scots look down on someone like me that wears a Kilt for occasions and is not 100% Scottish and/or not born and raised in the UK?

As this thread has already shown, different Scots look at this in different ways.

There are Scots who are pro-kilt and would like to see more kilt wearing, in the broadest terms. For some, this is pride in their national attire, for others it is business. The Highland attire industry in Scotland certainly makes good money off kilting-up the Americans (and Canadians, Australians, etc)...

Other Scots do look askance at non-Scots wearing the kilt. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this, but I've encountered at least three different positions held on this one. First and strangest to me is the "dog in the manger" attitude, where Scots who might only rent a kilt once in a blue moon, don't want non-Scots wearing the kilt at all i.e. like the proverbial dog, they don't want others to enjoy/use something that they themselves have little use for

Second, there is the nationalist position, that holds the kilt to be national attire, which should only be worn by Scots (regardless of their ethnic ground). This one puzzles me because Scotland is not actually a sovereign nation, but rather is part of the United Kingdom, ergo the kilt is a regional attire within the UK as a nation. Nonetheless, Scots who hold this position see themselves as having a nation, so I try to understand their conception, rather than the political situation. A further narrowed take on this that the kilt is Highland attire and should only be worn in Scotland, north of Perth, by people who are residents of that area and probably ethnically Highland-Scottish.

Third is the protective feeling that the kilt should be worn with respect. These Scots see the kilt as a symbol of identity and don't take kindly to people, Americans or otherwise, wearing it as a costume or a joke. Furthermore, they don't like seeing people wearing the kilt badly, and would like people to look smart and appropriate to the event. This protective stance could extend to consternation over utility kilts, non-wool tartan kilts, etc.

Finally, there are Scots who really don't give a fig, as in they don't wear the kilt and couldn't care less if other people do or not.

Scots are people and, as such, have their own individual takes on this, or any other, matter. I think it is therefore impossible to say how Scots, as a whole, perceive kilt-wearing Americans. The short list of positions I just gave is incomplete and there is also the possibility of overlap between different attitudes. To complicate the other side, Americans (or other non-Scots) wearing the kilt are a heterogeneous bunch, with many different approaches, and there is also the issues of context and location that could bring out different reactions based on which Scot is perceiving which kilted American in which place.

To go one step further, even the category "Scot" is contestable as the term has ethnic, cultural, social, and political implications. Imagine a group of lads getting together for bit of kilted pubbing in Inverness: a 1st generation Invernesser (is that the right term?), who came over from Pakistan in his teens and now holds only a UK passport; a native Gaelic-speaker from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, whose family has been in Canada for generations, but is ethnically and culturally still very Gaelic; and a professor of Scottish history, who was born and raised in Oban of English, Norman, and Viking stock, but now lives in the USA and has only an American passport. Who is the Scot?

[Phil]

Second, there is the nationalist position, that holds the kilt to be national attire, which should only be worn by Scots (regardless of their ethnic ground). This one puzzles me because Scotland is not actually a sovereign nation, but rather is part of the United Kingdom, ergo the kilt is a regional attire within the UK as a nation.

So does the same logic mean that Canada, for instance, is a region of the United Kingdom? I mean it shares a sovereign, a system of law and government and no doubt much else. Casting one's mind back to 1607, you could even say that England became a region of Scotland when its sovereign was crowned king of England as well as Scotland. Scotland was and is to this day a separate nation in its own right, with its own distinctive system of laws, education, religion, language, customs, music etc. and to infer otherwise is to completely misunderstand the unique nature of the United Kingdom.
As to Scots and kilt-wearing, well there are indeed many who couldn't care less, who look on it as an anachronism and an affront to a nation that aspires to be a modern society, not some "Brigadoonish" backwater. What you cannot deny, however, is that the kilt is a Scottish symbol and one which so many others covet and aspire to. If this causes you problems, perhaps because it is something you will never genuinely achieve yourself, then so be it. It is not a reason, however, for you to try to diminish Scotland and the Scots.