Scottish outlook on kilted Americans?

[TheOfficialBren]

***
Wise words, McClef.

[Geoff Withnell]

Indeed wise words, McClef. And some of us Scottish, Irish, Welsh, generic Celts appreciate all the help we get here from those still on the old sod.

[ThistleDown]

Nicely summarised, Trefor.

[Joshua]

Can't anyone just hate pants anymore?

What more reason do you need?

[Tony]

Good grief - I leave for a couple months and this is what you all get up to?
I'd like to single out Thistledown for being a voice of reason and calm in this thread. Your contributions helped stop my blood from boiling. Thank you.


This native born Scot (apparently not as Scottish as I assumed I was) has only this to say about you johnny foreigners, yankees, canucks, ex pats and other folks whether you be diaspora or not......wear the kilt well, wear it with pride and remember that it's only clothing.
Kilt on kilted brethren and sistren.

[Nathan]

I think my post may have seemed a little inflammatory. That wasn't my intention. I am very happy to see people wear the kilt well and wear it with pride and wasn't trying to demean or insult anyone. My point was that we all have our reasons for choosing to kilt up. The ones I mentioned are mine.

For me, its not mere clothing, it's a culturally significant garment and a symbol of my ethnicity generally and my clan specifically. I'm not claiming any sort of monopoly on it or saying that's the only reason someone should or could wear the kilt by any means. I also very much appreciate the advice shared by the fellow kilt wearers on this board and find it very interesting and a tremendous resource.

Likewise, I enjoy asking about the norms in Scotland in the present day. The folks on this board are very knowledgable and I am a big fan of the community.

My point was simply that I get defensive when ever I encounter a whiff of patronizing snobbery from the old sod because when my people came over to Nova Scotia in 1804 amid a steady stream of tens of thousands of their fellow Highlanders and then went to a remote island that was very inaccessible, we kept the culture intact.

Part of "wearing it with pride" for me means knowing the connection I have to it and the traditions of my cultural inheritance. So by all means, wear it for whatever reason you have, enjoy it and wear it well! Keep the advice coming from all corners of the globe. But if someone suggests that I'm wearing a "costume" or a "wanna be North American" or "dressing up like a Scot", I'll have none of it.

That said, I don't think that's the prevailing view here and although I have encountered it over the years, most fellow kilt wearers I meet are a friendly lot and happy to focus on what we have in common rather than what divides us, so I'm happy to play nice in the sandbox;)

Also, I have no issue with trousers and wear them regularly

[neloon]

Nathan,
"We kept the culture intact."
And indeed preserved and protected some of what was lost in Scotland such as Hebridean Step Dancing - now experiencing a welcome repatriation from Cape Breton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6qTWcsUEis
and back home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJI4N3R88X4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMMM6IGTdUU

I guess these lovely ladies' solo step dances are a bit more up-beat that Flora MacDonald might have been but ... wow! (Nathan confirms my suspicions that the first is a mixture of styles!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc6FIOBdbuI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKHWq4_uF3c

Same with the music. In the days when I had a Ceilidh band here in Scotland, we often played a complete set of Cape Breton music. This is pure Canadian - but it's also pure Scottish!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOuqRpZdnVI


Alan

[Nathan]

Glad to hear that stepdancing is catching on back across the pond. I have friends who have gone there to do workshops. A few other Cape Breton Scottish customs that people may find of interest can be explored in the links below. Like the kilt, these traditions are yours to absorb, experience and appreciate.

This interesting site from the Highland Village Museum in Iona, Cape Breton take you through an exhibition and explanation of a lot of the culture including seanachas (Gàidhlig story telling), fiddling, dancing, solo dance piping, Gaelic song traditions (waulking, puirt à beul, airs ...)

http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseu...ndex_play.html

See also:

The Milling Frolick (waulking song tradition)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHax-NPP2vo

Traditional Hebridean/Highland style violin playing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjyHur3_GdE

Some piping and Gaelic resources in Nova Scotia...Good for the History buffs...Cool old photos and more..
http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/g...hives.asp?ID=8

[Singlemalt]

Nathan, I am glad you are here. I could have used you for back up a few times in the past when this sort of thing comes up.

I love a spirited debate and I find on this forum 99.9% of the time they are conducted with respect and with words tempered with moderation however they can still touch a raw nerve once and a while. This topic has a tendency to do that.

My roots go back to both Cape Breton (MacLeods from St. Ann's) and the Scottish communities of Eastern Ontario and my feelings on the matter mirror your own. However, through this forum I have learned to respect people who love the kilt without having a drop of Scottish blood and be a bit more sensitive to the native Scots who fear their "national dress" is being appropriated, though I don't think I fully understand either.

[llyd]

Not reading all that...but...what cygnus said.

Speaking for myself, I wear the kilt because I want to...and I am a proud son of the Scottish diaspora...diasporran? Anyhow, I don't wear traditional highland dress, partly because I can't afford to, and partly through lack of occasion...but, comma however, the american idiom is, "you can take the boy out of the country, but cannot take the country out of the boy."