Wearing the kilt in Scotland

[Calgacus]

One should be very circumspect about reading any meaning at all into Scottish comedy songs. Even some apparent folk songs are not what they appear. I can't remember the title of the song now, but there's a song which waxes lyrical about the blue mountains of Benbecula, or some such similarly flat island.

I'm hoping some of the historians can chime in here, as it would be interesting to know if there were any differences in the custom of kilt wearing on the islands as opposed to the mainland highlands. The islands had a significant Norse influence which could conceivably have affected the garments worn locally, but Magnus Barefoot was famously named for his adoption of the dress of the native Scottish islanders who he raided. At that time the mode of dress was presumably leine & brat. One of the early travellers to the islands in the mid to late 18th century (I can't remember if it was Martin Martin or Boswell & Johnston) mentioned that kilts were not to be seen on Skye, and they speculated as to whether they had ever been worn there.

Whatever the truth of any of that, I suspect Jock's aversion to wearing a kilt in the Hebrides is possibly more to do with an aversion to looking like a tourist, though I don't want to put words in his mouth and I'm sure he will explain his reasons if he so wishes to do so.