Two Telling comments? The Answer Perhaps?

[Calgacus]

They are indeed. Perhaps even more so if you could find the treasure!
In fact, if interested in stuff about the 'cage', MacPherson and Charles Edward Stuart, the book, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" by Frank McLynn is a good read. Although the very first part is the usual stuff.....about his background and the 45, most of the book follows his travels around Scotland after Culloden.

Kyle, it may interest you (if you were not already aware) that Cluny's Cage might not be where it is commonly supposed to be. This article explains. It appears to be behind a paywall, though I previously accessed it without having to register somehow.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/...-cage-1.490901

It describes how the cage may well lie on the opposite side of Loch Ericht, and there is some old map evidence to back the claims up, as you can see in this link-

http://maps.nls.uk/view/74400313#zoo...6997&layers=BT

Given the time, I'd like to have a wee explore of those crags and see if I can find it.

[Calgacus]

Both of the below photos were taken in the central Scottish Highlands. When I'm there, I often wear the kilt in a variety of ways (dressed down or dressed up depending upon the context), and not exclusively with a jacket and tie. Whether I'm out for a walk in the surrounding hills of Newtonmore and Kingussie, or taking a stroll down High Street (Newtonmore Road/A86) to the pub, the kilt is worn.

Thanks Kyle, that top one was the one I was thinking of. Both perfect examples.

[Nathan]

What is, I think, undervalued is the contribution made by the diaspora, and especially by Canadians in preserving Scottish and more specifically highland culture. There are aspects of language and music which have been better preserved, quite frankly, by Canadians than by the Scots themselves. I'm not denigrating Scots for failing to preserve such things, there have been huge external pressures at work in the past, and even now, working against the preservation of such things.

Very classy of you to say so, Richard. One thing that makes me very happy is to see some of the arts that were preserved in Cape Breton and other parts of Canada being successfully repatriated to Scotland especially the West Highlands and the Hebrides. The growing popularity of Cape Breton style fiddling there is really great. They are (rightly enough) calling it West Highland style fiddling now but it's resurgence as well as the resurgence of step dancing has been the result of a lot of Cape Breton acts touring to Scotland and holding workshops at Celtic festivals for the past couple of decades. The Celtic Colours International Festival has allowed for a lot of Scotland's top Celtic musicians to come to Cape Breton to perform and a lot of them (Alasdair Frasier for example) have embraced the older styles preserved here.

It's also very nice to hear Gaidhlig songs and tunes that were either composed in Canada or composed and subsequently forgotten in Scotland being recorded by Scottish artists.

It's still a small percentage of the overall population of Scotland that is paying attention to these traditional Celtic arts but it's growing and the internet has made the cross ocean pollination so much easier.

I'm encouraged by the progress and more than a little proud of my hard scrabble little island.

[TheOfficialBren]

If the internet is akin to the printing press then places like YouTube and XMarks are like the movable type printing press; they accelerate ideas and culture. I find that marvelous.

[Calgacus]

If the internet is akin to the printing press then places like YouTube and XMarks are like the movable type printing press; they accelerate ideas and culture. I find that marvelous.

Yes, and I think the most important aspect of that is that it returns the power of the media to the average person. Before the internet, culture was increasingly largely disseminated through film, television, radio and the newspapers, all of which were either state controlled, state regulated, or run by large corporations with strong 'establishment' connections. To my mind, that all led to cultural homogeneity.

[creagdhubh]

Kyle, it may interest you (if you were not already aware) that Cluny's Cage might not be where it is commonly supposed to be. This article explains. It appears to be behind a paywall, though I previously accessed it without having to register somehow.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/...-cage-1.490901

It describes how the cage may well lie on the opposite side of Loch Ericht, and there is some old map evidence to back the claims up, as you can see in this link-

http://maps.nls.uk/view/74400313#zoo...6997&layers=BT

Given the time, I'd like to have a wee explore of those crags and see if I can find it.

Very intriguing! Thank you for those links. Please let me know what you discover when you do venture forth.

Cheers,

[Calgacus]

Very intriguing! Thank you for those links. Please let me know what you discover when you do venture forth.

Cheers,

It's in a rather out of the way location from a hillwalking point of view and so would require a special visit so don't expect anything soon, but it has rather piqued my interest and will probably bother me until I actually go and have a look

[CMcG]

... Anyway during the course of conversation, Sally said to Harry that she wished that Harry would wear the kilt more often when at home, like he used to. He would be dressed very much like Johnthebiker's picture in the "wearing the kilt in Scotland" thread. Then came the first bombshell! " I am not going to look like a tourist in my own country" replied Harry in a quite serious voice. Then came the second bombshell! "Oh come off it Harry you don't look anything like a tourist when wearing the kilt!" Reproached Sally gently......... and on went a very pleasant evening.

...

What do you think?

I agree with the thread title that these two comments are very telling. Thanks for posting this, @Jock Scot. The more I think about this, the more troubling I find it

A quick Google image search for "Scotland tourism" shows: castles, crags, glens, and, of course, kilts. From what I hear, the souvenir shops are loaded with "tartan tat." It's no wonder that tourists end up with a commercial, romantic, and kitschy view of Scots and Scotland. It isn't just being spoon fed to them, it's being rammed down their throats

This process of packaging and promoting Scottish heritage is a double-edged sword. Tourism and tartanry is good for business, but it also contributes to cultural cringe among resident Scots.

In an article about the Görale highlanders of the Podhale region of Poland, Tim Cooley* discusses the ritualized aspect of folklore festivals created out a combination of nation building and tourist trade. The parallels with Scotland are strong here when he analyzes the "riots of preservation vs. invention" where "performed tradition becomes the tradition; the representation becomes the actuality" (2006:73).

The hire industry is not innocent in all this either. We know that most kilt-wearing men in Scotland only do so for special events and that many of them rent their kit. The hire companies are just as wrapped up in a cultural power struggle of representation as the tourist trade, they just happen to market more to resident Scots.

I see this as serious stuff. The way that people choose to represent themselves to others through their clothing speaks volumes about their worldview, values, and beliefs. This is especially significant in the case of national and/or ethnic attire where the way one person dresses can reflect back on an entire group.

"Harry" doesn't want to be associated with the clueless, misguided tourists. Hopefully he doesn't want to be lumped in with the kilt hire crowd either, who are being sold an equally commercialized image. I can't blame him, really.

"Sally's" point rings all the more true, when she suggests that "Harry" doesn't "look anything like a tourist when wearing the kilt!" Take note of this all ye who wish to tread on the side of tradition and heritage. I suppose even those who like kilts for their pure sartorial value would be wise to avoid the tourist (or rental) look...

The negotiation of some of Cooley's oppositions like "preservation versus invention, spurious versus authentic" (2006:68) in any cultural practice is thoroughly fraught, as can be seen from **Hugh Trevor-Roper's (1983) article "The Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland," where he interogates the impact on THCD of Rawlinson, Culloden, the regiments, Sir Walter Scott, George IV's 1822 visit, and the Sobieski-Stuarts. This is why our discussions on Xmarks surrounding these issues can—and should—be ongoing. In a pluralistic, transnational situation, we can hope for a dialectical result that gives us a greater understanding than any single position could allow.

But it would be a shame if Dark Overlords of Tartan Tat and Evil Kilt Rental Conglomerates were to dominate Highland attire and its meaning, wouldn't it?

Perhaps we Xmarkers have not only a vested interest in wearing the kilt well and in appropriate situations, but actually a duty to do so?

The most terrifying aspect of the anecdote Jock shared, however, is that "Harry" feels strongly enough about this that he is willing to disregard the wishes of his longtime girlfriend when she wants him to kilt up more often

Apologies for the academic bent of the above. I'm in the throes of writing my dissertation





*Cooley, Timothy J. 2006. "Folk Festival as Modern Ritual in the Polish Tatra Mountains." In Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader, ed. Jennifer Post, 67–84. New York: Routledge.
**Trevor-Roper, Hugh. 1983. "The Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland." In The Invention of Tradition, ed. Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, 15–42. University of Cambridge.

[creagdhubh]

Well written, Colin!!! Excellent argument(s) with the pertinent, supportive evidence to reinforce it. Well done.

[KD Burke]

The way that people choose to represent themselves to others through their clothing speaks volumes about their worldview, values, and beliefs.

Indeed, it does! But how often is the message that we broadcast received garbled in transmission? I submit that the threads of this forum are rife with examples of just such miscommunication. Our intention in donning a particular garment is not apparent to those viewing our choice of attire, only the result. To choose an obvious example, a viewer familiar with tartan may expect I have a connection to Clan Donald if I am wearing a MacDonald tartan kilt. The fact that I am wearing it in honor of my mother's brother's best friend's cousin who owned a farm is not apparent, nor is it particularly meaningful to anyone but myself.

While we can never entirely rid ourselves of the false perceptions of others, we can minimize them by conforming, so far as possible, to expected norms. For examples of conformity in action, I would point to every office building in the western hemisphere, or to any secondary school, anywhere. Why should we care about the perception of others? Why do the majority conform to societal norms?
Because humans are social creatures. We thrive on interaction with, and the approval of, our fellows. Anyone who genuinely doesn't care about the opinions of others displays at least one sign of sociopathy!

Anyone, on either side of the Atlantic, who chooses to wear a kilt outside the "accepted" venues of games, weddings, etc. has to accept that he will be seen as somewhat eccentric at best. The other messages that he broadcasts with his attire, intentionally or otherwise, will determine additional adjectives that will be applied to him by those who view him.

This is why I take a conservative, respectful approach to highland attire.