What is going on here?

[Benning Boy]

Wether the ball is thrown for distance or height really dosen't matter. Managing to heave a heavy weight without falling off a barrel is quite a feat, I believe. Think it through. The thrower has to contiuosly shift balance to compensate for the swinging weight. The moment the weight is released the thrower will immediately start to loose balance. On a level surface a step or two would probably be required to remain upright. The barrel doesn't permit any such compensation or easy follow through. It ought to be a great exercise in control. I could probably have maintained such control eons ago when i danced ballet, which is all about controlling balance, but being built for dancing I wouldnt have been for heavy athletics. Id like have been a total flop at this game Based only on what can be seen in the pics I'd say this is one tough event.

At your next rowdy party challenge all comers to stand on the empty keg and throw heavy things without falling off. To make it really interesting stand the keg in the kiddies pool.

[Jimmy]

What is it with some guys on this forum who criticise the wearing of white stockings, I fail to understand them. White stockings always look good whether worn to the knee or crunched.
If you look at the trend for black stockings , sometimes the wearer resembles his grannie in laddered tights

[Jock Scot]

What is it with some guys on this forum who criticise the wearing of white stockings, I fail to understand them. White stockings always look good whether worn to the knee or crunched.
If you look at the trend for black stockings , sometimes the wearer resembles his grannie in laddered tights

I think its an "old school" thing Jimmy that seems to have caught on here perhaps more than it should. To the "old school" white hose look dreadful and look even worse when scrunched down. I am not so sure that black hose get the same criticism. I think both colours of hose do however, come under the heading of "hire shop" attire which shows to some, little imagination with ones attire.

[Crawdaddyjc]

i only mentioned white socks as a joke in the OP. i even put them in italics! i personally dont care either way. i think you wear what you want..or not.
i have just learned that white hose is one of those trigger statements that get people going. that was the only reason i mentioned them.
i cared only about the activity because i have never seen it and was curious.

as for the activity- i am leaning to it being a regional challenge that is performed only there in Australia. (as mentioned earlier in this thread).

[OC Richard]

White stockings always look good...

From my perspective it isn't a matter of good or bad (value judgments) but having an awareness of where things lie in the tradition.

Cream or offwhite hose were one of a number of selfcoloured Day Dress hose options which, what, around the 1960s began being worn with Evening Dress, as a cheaper alternative to the traditional tartan or diced Evening hose. The look of Day hose with Evening Dress has always looked like a clumsy juxtaposition to me, like showing up at an Evening event in a tuxedo and wellies.

Then what- in the 1980s- the gleaming pure white hose came in, and suddenly if your band showed up at a Games with cream hose your band looked dingy and out of the loop.

Just as suddenly and thoroughly black, navy, and charcoal hose have recently ousted white hose as the Pipe Band standard.

It's all just fashion, the whims of the time.

But to my eye Evening Dress still calls for Evening hose (tartan or diced) and Day Dress still calls for Day hose (Lovat, grey, brown, blue, or what have you). Gleaming white hose fit neither traditional category.

[Benning Boy]

I wear white-ish hose some what regularly. I follow Steve Ashton's advice: wear matching hose and shirt then put on any kilt of any sett and you will look presetable. So, when wearing a white shirt -- pilot shirt -- it's white hose . However, my white hose are actually German socks to wear with lederhosen. They are just a bit off white and flecked with brown. They aren't stark white. I doubt very much I'd ever wear white hose when in a coat and tie. Here on xmarks I've learned so much about being a well dressed kiltoid I see so many opportunities to work with colors I might never have considered before. White just pales in comparison.

[OC Richard]

wear matching hose and shirt

Never heard that idea before. It's certainly contrary to tradition, and couldn't have existed until the 1980s as far as white hose and shirt are concerned.

By that yardstick everyone would have worn tartan or diced shirts from the beginnings of known Highland Dress up until selfcoloured hose appears in the Victorian period. Victorian "day" hose were grey or brown and they certainly weren't matching those hose colours with their shirts then (the shirts being white).

It's my opinion that hose needn't match anything else in the outfit, indeed are better that way, the exception being full tartan hose for evening dress.

Now, what one would sometimes see, in 20th century traditional Highland Dress, is a pale blue shirt possibly worn with Lovat Blue hose or St Andrews blue hose, both in the range of blues it is true, but not matching.

I like to see my shirt/necktie and hose/flashes each set up their own attractive colour-pairing, say with a warm/cool juxtaposition. It's not something I think about consciously except when posting on this site; rather it's what I tend to grab out of the closet.

So last weekend at a Games I wore taupe hose with St Andrews Blue flashes (a nod to the London Scottish perhaps) and a Tattersall shirt with a navy blue necktie.