Black tie, Prince Charlie, but the tie is DECIDEDLY not black

[Jock Scot]

Yes, The English do often get blamed for historical misdeeds when it was actually the British who were at fault. I have more than once heard it myself and quite often and only recently at the visitor centre at Culloden. After listening to this misinformation too many times that day, I took the guide aside and reminded him that more Scots fought on the British side than on the side of Bonny Prince Charlie.He was, unsurprisingly, not best pleased with me. To his credit he went and checked and later on in the day he actually found me and confirmed what I had told him.

In my experience the English do regularly get blamed for just about everything by the Scots, including the weather! Its just one of those things, the English just have to live with!

[Father Bill]

Of course the weather is the fault of the English.
...and by the way, Jock, what do the Welsh and Irish contribute to the general ill?

[Jock Scot]

Of course the weather is the fault of the English.
...and by the way, Jock, what do the Welsh and Irish contribute to the general ill?

I am not sure if the Welsh in any number were represented at the battle, but I think the Irish had a part to play in the BPC's team.In the following later years, particularly in the Fort William area the Irish were represented by a large team of navies who much later tunnelled right through the base of Ben Nevis. A Huge tunnel that is still in use today and is undeniably a magnificent feat of engineering.They also had a hand in the construction of the Caledonian Canal too and another magnificent piece of engineering that is still in use today. Many of their ancestors still reside here in the locality in fair numbers.

[Father Bill]

I appreciate the history. My reference meant more about what they're normally blamed for in various other circumstances.

[Jock Scot]

I appreciate the history. My reference meant more about what they're normally blamed for in various other circumstances.

AH RIGHT! Sorry. I can't speak for other parts of Scotland, Glasgow for example, but the local resident Irish community here appear pretty much, to keep themselves to themselves, but not in an exclusive way and as far as I am aware, they are no more blamed for local upset than anyone else. I am not aware of any Welsh connections around here.

[OC Richard]

What's interesting is how the history thing can cut both ways.

There are people who imagine that all the elements of a current traditional Highland outfit have existed in their current from back into the mists of time.

There are people quite the opposite, who imagine that all the elements of a current traditional Highland outfit are Victorian inventions.

After over 50 years of studying this stuff I'm still learning new things almost every day (already this morning I came across something I'd never seen before) and the truth is far more complicated and nuanced than either of those extreme belief-systems.

A few years back somebody somewhere posted a photo of a piper in a Full Dress outfit, and some know-all piper from Scotland commented that the entire outfit was a "Victorian invention".

I replied with an item-by-item review showing that in fact every element of that costume existed prior to 1837. (I don't think the know-all Scot was convinced. For one thing he didn't seem to be aware of when the Victorian period was.)

Then on the opposite extreme I'm always running into utterly misinformed fellow Americans who believe that every tartan goes back to time immemorial and has always been the unique mark of a specific Clan. They also think that every current element of Highland attire has always looked the same as it does now, that Highland Dress somehow floats in a bubble divorced from the passage of time.

These are the people who invariably wear Prince Charlies, white hose, Viking-laced Ghillies, and modern chrome-topped Evening sporrans to "Victorian Balls" and "Dickens Fairs" and "Civil War Balls" where all the people (except for those in Highland outfits) are dressed in passably accurate period attire.

I have never seen a gent wearing period-appropriate Highland Dress at one of these things.

And people will wear the Prince Charlie outfits to 18th Century and Renaissance-themed events. (The Prince Charlie coatee appeared around 1910).

Another result of the concept that all Highland attire floats in a timeless bubble is how people will mix Highland attire from various periods of time. I've seen people wearing, for example, a Prince Charlie, lace-up Pirate shirt, breacan-an-feileadh (in a modern tartan), chrome modern Evening sporran, ornate Victorian-style dirk, diced hosetops and moccasins (with bare skin showing in between), diced Glengarry with feather, a huge Claymore strapped to his back, topped off with sunglasses and a mobile phone.

[MacKenzie]

I've seen people wearing, for example, a Prince Charlie, lace-up Pirate shirt, breacan-an-feileadh (in a modern tartan), chrome modern Evening sporran, ornate Victorian-style dirk, diced hosetops and moccasins (with bare skin showing in between), diced Glengarry with feather, a huge Claymore strapped to his back, topped off with sunglasses and a mobile phone.

I guess you also saw that guy at the Loch Norman games the year you attended.

[jsrnephdoc]

What's interesting is how the history thing can cut both ways.

I have never seen a gent wearing period-appropriate Highland Dress at one of these things.

And people will wear the Prince Charlie outfits to 18th Century and Renaissance-themed events. (The Prince Charlie coatee appeared around 1910).

Another result of the concept that all Highland attire floats in a timeless bubble is how people will mix Highland attire from various periods of time. I've seen people wearing, for example, a Prince Charlie, lace-up Pirate shirt, breacan-an-feileadh (in a modern tartan), chrome modern Evening sporran, ornate Victorian-style dirk, diced hosetops and moccasins (with bare skin showing in between), diced Glengarry with feather, a huge Claymore strapped to his back, topped off with sunglasses and a mobile phone.

Of course, such nonsense is rife in all walks of life. Just last night, I watched the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The way supposedly sophisticated entertainers abused supposed men's formal dress was just atrocious. And, that goes for the women as well. Several years ago, a VERY attractive young female singer (her name is Bjork)) arrived at the Academy Awards Show wearing a form fitting dress that looked very much as though it had been crafted from goose feathers, complete with a long "neck" wrapped around her own and an ersatz goose HEAD at its end draped over her anterior upper body.

I think Robin Williams (superb American Comedian) was the host, and in his monologue he tweaked many of the attendees, which is what those monologues are supposed to be about. His best was "we're so sorry Bjork couldn't make it this year. She planned to come, but when she tried on her dress, Dick Chaney shot her."

(Dick Chaney was an American Vice President a few decades ago. He was also a duck hunter, and in one of his expeditions he accidentally shot one of his hunting companions with his shotgun. Fortunately, his companion's injuries were very minor)!

Highland Games seem to me the venue where it's OK to wear deck shoes with a kilt in between rounds of the Caber Toss, perhaps even with the kilt topped by an irreverent T-shirt, but when people are dretrssed for events where everyone is supposed to look good, my take is that a tiny joke might be OK, but the overall effect should be pleasing and not an insult to traditions.

My Avatar (I'm not certain it shows up with my posts) is a nod to that. Scotland and Montana both hosted many, MANY species of dinosaurs before the asteroid impact 60,000,000 years ago. My "Sgian Dubh" was sourced from the Montana State University's Paleontology Museum. It's perfectly sized to substitute for the real article in my kilt hose. I wouldn't wear it to a formal wedding, but to a nice dinner or concert I think if people are aware it can stimulate conversation (even if my stories about the Sgian Dubh's role in highland dress itself are apocryphal).