Right to wear a kilt

[Colin]

As a matter of fact, Lance and I are old friends. He's the one who made me my first kilt.

Good to hear. I assume you are one of the Bozeman Kiltsnight regulars then. Anyway, welcome to the baord.

[philbo]

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, I am one of the regulars on Kiltsnight. I'm trying to find more regulars, but they seem very hard to come by. Maybe there's more in Canada...

[Sir Robert]

King George the Sixth IIRC, the one that ran off with a devorced woman and abdicated the throne in the 1930s, spoke German as his first language. He was not a Scot, heck he was not even an Englishman but he wore a kilt.

Now if it gives your friend the willies to "impersonate" a Scotsman, just have him wear a generic tartan.

Remember there are three ways to join a clan:

1. By blood, I am sure that if you look at most Americans' geneology you can find some Scottish blood.

2. By place of birth, probably out in his case.

3. By voluntarally joining.This is exactly the same as getting citizenship.

So what I suggest that you do for your friend is take him to a bar where they are having a Kilt Night, take him in front of the assembled Kilties and have some sort of initiation into the secrets of wearing the kilt, get him so drunk that he won't remember a thing and tell him the next day that he is now officially a Scot.

We do the same thing for English tourists in Texas.

[macwilkin]

King George the Sixth IIRC, the one that ran off with a devorced woman and abdicated the throne in the 1930s, spoke German as his first language. He was not a Scot, heck he was not even an Englishman but he wore a kilt.

So what I suggest that you do for your friend is take him to a bar where they are having a Kilt Night, take him in front of the assembled Kilties and have some sort of initiation into the secrets of wearing the kilt, get him so drunk that he won't remember a thing and tell him the next day that he is now officially a Scot.

We do the same thing for English tourists in Texas.

King Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, abdicated the throne in 1936 to married Mrs. Wallace Simpson, an American divorcee. King George VI, who was Edward's brother and the Duke of York, took the throne after his brother's abdication. He was married to a Scot, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later the Queen Mother, who was very proud of her Scottish connections all her life.

While I'm pretty sure Edward VIII spoke English (original recordings are still around) there has been some speculation over the years by historians that he would not have stood up to Herr Hitler & his gang of thugs like George VI did.

George I, the Elector of Hanover, who ascended the throne after the death of Queen Anne, spoke no English.

When an English officer was posted to a Scottish Regiment in the British Army, on his first night at the Officer's mess, he was forced to down a quaich or glass of whisky with a real thistle in the bottom, turn the vessel over & kiss the bottom! I've always wanted to see that done! :mrgreen: (Farwell, "Mr. Kipling's Army").

Newfoundlanders have a similar ceremony involving a Codfish and a shot of "Screech", or Newfoundland rum -- right, Colin! ;)

Cheers,

Todd

[Sir Robert]

OK Eddy the 8th, (I'm Eddy the 8th I am, I am, sung to the tune of Henry the 8th) Yes he spoke English, as a SECOND language, but he didn't speak Gaelic at all. My point is that this guy was NOT a Scot but wore a kilt. So....

What do you guys think would be an approiate initiation?

Has anybody ever writen "the rules" on kilt wear and put it on the net?

[Doc Hudson]

Let's see if I remember this correctly, and Todd will correct me if I'm wrong.

George I -- first Hanover King and spoke no English, descended from a daughter of James VI/I

George II - spoke some English but the German accent was so thick as to be almost incomprehensible.

George III - was the first Hanover King born in England, spoke English with a German accent

George IV -- Long the Prince Regent, spoke English, but I believe he still had a slight German accent carried over from his German tutors.

William IV -- I don't know much about him other than the fact that he was a "Sailor King" who allowed Naval Officers to drink the King's Health seated because of his experience with low beams on shipboard, and that he was a poorly educated third son who unexpectedly ascended the throne on the death of George IV, and that he was the last British Monarch to also hold the title Elector of Hanover.

Victoria - The was last of the Hanover line and not the Elector of Hanover because only males could hold the title. Her mother was a German, and Victoria married a German Prince. Allegedly, Victoria had a slight German accent, and that German was spoken as much or more than English in the Royal Household. Victoria changed the Dynasty name to Saxe-Coburg-Gothe in honor of her marriage to Albert

Edward VII - Son of a German Prince, grandson of a German Duches, and reared in a German Speaking household probably had a trace of German accent, but he was a Briton throught and through.

George V - Son of Edward VII, and another "Sailor King" with a "quarterdeck voice." I've never heard that he had a German accent. Due to the war with Germany, George V changed the family/dynasty name to Windsor.

(BTW, I consider Edward VII and George V to have been the most distinguished looking British Monarchs since Charles II.)


Edward VIII - The disaster. Having listened to recordings of Edward's abdication speech, I can say categorically, the man did not have a German accent, he spoke with an ordinary British Upper-Class accent. Rumor has it that he was indeed a Nazi sympathizer, and that he was hustled off to be Governor-General of the Bahamas to get him out of the public eye during the early days of WWII.

As for George VI, and his daughter Elizabeth II, inspite of Germanic ancestory, are about as English as one could wish.

[Niblox]

Edward VIII reigned for only 10 months in 1936 (he was never actually crowned). He was suspected of having Nazi sympathies (as was his wife) but that was part of the British Establishment's smear campaign to discredit him. This arose largely through the antipathy of his mother, Queen Mary, and his sister-in-law, Elizabeth, towards Wallis Simpson, who became Duchess of Windsor.

He did not conform to the pattern expected of him by the Court and for this he was regarded as "odd" - anyone with any individuality in that setup was ostracised. It still continues up to the present day - just look at what happened to Diana Princess of Wales, and to Sarah, Duchess of York in more recent years.

[highlander_Daz]

HM the Queen Mother is VERY highly regarded in Scotland, her Father was the Earl of Strathmore, she along with her husband king George VI refused to leave Buckingham palace during the blitz and the palace was bombed several times, they would visit bombed out areas sometimes on a daily basis. Princess Elizabeth (now the queen) did military service during the war (she was a car mechanic). The king had a bad speech impedment and stammer due to being made to use his right hand for writing despite being left handed. Whilst the current generation of the royals dont exacly set the world alight with carisma, the previous generation were an inspiration to many during the war years. Prince Charles of course is Britains highest profile kilt wearer ( aside from "Archie the inventor")