kilts in Edinburgh

[McClef]

The whole premise of this thread seems to be that Edinburgh folk should parade about the streets in kilts to please the tourists as if the place was one big theme park. What it is is the second largest financial centre in Britain, the capital city and the seat of Scotland's elected government. We don't see women in funny hats and shawls parading around Cardiff or dressed up as leprechauns in Dublin. When did you last see crowds of Yankee Doodle Dandies in New York. Sorry for the rant but a modicum of common sense is needed here.

It's a bit of a reductio ad absurdam summary of the discussions Phil.

Edinburgh isn't "Scotlandland" and it is all of what you say above.

But is does sell itself as several things, one of which is things tartan and it does have the highest concentration of shops selling things tartan that I know. I haven't seen anyone suggest some form of enforced kilt wearing on the populace but I have pointed out the deficit between expectation and reality and I was also careful to point out that the problem is not limited merely to Edinburgh.

Of course common sense is needed, nobody has implied otherwise, but those of us who regularly visit in our kilts and who keep on getting asked for our photos cannot but wonder if it is being applied.

When I visited Philadelphia for example, I saw many people dressed in 18th century costume which was not only interesting but brought back the history of that period, it does not turn Philly into a theme park but it certainly adds to the visiting experience. Is it too much to expect that the appropriate authorities in Auld Reekie could organise something similar?

There are large differences between Edinburgh, Cardiff and Dublin. Cardiff was a village until the middle of the 19th century and the little old ladies with their shawls and pointed hats were to be found in Welsh-speaking areas of the North and West. It has only been the Capital of Wales for 100 years. Leprechauns are mythical, but Dublin was the English stronghold in Ireland for centuries, surrounded by a small area known as The Pale. Edinburgh on the other hand has been the Capital of Scotland for centuries.

Perhaps we Americans just long for Disneyland-type places wherever we go and that's why you are seeing messages posted that are pining for more people in kilts. Well, we tourists will just have to visit Edinburgh in kilts more often to create our own self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's not just Americans, I have posed for pictures with many people from Eastern Europe, the Far East and Japan. I have met kilted people from several countries such as France, Switzerland and Germany. In fact when I see someone in a kilt in Edinburgh I tend to assume that they are visiting.

Yes, there has to be a common sense solution somwhere.