Wearing a tartan if not Celtic heritage

[Phogfan86]

I'm still a big fan of Rocky's American Heritage at USA Kilts.

[Smayniac]

I am seeing that to be sure! This has been a great thread and I thank all of you for your input.

I have settled on a MacBeth Ancient for kilt #2. Connection is the meaning of the 'word' MacBeth. As I said in another thread, I was looking for a tartan connected with my faith, and so as MacBeth means 'son of life' or figuratively, 'a religious man', its perfect for me.

Plus -- I just plain like it!

I wonder -- is this thread a candidate for a sticky?

Tony

I too chose MacBeth, although modern, for my first all wool kilt. I chose it for its theatrical associations, and because I like it too. It was also on the remnant page at F&K, making it a most affordable choice.
Bob

[Sylvain]

The two tartan kilts I own are Twenty-First Century tartan (from Geoffrey Taylor) and Antarctica (taylored by Matt Newsome).

[Morris at Heathfield]

I don't believe I've seen it mentioned here yet, but I imagine any member of this forum would be entitled to wear the X Marks the Scot tartan.

My choice of a universal tartan, however, would be Caledonia.

[TecScot]

You can get very proper about this. But there are thing to remember.
Tartan doesn't really go back to ancient times. The English, by the Act of Prescription 1747 were trying to stamp out a culture. Anything like tartan of that day was an act of a local weaver. Tartan really began about 1782 when the King of England went to Scotland in what became Stuart Tartan. Chieftains were told to visit the King in Tartan. It set of a scramble.

In modern times a few clans want proof of linage. Most are open to membership from anyone who would like to join, pay dues and participate in social activities. If you like a tartan and like the people, most will welcome you with open arms and help you choose a tartan fro your kilt. Clan MacKenzie is such an open clan and will offer you 100,000 welcomes. Just ask me how I know. My surname is Bavarian Swiss.

Beyond that, others on this thread are correct. There are many "District Tartans". Choose what you like. From Scotland, or the US.

[BoldHighlander]

Tartan doesn't really go back to ancient times. The English, by the Act of Prescription 1747 were trying to stamp out a culture. Anything like tartan of that day was an act of a local weaver. Tartan really began about 1782 when the King of England went to Scotland in what became Stuart Tartan.

I think I know what your saying here, but please humor me & help me understand your statement
Thanks.

[Kiltedmedic]

Welcome to a great big world, my friend. Wear what you wish I say. And I have a tale to back it up.
My mother and I had a discussion once after we saw an Scot military ceremony in which the regiment was traditionally kilted. In said regiment there were several men of other than Europeon descent. Which got me to thinking, Who is more of a "Scot" or "Irishman" or any other nationallity? The American who is "100%" Irish, like my mother, yet never set foot in Ireland (through no fault of her own...7 kids and all) or the 1st, 2nd 3rd...etc...generation person of African or Asien or, goodness sake, Native American who is living their daily life in said country. We decided, and I suggest you agree as my mother will find you if you don't, that nowadays with so much travel and information available, you are what you feel. You should have no more worry about what garment you wear than you would about what music you listen too, what food you like etc. In this world you are likely to find a Jew who likes Mexican food and listens to Rap while wearing cowboy boots and hat waiting for his turn to toss a caber...and that is alright in my book.

[OC Richard]

if you wanted to show your German pride, why not wear something German? Why a Scottish kilt?

Well to show my Scottish pride I like to wear my Scottish Heritage Lederhosen.

It is odd in a way...German Heritage tartan, Welsh Heritage tartan, Irish Heritage tartan, Cornish Heritage tartan, American Heritage tartan... instead of all of the above wearing their own traditional garb.

One of the coolest things I've seen in this regard is The Kilt Of The Rising Sun I saw a Japanese-American guy wearing at a Highland Games. He took a Japanese flag to a kiltmaker and the rest is history. (There's a big red circle where your sporran would go, the rest being white.)

[macwilkin]

Post deleted.

[OC Richard]

Quotes from The Deil's Chiel in boldface:

tartan was not a "Celtic" invention

For sure, tartan-like plaid fabric shows up in the traditional folk costume of many countries, for example Bulgaria.

it was introduced to the Celts by the Gallic tribes from eastern Europe who originated in Scythia.

What evidence is there for tartan being introduced to the Celts from the east?

The Celts themselves were descendants of the aboriginal peoples who first inhabited Western Europe during the stone age.

Exactly where the Celtic-speaking peoples came from, if indeed they came from anywhere, is unknown. The issue of Celtic origins is part of the larger problem of Indo-European origins, and the entire matter is far from settled. I've been reading the very interesting, and diametrically opposed, theories put forth by Colin Renfrew and Marija Gimbutas. Suffice it to say that making any sort of definitive statments about Celtic origins goes far beyond current knowledge.

Their name is thought to have come from the tribe called the Celtici who inhabited western Spain during the period of the Roman Empire.

True about Posidonius mentioning the tribe Celtici, but classical writers mention many other related tribal names scattered over a wide area, and it's often not clear whether Greek and Roman writers are referring to people we would call Celtic, or Germanic.

In Celtic: A Comparative Study, DB Gregor says:

"Although on of the world's first explorers, Pytheas of Massilia, had distinguished Celts for Germans early in the fourth century, the Romans were not always careful to differentiate between them. It is still disputed, for example, whether the Cimbri and Teutones, who tried to invade Italy and were eventually defeated by Marius in 102-1 BC, were Germans or Celts. The names of the Cimbric leaders look Celtic, but Strabo calls them both Germani, and they were certainly in the territory now known as Jutland when Augustus in AD 13 wrote his Res Gestae and Tacitus his Germania."


The Gallic tribes had at that time already pushed westward into what was formerly Celtic territory...

Albout the Gallic/Celtic issue, he states:
"Although there is no doubt that linguistically the Gauls were Celts, it is not absolutely certain that the two names are interchangable."
So, it goes beyond present knowledge to state for certain which ancient peoples are "gauls" and which are "celts" and to trace their movements.

The Tocharians, who were closely related to the Gallic tribes...

I wonder what evidence there is for this. "Tochrian" as a term for two extinct Indo-European languages discovered amongst ancient manuscripts in western China is a bit of a misnomer: the connexion of these languages to the tribe Strabo called the Tocharoi is sheer guesswork.