Ponderings of an ancient Scot.

[ChubRock]

As a mutt, I am clinging to what I can for heritage. Gazing into my crystal ball (or reflection in the mirror) I can only imagine that my ancestors in 100 years will be watered down mutts as well. My last name is Dodge, perhaps in the future my kids' kids will wear car emblems as jewelry as an attempt to connect with their mother's maiden name, you guessed it...I have no boys. Or perhaps marry a person of Scottish descent and wear their tartan with pride.

I read this thread with a very light heart, as Jock intended, but ponder if a generation or two down the line will even care since with the exception of royalty, they will all be mutts.

[Deil the Yin]

I have often thought it odd that Scotland, with all its incentives to increase population, has never opened its doors to those of Scottish ancestry who might like to return.

There is a current push from the Scottish government to attract "new blood" to Scotland, and while they make it sound as if they really want you to become part of the nation, it comes with a pretty steep price tag. For a family of three about US$10,000 to get all the proper paperwork done, never mind the moving cost etc...

[Deil the Yin]

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet (if it has and I missed it, I apologize)...

The "clan tartans", as I understand it, weren't really clan tartans until after the clan system was pretty much destroyed. Before that, people wore whatever tartan they happened to like.

My answer to Jock's question: I would say, along the lines laid out by Tobus, when we are in a place where the kilt and a clan tartan is the societal norm (as in wearing a pair of jeans or whatever virtually everyone you know wears on a regular basis), then folks will start looking for different tartans to wear that are non "clan" tartans. This is also probably why very few wear the kilt in Scotland today.

However, it seems a moot point given how convoluted Scotland's national attire really is.

[CDNSushi]

Now here is the crunch Question! "Is it now time for the non Scots to START to wear their own (non Scots) tartans?"

Aside from the most obvious having already been covered by Rocky, that is, the price of limited run tartans that may never have more than a handful of wearers ever, there are other considerations here as well.

The first question is: Why? What's wrong with any given existing tartan, whether it's a Scottish Highland clan tartan or not?

The public at large, when they see me (or anyone) wearing a kilt of any variety immediately associate this with something Scottish first and foremost. It may be a Peoples' Democratic Republic of Zorostan tartan, but to 99% of the world's population it is, and always will be Scottish.

My family, background and geneology being Czech (as far as I can track it), would then dictate (by virtue of logic) that I should wear the Czech National tartan (STA#7474) which is, by any definition, a beautiful tartan indeed. Now, even if I could afford the custom cost associated in weaving it and producing a kilt for me, anyone who perceives me now, and in my opinion even in 50 years will not see the Czech National tartan, and I virtually guarantee that people will still ask me: "What clan is that?" I have never been asked "What kind of tartan is that?" Always, 100% of the time, "What clan?"

Therefore, if I choose to wear the Czech National, I am honouring my family, my roots and my ancestral homeland but the only one (realistically speaking) who knows I am so doing, is ME. The only one (realistically speaking) who knows what each of the thread colours symbolizes and signifies is ME. Therefore, I am wearing it for me and me alone, unless I carry around a sign telling everyone what I'm wearing and why. Now mind you, even though I am honouring my family/heritage/whatever, I am choosing to do so within a Scottish context and frame of reference!

I can make a kilt no more un-Scottish than I can make a kimono un-Japanese. Does that mean a Scottish lady couldn't have a kimono with a Saltire design on it? Of course not. She would be honouring her Scottishness, but in a Japanese context. Would that offend Japanese people? Umm, I imagine it would not, other than perhaps some far right-wing nationalists who believe that things Japanese are restricted to Japanese people.

A few years ago, Ozeki class wrestler Chiyotaikai had a sizable Canadian fan club who sponsored his "Canada kesho-mawashi." Chiyotaikai wore it proudly, honouring his Canadian sponsors while still maintaining Japanese tradition.


In that very context, I must ask myself: How would I feel if people who weren't Czech started buying up our national costumes (kroj) and wearing them even though they weren't Czech?


I suppose I'd be honoured. Would I be any more or less honoured if they took the "kroj" and embroidered their own country's flags on it rather than traditional floral designs? No, probably not (although undoubtedly some WOULD take offense) but no matter what, it would still be representing a foreign culture/family in a very Czech context.

I hope some of this wild rambling has made some sense...

[O'Callaghan]

I agree with Jock, with certain reservations. Firstly, I don't think members of a Scots clan (and just to be clear, I'm not one) will ever stop wearing it's tartan, no matter how far removed from Scotland they are. Secondly, there's the special weave issue, which creates a certain chicken-and egg situation. Which comes first, the production run or the popularity?

And then, look at the few attempts to sell kilts to the general public (or at least to punks and goths, or to fashion victims). These are always in a generic, non-registered tartan. I expect to see more of that.

[dfmacliam]

As I read these replies with great interest... I realize I fall into the Non-Scot catagory.. yes I do have Scottish decent, but the kilts I wear represent the maternal lineage. I wear the Leaherneck tartan for my service in the Marine Corps, and I wear the Saffron and Tara, with a O'Saffron in the works, Irish kilts.

[OC Richard]

I'm an American of mixed Cornish, Irish, English, and Scottish ancestry living in California and I could go out and get a kilt in Cavan or Cornwall or MacDonald (to recognise my various ancestors) or West Virginia (to recognise where I'm from) or American Heritage or California (to recognise where I live) but instead I wear a tartan I chose simply because I like the way it looks (muted Drummond of Perth).

I've been researching tartans trying to choose what to go with for a second kilt, something with very different colouring than the Drummond, and I've been attracted to some of the modern trade tartans like Spirit of Bannockburn, Pride of Scotland, and Auld Lang Syne. Something with soft blues and purples etc. I don't care one bit what the thing is called.

[Wompet]

"Is it now time for the non Scots to START to wear their own (non Scots) tartans?" ... If there is not a tartan that you can attach yourself to, I bet there is one somewhere, then wear a plain one,perhaps? Invent your own? ... (W)hat I am suggesting and pondering is that over time ... are we going to see more and more tartans that are more appropriate to the future kilt wearers' connections?

Well, when I started wearing the kilt on a regular basis, it occurred to me that the tartans I wear reflected only descent from my mother. But I am the product of both my parents, and I wanted to show that ... except that my father's surname is English.
So I commissioned Matt Newsome to design a tartan for us, with colors that have familial meaning and input from my brothers and mother (it was a surprise for my father ). And Matt created a beautiful tartan for us.
At some point, I'll make my brothers kilts in "our" tartan.
When I get married ... well, I was going to say that I'll be wearing this tartan, but my bride might have other ideas ...
Our children will wear this tartan though.

[NewGuise]

I am highly conscious of my status as a non-Scot, as I study/teach early Scots literature and have two kids who can claim clan status through their mother. My first two kilts, both second-hand, were black leather and Warrior tartan (in PV). My first two bespoke wool kilts were likewise non-clan tartans - Highland Granite and Maple Leaf. I think I've already chosen the tartan for the next kilt ... or perhaps it was chosen for me (right, Slohairt?) - again, non-clan. I figure that being an outsider affords me the freedom to wear a tartan simply because I like it ... as long as I wear outsider - that is, non-clan - tartans.

However, I also have a great kilt in the MacBeth tartan - also known as Blue Stewart - that I will wear once next fall for a course I'll be teaching on Macbeth. The great kilt is very much a costume for me, to be used for very specific pedagogical purposes; I sincerely doubt that I will ever wear it outside of that single class, the course itself being a one-off. But the tartan is beautiful, high quality material, which I expect will eventually become an 8-yard tank.

I will wear that tank, not as a costume but as regular clothing; however, I fully expect to feel more than a little awkward when asked about the tartan, as I know I will be. It's not my clan. I have an honest interest in several relevant histories, but such interest is more scholarly than personal. I am tempted to alleviate my sense of outsider guilt by joining the clan, but this won't make me any more Scottish; indeed, the only existing organisation that I can find is the "Clan MacBeth Society of North America." Does the clan even function as such in Scotland?

[SteveB]

The Great Chrystal Ball.

We have in the U.S. a trend toward the future of kilt wearing of a large portion of "Non-Scots". It comes in the form of thousands of Utilikilts, Amerikilts, Union Kilts, Keltoi Kilts and Freedom Kilts. I have experimented with the public as I have chosen to intentionally wear the kilt in proper Highland mode (thanks to Phil and Jock Scot for their input) and have been out and about in a very informal approach to kilt wearing. ANY tartan will get the "what clan is that" question.

The next approach is a self colour kilt, for which I wear one of my Utilikilts, or an Amerikilt. Even if the kilt was made in red white and blue with the bacside in the semblance of Old Glory, the questions revert to Scotland. For most of the public at large the kilt is still the national attire of Scotland, no matter how it is constructed, or how it is worn. This is the fact in areas with very few kilted men.

I attended a conference in the Pacific North West where many gents were wearing tan Utilikilt Mockers.(about half of the attendees.) I wore my tartan to only one event there, and that was the only time mention was made of Scotland, while in the UK, I just blended in.

Thus ends the section on what is now.

The future of the kilt is changing in that those of us that wish to be "traditional" will be/are wearing out tartan kilts in Highland style, and the contemporary kilt wearers will be/are content to wear the solid colour, camo, leather, cotton duck, nylon garment with white quarter socks, baseball cap and T-shirt, with trainers or sandals. The denim look in kilts will be the American form of general purpose kilt wearing, and will be perceived as American and not Scottish Highland attire that has gone wrong.

I still see the tartan kilt in heavy use as some will wish to honour their ancestors that left Scotland. I also see myself wearing the tartan kilt every time that I light off my Highland Bagpipes. This is to keep a certain tradition alive and honour Scotland in general, even if my kit is in the Massachusetts tartan. While piping, the tartan kilt is a uniform, whether one is piping in a band or performing solo. This will continue far into the future.

To give the real look in the future the Non-Scots will be displaying non tartan kilts. Just as the denim jean (a symbol of the U.S.) is now proudly displayed on many a Scot's body, the kilt (a symbol of Scotland) will be proudly displayed on many men around the world.

The Scots of the future will still have the clan tartan for those occasions where it has great meaning, but some will probably be wearing either a generic tartan, or solid colour kilt as the day to day kilt. Scotland will have its own standards of Kilt wearing, just as some areas of the U.S. have a certain standard for wearing the blue denim jean, both now and in the future.

Slainte