25th Annual Texas Scottish Festival

[beloitpiper]

I don't know where he is getting his information from. I'm trying not to sound harsh, but this really irritates me. I don't expect everyone to be an expert in tartans, or kilt history. However if you are going to be conducting a class or seminar on the subject, presenting yourself as an authority, I would expect you to know at least the basic facts. Especially when you have organizations such as the Scottish Tartans Authority, and here in the US, the Scottish Tartans Museum, who are very willing to make information available to you - or even come and give such a presentation ourselves at your Games.

I feel the same way about "Celtic Reenactors" who are basically LARPing. Why don't they understand that to reenact something, it has to have happened in real life?

[Morris at Heathfield]

From what I could find online and elsewhere, "Torf" is a nickname, whether assumed or acquired I don't know, for Louis Torfason, a resident of the Austin area. He is presumably a kiltmaker, but he appears to have no online presence except for in secondhand business listings. As Zardoz said, he may be largely unaware of the Internet.

I remember his nickname from previous games. In 2009 he was on the program offering a seminar on Scottish castles. I have never attended the Scottish castles seminar. In both 2009 and 2011 he is listed in the program guide as a "sustaining patron", as well as a member of the festival committee, in charge of the photo contest. (I did not attend the games in 2010, and can't seem to find my program guide from 2008).

I also noted his use of the word "registered", when "recorded", or perhaps "named", would be more apt. I don't remember his exact words, but when someone asked him how one would find what tartans had been registered, Torf seemed to indicate that such a resource didn't exist, which makes one wonder how he obtained the data for his graph. He also indicated that Lord Lyon registered the tartans, but seemed to be completely unaware of the Scottish Register of Tartans. See what Zardoz said above.

Regarding the dates for knife pleats, buckles, and 8-yard kilts, I wondered if he meant their near-universal adoption by the military or their widespread use by civilians, rather than their first introduction. That would make his timeline look a little better. Still, the average person would expect him to be referring to the date of introduction.

On the plus side, his information on the construction of the belted plaid was accurate from what I could tell.

The seminar was titled "The History and Wearing of the Kilt". I know Torf used So You're Going to Wear the Kilt! as a reference for the "wearing" part, but I'm not certain what sources he used for the "history" part.

I can't speak on behalf of the Texas Scottish Festival, but I believe we have one or more members here who are on the festival committee. Or at least the festival mailing list.