A Foot In the Door?

[Retro Red]

The tartan was banned in Scotland, by order of King George II, starting 1 August 1747.

Here's the particulars -

The Act for Abolition and Proscription of the Highland Dress, 19 George II, cap. 39, sec. 17, 1746 made wearing any form of Highland dress, bagpipes, using gaelic, bearing arms, and clan gathering illegal. (1, 7)

That from and after the first day of August one thousand seven hundred and forty-seven, the man or boy within that part of Great Britain called Scotland, other than such as shall be employed as Officers and Soldiers in His Majesty’s Forces, shall, on any pretext whatsoever, wear or put on the clothes commonly called Highland clothes the Plaid, Philabeg, or little Kilt, Trowse, Shoulder-belts, or any part whatsoever of what peculiarly belongs to the Highland Garb; and that no tartan or party-coloured plaid or stuff shall be used for the Great Coats or upper Coats, and if any such person shall presume after the said first day of August to wear or put on the aforesaid mentioned garments or any part of them, every such person so offending being convicted thereof by the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses before any Court of Justiciary, or any one or more Justices of the Peace for the Shire or Stewartry or Judge-ordinary of the place where such offence shall be committed, shall suffer imprisonment without bail during the space of six months and no longer, and being convicted of a second offence before the Court of Justiciary or at the circuits, shall be liable to be transported to any of His Majesty’s plantations beyond the seas, there to remain for the space of seven years. (7)

[cessna152towser]

shall be liable to be transported to any of His Majesty’s plantations beyond the seas

which explains why so many Australians have Scots ancestry.

[Riverkilt]

Thanks Retro,

Suppose that would be a bit "too sideways" for Reggie to copy and have framed in his office....

America...what a country of Catch-22s....free to wear the kilt, but no recourse if fired for it...

Ron

[Retro Red]

Reggie,

I work for a large, international company. I went through a similar hassle 3 years ago when I first wore a kilt to work. Their final judgement was that a kilt is not considered acceptable business attire, BUT I would be allowed to wear a kilt on casual ware Fridays & (I love this part) on Celtic holidays. Pretty sad for a company that loves to tote how diverse they are & the dress code, in regards to skirts, is gender-neutral. Anyway, as to your question about Celtic holidays, here's what I use...

31 October-1 November - Samhain (pronounced sow-in); most important of ancient Celt holidays; Celtic New Year

30 November - St Andrew's Day; patron saint of Scotland

21-22 December - Yule or Alban Arthuan; observance of winter soltice

25 January - Burns Night; this is kind of stretching things, but there's usually a lot of ritualized celebration in the Scottish community on Robert Burns' birthday, the national bard of Scotland

1-2 February - Imbolc (pronounced im-bulk); same day as Groundhog Day, foreshadows Spring

17 March - St Patrick's Day; patron saint of Ireland

20-21 March - Oestre or Alban Eiler; Spring equinox

6 April - National Tartan Day; by proclamation of the U.S. Congress in recognition of the many contribution to American society by Scottish-Americans

30 April-1 May - Beltaine; start of Summer season & most important of the ancient Celt holidays after Samhain

21-22 June - Coamhain or Alban Heruin; Summer solstice

31 July-1 August - Lughnasdha; harvest festival

21-22 September - Mabon or Alban Elued; autumn equinox

As you can see, the ancient Celt holidays corresponded to major seasonal & celestial milestones. The ancient Celt holidays were celebrated from sundown on the eve of the event to sundown on the day of the event, thus the dual dates for the ancient Celt holidays.

Hope this helps...
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[Raphael]

Kilts are definately no traditionally attire for the business/corporate world. It is because no on was doing it. Then again, no one would dare to wear jeans or sports coat to a business meeting 30 years ago.

[GMan]

Reggie,

Well done with the meeting, and really am glad that it went well.

To take it to extremes as far as the dates, you could always say it is in honor of someone from Xmark and you are wearing it for their birthday. In reality I would suggest one or two days a month, because as Raphael has stated it took awhile for other things to become acceptable for business wear.

Glad that your wife has given you the support, that is probably the best news out of the whole thing.

[Retro Red]

Just one more thing, Reggie, here's a link to the most concise explanation of the ancient Celt holidays I've found on the web, in case your boss wants some proof of them.

http://www.allaboutirish.com/library...wheelyear.shtm
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[macwilkin]

Reggie,

Sorry, just realized - One of the days you put down to wear the kilt JUST HAS

to be the anniversary of the day the English forbid the Scots to wear their kilts/tartans.

Don't your bosses know they are recreating your cultural trauma? Would be like if an employer out here forbid Navajos from speaking their language or wearing their traditional garb....which a mom and pop restaurant did a couple years ago and they're still wrangling with the EEOC folks from Washington D.C.

Anyhow, maybe some of the expert historians we have on the board can provide you with the date the English forbid the Scots to wear their tartans. That's gotta be on your list!

Ron

Ron -- just a historical clarification -- the Act of Proscription forbade the wearing of tartan and kilts in the Highlands ONLY after the Jacobite Rebellion -- remember that during this period, Lowlanders did not, for the most part, wear Highland garb, and tartan was only worn in the Lowlands as a show of support for the Jacobites. The kilt & tartan did not become a "national" symbol until later.

The date: 1 August.

Regards,

Todd

[NewKilt]

Reggie,

Congratulations on a positive meeting with HR and the dress code board. I don't think you will have any problem with your immediate supervisor on this. I only wish that since the board thought your picture looked professional, they would have concluded that you should be able to wear a kilt anytime.

Darrell

[Frank]

Rigged summed up my earlier argument better than I did when he wrote :-

"If a kilt is only an expression of culture, then it's appropriate to limit it's wearing to cultural events. If a kilt is just any other form of men's clothing, then there cannot be any restrictions on wearing them other than safety."

If the law prevents gender specific workplace rules, then what's the issue ?
Corporate wear ? If companies have to provide a corporate slacks option for the women, then why not the reverse for kilt wearers ? Or is the concept of equality only ever to be applied in one direction.....