Please don't DELETE this thread (until I've read a decent reply)

[Jock Scot]

this has been a very interesting thread.



so Jock, where would a person stand if like in my mum's family the father is English (going back to at least 1730 that i've traced in the family tree) and not "entitled" to wear a tartan but the mother has family in Aberdeen going back to the 1600s?

would you allow them to wear the mother's taran?

I was speaking generally, but in your case wearing your mother's tartan would be fine, although it would,in the highlands, still be assumed wrongly of course, it was your fathers or from your father's side of the family, as no one would be rude enough to ask. In any case the clan tartan you wear,unless you are in a Scottish "Regiment"(I still can't get the hang of this super regiment!) or pipe band, would see you through for your lifetime.

[ForresterModern]

Fit

You have hit on virtually every hotbutton item that I have discovered in the more than 18 months I have been a contributing member here, at least the hot button "how to dress" items for the trads and those who live in Scotland and have to look at us who don't either here on the board or as tourists in thier land.

there have been previous threads on some of the topics you ask about, even at least one survey, but really they have all pretty much boiled down to differences in opinions between general broad groups of members. Most of these topics have now become simple one or two word ways to bring up and laugh at the topic at the same time without making a big deal out of it, often at the expense of a group or individual, but isn a kindhearted no harm no foul kind of way.

Grant wears a rubber chicken sporran---that photo has made therounds a thousand times but still comes up and still is funny to a lot of folks but rankles a few. Flat caps---some like 'em, others don't, but a few have to avert their eyes to keep from losing lunch each time one of us posts a picture wearing one with a kilt. White socks---well that in many ways is just considered a sign of a novice, but hopefully somone who will learn "better" about the other options (I have TWO pairs aof white socks, don't wear them often but do like them with certain outfits---it is a "by choice" thing sometimes). There are many more that are less controversial as well.

So when you hear flat caps or white hose or rubber chicken sporrans used in passing it is merely a shorthand bit of a lighthearted dig at those we consider our friends and comrades, even though we realize we each may differ in our opinions about any particular topic, and actually nobody is truly right or wrong and it really doesn't matter anyway. just a lot of inside jokes, so to speak.

Long winded roundabout way to get there. Hope it is more comprehensible now for those who have been wondering.

Enjoy your time here. We all do, if you hadn't noticed.

Mods, I think he asked to lock the thread, if i am not mistaken.

Jeff :ootd:

[Fit2BKilted]

this has been a very interesting thread.



so Jock, where would a person stand if like in my mum's family the father is English (going back to at least 1730 that i've traced in the family tree) and not "entitled" to wear a tartan but the mother has family in Aberdeen going back to the 1600s?

would you allow them to wear the mother's taran?

I think you know very well that you're poking at a hornet's nest with that question heilanner ... and steering my "very interesting thread" away from its intended purpose. My next 'smiley' incarnation will be this -->

[Fit2BKilted]

Fit',

You have hit on virtually every hot-button item that I have discovered ... just a lot of inside jokes, so to speak.

Long winded roundabout way to get there. Hope it is more comprehensible now for those who have been wondering.

Thanks Forrester! (although I seem to be able to detect your veiled animosity despite your efforts to contain it---kudos to you anyway for keeping it light! )

Mods, I think he asked to lock the thread, if i am not mistaken.

Jeff :ootd:

Actually, I said I would be content if they saw fit to lock it; but, I would be equally happy to continue the thread until it comes to a logical end, provided everyone remains at least as civil as they have so far, recent digressions notwithstanding. (those digressions seeming to indicate that the topic is losing steam)

Do we get an Award from the Mod Squad for keeping a topic like this civil for 25 posts? Is it a forum-wide record?

[heilanner]

I think you know very well that you're poking at a hornet's nest with that question heilanner ... and steering my "very interesting thread" away from its intended purpose. My next 'smiley' incarnation will be this -->

yeah, probably i was. it just seems people think of Jock Scott as a kind of authority on tradition, and i wondered where he stood on the matter as he had already said in the thread that you can ONLY wear your father's tartan.

[DWFII]

The thing about this is that the "Traditonalists" are not a bunch of cultists with rather odd ideas about what is proper to wear. For the most part, like Jock, they are steeped in Highland culture and history. And base their preferences and opinions on what comes of that.

The upshot is that they...we...regard innovations and "interpretations" with some suspicion.

I don't think anyone...Traditionalists" included...has ever said that white hose are forbidden. Just that it is considered a bit amateurish and perhaps iconoclastic. Not, as one should say..."traditional" (funny how that concept and those who are considered "Traditionalists" seem to be connected) Highland Attire.

Those who don't care about "Traditional Highland Attire" tend to regard such conventions as oppressive and restrictive.

As for flat caps, there is, as Jock said, historical precedence right up into relatively modern times. A case could be made that flat caps are/were traditional highland attire. And although the convention has lost traction in Scotland it still has some adherents on this side of the pond--both with and without a kilt. The flat cap is still alive as a tradition in men's wear over here.

[BEEDEE]

I'm content to let this thread be locked.

Thanks to everyone for their input!

Brian