The Battle for the Kilt in Saint Louis, Missouri - USA

[That Man Gray]

Mark's the 'real deal' too. Being born in Irvine (although you may have spotted he lived also with the southern neighbours for a while . He's also related to Alex Sutherland being his middle son. Does his bit for the St Louis Scottish community (regardless of the accent )

Hahaha, yes, that's what I thought too Jock. I have no idea where they find these so-called "kilt experts." And I do not know of a Mark Sutherland in Saint Louis, however, I did know an Alex Sutherland who was indeed the "real thing" from Scotland. I don't think there is any immediate family relation between Mark and Alex. Sadly, Alex passed away quite unexpectedly several years ago.

Alex was a vital part of and played an active role in the St. Andrew's Society of Greater Saint Louis, the Scottish community of Saint Louis, the Saint Louis Scottish Games, as well as being quite the musician/leader of the band aptly named, "Alex Sutherland and His Cronies." Cajunscot (Todd) knew Alex well, too. Alex has been missed dearly.

Alex Sutherland


Cheers,

[creagdhubh]

Agreed. With much thanks to Todd (cajunscot), I was made aware who Mark Sutherland is, Alex Sutherland's son, in which I have never met, which is also surprising considering I have been a part of the St. Louis Scottish community for many, many years.

Cheers,

[LANCER1562]

I am a product of the San Francisco Public School System and when we were taught World History there was NEVER any mention of Scotland or the contributions made by Scots. When we were learning about the Renaissance Period, we learned pimarily about the English, French and Italians and their contributions to art, finance and the sciences. We learned a little about Henry VIII and Elizabeth Tudor but nothing about Mary Stewart. If you were asked "Who was William Wallace?" the answer was usually a blank stare and "Who?" the same was true if you asked about Robert The Bruce. The only treaties we ever heard anything about were the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independance, and a glossing over of the Treaty of Versaille. If a young man were brave enough to wear a kilt to school for one of the National Heritage days, he more than likely would have been sent home and told to change into appropriate attire. And you can forget about his wearing a kilt and Highland dress to a school dance. In fact, when I was in high school I was in ROTC and was told that I could not wear my uniform to the Christmas Dance even though it fell on the day that we had uniform inspections. I had to change my clothes or not attend.