Need advice: run in with Kilt (feather?) Police

[cessna152towser]

As others have already said, wear 3 eagle feathers if you are a Clan Chief or 1 feather if you are a Scottish Armiger. Outwith the Highland Games and Pipe Bands scene here in Scotland few take this seriously, soccer fans and rugby fans often wear feathers in their headgear, so far the most feathers I have counted on the one hat has been 5, being sported on Edinburgh's Royal Mile on the Sunday of the Edinburgh gathering.

[JimB]

Well, just two points...eagle feathers are illegal to possess in the U.S. except for some native american uses. They are a protected species. Second, since he came off as the Kilt Police, did you ask him for his ID?
Actually three points....this is the good ole U.S. of A. Wear what you please. We are under no garment authority here!

[JSFMACLJR]

Well, just two points...eagle feathers are illegal to possess in the U.S. except for some native american uses. They are a protected species. Second, since he came off as the Kilt Police, did you ask him for his ID?
Actually three points....this is the good ole U.S. of A. Wear what you please. We are under no garment authority here!

Yes, Jim, but respect that in Scotland--and by extension then, by all Scots--only armigers should wear eagle feathers (or anything resembling them).

Sure, it isn't the law, but it is a convention that ought to be honoured.

An analogy might be made to the clerical collar: nowhere is it prescribed by law to the clergy. For a layman to wear one though, because "he bloody well wants to and nobody can tell him what to wear," would be the height of poor taste. For non armigers to wear feathers in their bonnets resembling those worn by chiefs, chieftains, and "simple" armigers, is the same thing.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Actually three points....this is the good ole U.S. of A. Wear what you please. We are under no garment authority here!

I know you didn't mean for it to come off sounding this way, but statements like the one you've just made are what sometimes create the impression of "The Ugly American"-- ignorant and willfully disrespectful of the cultural traditions of other people, even within the boundaries of your own country.

[JimB]

I know you didn't mean for it to come off sounding this way, but statements like the one you've just made are what sometimes create the impression of "The Ugly American"-- ignorant and willfully disrespectful of the cultural traditions of other people, even within the boundaries of your own country.

Actually this is quite offensive. Ugly American indeed!

No, I'm not willingly disrespectful. Actually I'm very respectful of custom. I'm just acknowledging that to me modern kilt wear is a personal thing. To me, kilts are worn as clothes, not as a uniform. I don't go out of my way to pose as anything I'm not nor offend anyone. BUT nobody has a right to correct me in how I dress and I would be very rude to correct anyone else. The gentleman in question no doubt broke no rules or conventions, but was questioned by someone who thought he could put some rules on him. He was not trying to impersonate a clan chief. The other fellow was just trying to be a know it all.

An example...one Sunday at church I was wearing a kilt in pretty formal style...jacket, tie, and lace up wingtips (conventionally wearing a classic sporran, kilt pin, flashes, and all the other dodads) Some moron told me "you know that's not the type of shoes they USED to wear". Well SO... I'm not a reenactor...it's what a modern day kilt wearer choses to wear that given Sunday!
The next time somebody tries to act like the kilt police I will ask them for their badge and id.

[Peter C.]

Actually this is quite offensive. Ugly American indeed!

No, I'm not willingly disrespectful. Actually I'm very respectful of custom. I'm just acknowledging that to me modern kilt wear is a personal thing. To me, kilts are worn as clothes, not as a uniform. I don't go out of my way to pose as anything I'm not nor offend anyone. BUT nobody has a right to correct me in how I dress and I would be very rude to correct anyone else. The gentleman in question no doubt broke no rules or conventions, but was questioned by someone who thought he could put some rules on him. He was not trying to impersonate a clan chief. The other fellow was just trying to be a know it all.

An example...one Sunday at church I was wearing a kilt in pretty formal style...jacket, tie, and lace up wingtips (conventionally wearing a classic sporran, kilt pin, flashes, and all the other dodads) Some moron told me "you know that's not the type of shoes they USED to wear". Well SO... I'm not a reenactor...it's what a modern day kilt wearer choses to wear that given Sunday!
The next time somebody tries to act like the kilt police I will ask them for their badge and id.

Lace up wingtips, simply known as brogues in Scotland, used to be worn by Scottish regiments, and probably still are.

Peter

[Andrew M. Stewart]

How about your clan's plant badge? Is that not the more appropriate adornment for a clansman to wear??
Why step on the feet of tradition? Misrepresenting yourself in the past was a pretty serious offence, and this should still be observed. To say that it doesnt apply to you because of where you live is nonsense, you shouldnt represent yourself as a clansman/woman, if this is your opinion, let alone a chieftain or anyone of title.

[Cynthia]

This is an old thread and I've told Ronusan it was resurrected... he probably just hasn't had a chance to come check it out yet (he doesn't get much of a chance to visit here these days).

I've seen the feathers he's talking about. They're tiny... there's no way anyone could even begin to mistake them for eagle feathers. He talks about the clan plant badge option here.

[Colin]

I get such a kick out the the spectrum of this forum nowadays.

We have threads asking what a traditional highlander would wear as footwear, we have people romanticizing events like Glencoe, Sterling Bridge, and Culloden, we have people that have never set foot in Scotland cursing the English (imagine how North America would look now without their previous influence...), and we have people getting their undies in a bunch when it's pointed out that a feather in the cap is an honor reserved for chief of the clans, whose badges we so romantically have tattooed on our biceps, t-shirts, coffee mugs, kilt pins, etc. If you want to honor the clan, the heraldry of Scotland and all things Scottish (including the kilt) than some respect for the chiefs need to be shown. After all they do a lot to with keeping the idea of the clan present and the homestead of the old clans still standing for us to go visit and get teary eyed at..

I'm not sure why being an individual in a kilt and knowing and respecting some of the traditions and honors of the Scottish clan system have to be separate? For example, we know a suit jacket looks like crap with a kilt so why do some kick and scream about individual choice and "this is AMERICA!!!not Scotland!" instead of simply saying "oops.." or even" I wish I could afford a kilt jacket right now, but it's not a priority in the budget...." . I wish people would stop getting offended by traditions (which always seem okay when they are our own).

I know a lot of people got into kilts to honor their Scottish heritage. In my opinion it is more of a honor to that heritage to respect it's heraldry (it's got it's own bloody court) and traditions, while still bringing your own personality to your wardrobe.

[beloitpiper]

In my neighborhood, we have a flock of about 15-20 turkeys wandering around, and thus their feathers are littered all over the place. I agree with acaig that, even though these are not eagle feathers, these would be in bad taste to wear.