Food For Thought

[Jock Scot]

Mrs Jock and I have just spent two happy days and three hilarious evenings with a group of old(in every sense!) friends. Yes, the excuse for this gathering was that there were enough grouse about to have two days shooting and catch up with each other's news over long suppers. So ten couples, all old and dear friends, gathered for the occasion at a friends barn, er house. Well to cut a very long story short, the ladies decided that on the Saturday night, instead of playing "charades" after an informal dinner we would do something different. Us men with far more important things to do, like thinking up a better excuse for missing yet another grouse and such, left the ladies to it. Well I should have guessed, it was Mrs Jock's idea and the questions were on KILTS! She does keep a mild eye on you chaps and came up with 21 questions all of her own from what she has read on this website.

So with me as Question Master(kilted) and 9 kilted "victims" a hilarious and interesting post dinner fact finding event took place.

1. Have you ever worn another, apart from a band, school, or military , tartan other than your own?
Yes: 0
No: 9

2. Have you ever seriously considered doing so?
Yes: 1
No: 8

3. Have you ever heard of a civilian box pleated kilt?
Yes: 0
No: 9

4. When was the last time you bought a new kilt?
Within the last two years: 1
Within the last ten years : 3
Over ten years ago: 4
Never: 1

5. How often do you wear the kilt?
One or more times a week: 2
If not weekly, at least once a month: 7
Full time: 0

6. When do you wear the kilt?
Mainly during the day, including weddings: 3
Mainly for evening dress occasions: 4
About even amounts: 2

7. Where would you normally wear the civilian kilt?
Solely in the Highlands:2
Solely in Scotland: 4
In the UK: 3

8. Would you ever wear the civilian kilt outwith the UK?
Yes in exceptional circumstances: 4
Yes: 0
Never: 5

9. At what height do you wear the kilt?
About an inch above the knee cap: 2
About level with the top of the knee cap: 6
About level with the centre of the knee cap: 1
Lower than the centre of the knee cap: 0

10. Do you discretely take notice how others are wearing the kilt?
Yes: 9
No: 0

11. Do you mind who wears the kilt?
Highlanders only: 2
Scots only: 6
Anyone: 1

12. What type of cloth makes the civilian kilt?(TICK AS MANY AS YOU LIKE)
Wool tartan:9
Tweed: 4
Plain wool, or non tartan pattern:0
Synthetic , plain or patterned, cloth:0
Leather: 0

13. Do you know what a district tartan is?
Yes: 0
No: 9

14. Would you wear one?
Yes: 0
No: 9

15: Apart from your own Clan tartans, how many tartans would you easily recognise?
Five: 2
Up to ten:4
More: 3

16. Would you wear white hose with a civilian kilt?
Yes: 0
No: 9

17. How is the kilt that you are wearing at this moment pleated?
To the sett: 4
To the stripe: 3
Don't know: 2
NOTE! On inspection they were all(9) pleated to the sett!

18. Are more kilts being worn in Scotland today than say 50 years ago?
Yes: 9
No: 0

19. Have you ever been asked what you wear under the kilt?
Yes:5
No:4

20. Have you ever discussed the kilt in such detail before?
Yes:0
No: 9

21. Finally can I ask you to put your name,nationality and number of years you have been wearing the kilt? NOT YOUR AGE PLEASE!
Willie- Scot, 65+: Ham- Scot, 67+: Mac- Scot, 70+: Macd- Scot, 65+:
Maca- Scot; 63+: Scotty- Scot, 65+: Alec- Scot, 70+: Archie- Scot, 70+:
Wee Jock- Scot 62+.

So not a fair representation of Scotland by any means, but I don't think one can ignore over 500 years of collective kilt wearing experience and they were all amazed that anyone outside Scotland could be interested in the kilt in the detail that we are here. To be fair, please don't forget that none of those answering the questions go into the minute kilt wearing details that we do on this website. So please do not get upset with their answers if you don't like them.

I did not answer any of the questions on the survey or have any involvement in composing the questions.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Interesting information, Jock! I have to say the only thing that surprised me was the frequency that your friends all wear the kilt, with 100% of them wearing it at least monthly.

I was not, unfortunately, surprised that about half of them couldn't tell you whether their own kilt was pleated to stripe or sett. That has largely been my own experience over here, as well.

No surprise that 100% of respondents take note of how others wear the kilt. (Though I suppose we would do well to keep in mind that half of them apparently don't know the difference between pleating to stripe and sett!)

I suppose the questions about wearing the kilt outside of Scotland would be influenced by the fact that most, if not all, of these gentlemen live in Scotland, I assume. If I asked a similar group of Canadians "where would you normally wear the kilt" most would say Canada! Substitute in the US, or Australia, etc.

Now, it would be very interesting to see the responses to the same questions put these gentlemen's sons and grandsons!

[Downunder Kilt]

From reading of your posts Jock, the answers of your friends does not surprise me in the least. They are traditionalists and I salute them. (and I would have liked to be a fly on the wall during this process to hear the comments outside of the answers given )

[Woodsheal]

Jock,
Given the information - and wisdom! - you've shared here over the years, none of the answers are all that surprising, but it's nice to note that kilt-wearing in Scotland is on an upward curve over the last half-century...!

[Spartan Tartan]

What a wonderful thread! Again, like others, not terribly surprising and I do enjoy that Mrs. Jock came up with the questions. I was a bit surprised to see that 9 of 9 didn't know what a district tartan was, however. Thanks Jock for this thread.

[Father Bill]

Well, it shows that your friends are like-minded people who come from similar experiences and points of view. That's how most of us operate, I guess.

[Jock Scot]

Well, it shows that your friends are like-minded people who come from similar experiences and points of view. That's how most of us operate, I guess.

Yes we all have a common theme, of Scotland, shooting, fishing and the countryside. The kilt is(as you can see) a very minor, but important part of our lives. All of my friends in this survey are well travelled, have more or less the same background with their youth and have been fairly successful in their various field of business. Three were retired military men(two Generals and a Colonel), three legal men( two barristers and a Judge), two farmers and one pop star(who retires every once in a while)!

[KiltShot]

I like the answers. I would like to emphasize that I have no criticism of them. They are very revealing of the culture and attitudes of the wearers.

They would prefer only Scots to wear the kilt.

They are only familiar with clan tartans.

They would only wear their own tartan and only in wool or tweed but never with white hose.

They are not familiar with other types of pleating and half can't properly identify the pattern pleating style, yet they notice how others wear the kilt.

They say the kilt is worn in Scotland more today than 50 years ago yet they usually wear theirs once a month on special occasions and rarely outside the UK.

They've never talked much about the details of kilts and rarely buy them.

It seems to me that the kilt in the UK is not as much clothing as it is a symbol and a tradition. There is no surprise then that North Americans take more liberties with their kilt wearing. There are fewer cultural standards in a society where individualism and personal style trumps tradition.

[MacLowlife]

you went shooting with Elton John?

Thanks for the informative post, but now we want the gossip, too.

[Jock Scot]

you went shooting with Elton John?

Thanks for the informative post, but now we want the gossip, too.

Errr, No!

And:

No!