Being a Scot imported to Canada at a young age, I was always asked “Do you have a tartan?” “What clan are you from?” “Is your clan from the lowlands or the highlands?”
Fucked if I know? Who the fuck in Scotland even keeps track of these things? Certainly not my family.
I read that as ferocious midgets. Now I have a mental image of very tiny Scotsmen (maybe some Scottish variety of a leprechaun) running up to you and under your kilt, then jumping up and grabbing your unprotected junk…
I’m about as far from Scottish as you can be, but I actually have worn a kilt. :eek: Used to do some fencing and dressup at ren-fairs and the like when I was younger.
I guess there are people in Scotland who keep track of such things, but I doubt they could field a basketball team. Or a shinty team.
On edit: Did you ever get asked where you learned to speak English? I did, in the US. Only twice in three years, so I don’t want this to seem like a “stupid Americans” rant, but still.
Is a kilt useful for fencing? I mean, I’ve never fenced and I’ve never worn a kilt but the garment wouldn’t necessarily be my first choice for protection if I were to engage in swordfights.
Well, in all fairness I came here at (not quite) 6 years old, but was instantly asked by classmates to “speak Scottish” for them. I had no clue that they apparently thought “Scottish” was a language, and they had no clue that I perfectly understood and spoke English, just like them.
The closest “Scottish” aphorism I could give them was “cheerio!”
I am of Scottish descent, but I look terrible in a kilt. I can get away with skinny legs in shorts, but I just can’t wear a kilt. I have tried. I wish I could wear a kilt, but for me, sadly, no.
It comes back to me now - you came from Motherwell, originally, IIRC. That’s per the “Scottish Dopefest” thread, which needs to be resurrected, in the interests of actually having a Scottish Dopefest.
I can forgive 6 year olds some ignorance, but I’d have said “Cheerio, by the way.” The people who commented on my excellent command of the English language didn’t have the excuse of being kids.
My best friend is of Scot descent and at his wedding (I was best man) we wore kilts.
Weird, but true.
I was in my 30s but I looked like 16 or something.
Don’t know why.
I have friends who do. Pepper Mill has expressed a desire to see me in a kilt* (she likes my legs), so one of these days I’m going to have to finally buy a Utilikilt and put it on.
The socks usually come up to just below the knee. Bear in mind though, the vast majority of people who have worn a kilt in Scotland, have worn it to a wedding, so not much in the way of tramping over windswept, midge-infested moorland.
I wore one in Edinburgh during Hogmenay (New Year’s). All the cabs and busses stopped running or wouldn’t pick us up after midnight so my group walked a few miles through icy slush and rain back to our hotel. I was perfectly warm, even in my cheap leather dress shoes. The wool socks and kilt really did the trick. Made a believer out of me.
Got asked by a girl if I was a true Scotsman under my kilt. “I am tonight” I answered. She then asked me to give her a snog, but I thought she meant a piece of gum and told her I didn’t have any :smack:
There’s a Sikh tartan! Lord Bassington-Bassington is a Sikh who became a Scottish laird & commissioned a tartan. The fellows in the upper picture are wearing their tartans as sashes. But these Scottish Sikhs wear kilts.
I understand the modern “rules” about tartans are more commercial than ye olde ancient traditions but certain combinations might offend some people; some people just love being offended. (Design your own!) The House of Tartans also has a designer, plus a lookup feature. The Irish tartans were designed for tourists & go by county. I’ve seen Irish pipe bands wearing plain, saffron-colored kilts.
Not every kilt is in a tartan pattern; and tartans may be worn in other ways than kilts.