Scottish Festival Peeves?

[Alan H]

I have no pet peeves at the Games.

I go there to throw, drop by the clan tent, have a good time with my Nor Cal friends, eat bangers and beer for lunch, dance to whatever Celtic Rock band is playing, flirt with the F-H.C.A.G. , plan the next Nor Cal get-together, and hear a bucketload of pipers. I have yet, in four years of attending several Highland Games each year, to discover one single thing that bothers me enough to have even the slightest effect on my enjoyment of the day.

Well, there WAS that blowhard at Tartan Day a few years ago who was wandering around telling everybody that their kilts were trash, and that they had to have a kilt like HIS, and HIS cost a thousand dollars. However, he was gone after about three minutes when I told him to f**** off and go be a sh**head to someone else, and that was that and the rest of the day was great.

[McConnell Mor]

I have no pet peeves at the Games.

I go there to throw, drop by the clan tent, have a good time with my Nor Cal friends, eat bangers and beer for lunch, dance to whatever Celtic Rock band is playing, flirt with the F-H.C.A.G. , plan the next Nor Cal get-together, and hear a bucketload of pipers. I have yet, in four years of attending several Highland Games each year, to discover one single thing that bothers me enough to have even the slightest effect on my enjoyment of the day.

Well, there WAS that blowhard at Tartan Day a few years ago who was wandering around telling everybody that their kilts were trash, and that they had to have a kilt like HIS, and HIS cost a thousand dollars. However, he was gone after about three minutes when I told him to f**** off and go be a sh**head to someone else, and that was that and the rest of the day was great.

Nice!

[Sciuropterus]

I wince at fake Scottish/Irish/medieval accents, I have a friend from Northern Ireland, in the past she worked as a server in a few local Irish pubs here in MN, whenever a customer tried to talk to her in a fake Irish accent, she'd give a withering stare and ask them if they would think it's OK to use a fake Chinese accent when they are in a Chinese restaurant. She's awesome.

As far as backwards kilts go, I see one at nearly every event I attend, I used to discreetly inform them that their kilt was on backwards, I don't bother anymore, they never believe me; one guy told me his "brother said it could be worn either way", another guy thanked me and spun his kilt around the right way, then as he walked away I watched him spin it back to being backwards, he was obviously just humoring me until he could leave, what can you do...

[Stratherrick]

I was amazed at The Gathering in the capital to hear a waaaay over-dressed couple of 'period' types from somewhere 'in the colonies ( ;o))' moaning that the local Scots weren't "more dressed up" like themselves.

They just didn't seem to get that they weren't visiting 'theme park Scotland' or a nationwide ren faire!

We got on well, for all that, and shared a couple of malts with pints of 80/- as chasers.

Slainte

Bruce

[Ryan Ross]

One of my greatest likes and one of my greatest dislikes are intertwined at festivals & games.

Like: Lots of people walking around with great honking pieces of cutlery, without others being upset about it.

Dislike: People wearing broadswords, two-handed claymores, and dirks without having the slightest clue how to actually use them.

Hahaha... You know, that same thing gets me all the time.

The funny thing is that many of these games and such have a group of... I'm not really sure what they'd be called, as they're in no way historical reenactors... a group of folks, anyway, who "demonstrate" how claymores, broadswords, dirks, etc were "really" used; in ten years, I've yet to see a group of these types that have any idea of what they're doing. And a real shame, too!

I can't wait for next Sunday. There's nothing wrong with "talk like a pirate day"... We do it because my son (who is 4) loves it. I make Jerked Chicken, Caribbean beans and rice, there are rum drinks for those who can, and my son dresses up.

ith:

Oh man- I talk like a pirate every 9-19 also. Hey- it's fun. Period.

[Jack Daw]

Yeah, I wished Gerard Butler would quit his horrible American accent, too. It hurts my ears. For the first time, I saw a guy at the Long's Peak Highland Games in Estes Park, CO, wear his kilt backwards. I let it go and enjoyed the morning.

BUT, my favorite irritation had to go in the catch-all category at the bottom. It's when kilties wear their black tie and prince charlie at 9:00am in the morning.

[Teufel Hunden]

A kilt being worn too high or too low is really the only thing I notice... if it looks like a mini-skirt or a dress, I wonder how the wearer in question left the house without fixing it.

a Misplaced sporran, white hose, or the rest of the list don't really bother me. A kilt isn't a uniform, and while there are some customs associated with it, there are going to be plenty of items that fall within the personal taste range. A lot of the "proper" things that are normally worn with a kilt, specifically certain style jackets and caps, will never be worn by me simply because they don't fit my style in the least. So in that regard, even if someone is wearing white hose or a full dress sporran with a T-Shirt, or some other wacky combo, that stuff all falls into the "meh" category for me.

EDIT: I agree with this:

BUT, my favorite irritation had to go in the catch-all category at the bottom. It's when kilties wear their black tie and prince charlie at 9:00am in the morning.

Hot and uncomfortable AND out of place... at the games in Estes park, there's generally at least 1 or 2 guys running around in black tie.. I never understood it.