This thread is really pure gold

If I may be permitted to use an academic analogy here, those who are following this thread -- and learning from it -- are hopefully updating their research methodology. In order for those not born into THCD to understand THCD, some special types of effort are required.

In the early years of my home discipline of ethnomusicology (the study of people making and experiencing music), people used to do "armchair" research. This involved analyzing the artifacts, recordings, and recollections brought back by people who had returned from exotic locations. This is like Xmarkers poring over old photos or even portraits. Sometimes an outside observer can find interesting things about music (or kilt wearing) that the locals might not have thought of because they have fresh eyes. More often than not, though, armchair ethnomusicology (or "ethnokiltology?) results in skewed findings due to a lack of contextual understanding.

These days, ethnomusicologists favour a more hands on approach and trying to understand a given music the way that the natives understand it. Often, this means not only observing data, but also participating in the native culture through long term, immersion aka fieldwork. Apart from involvement in both the daily and special activities of a community, an important part of that process is the interview, which can range from casual conversations to formal, structured, and recorded question and answer.

Ideally, everyone who is interested in THCD would go live in the Scotland for 6 months to a year. While that may not be feasible for most people, participating in discussions like this thread can still be very helpful. Going to events where there are other kilt wearers is also important because live observation and time between pleats n' aprons brings a lot of awareness that no amount of discussion can deliver. And one would hopefully get to meet, or at least see, some people who do come from hereditary THCD backgrounds.

Of course, wearing the kilt is not a research project for most people. Nonetheless, I think that the desire to try and understand THCD from a native perspective is very important. This is not to say that one has to cast off their own personal taste or the influence of their particular upbringing, rather that anyone who is serious about tradition needs to engage with that tradition on its own terms in order to make up for their own lack of inborn knowledge.

Part of what makes this all so fascinating is how much grey area there is. In speaking of THCD, it is perhaps important to keep reminding ourselves that it is more accurately a generalization of a group of similar but heterogeneous personal, familial, and local traditions, rather than a single, monolithic, and homogeneous thing. That is part of the reason why developing a "feel" for it and being prepared to use common sense is so necessary.

At the core of a living tradition is something old and yet current, which is a bit of a paradox. The boundaries and peripheries may be contested as to what is already historical, old fashioned, being revived, fading away, newfangled, gradually gaining favour, personal, idiosyncratic, flair, etc. Maybe we won't ever be able to get it right every time, but at least we might be able to look good, respect the tradition, and avoid getting it entirely wrong