Ghillie boots

[jsrnephdoc]

We're all over the place here. I've learned enough to be pretty certain Ghillie Brogues as they exist today were "invented" circa 1825, but all one needs to do to see how much they're come to symbolize highland dress is to peruse the websites of highland clothing retailers or their shops in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and elsewhere. What I still don't know is whether there is ANY historical connection to landowners and their servants as the reason "modern" Ghillie Brogues don't have tongues.

Another thing that seems obvious to me is that those boots that started this thread might be OK in foul weather or at athletic contests, but they'd be considered as weird as some of the bizarre costumes we've seen in this thread and others at semi-formal occasions sitting below a kilt.

[Jock Scot]

[QUOTE=jsrnephdoc;1410631 ..............What I still don't know is whether there is ANY historical connection to landowners and their servants as the reason "modern" Ghillie Brogues don't have tongues.

[/QUOTE]

Not that I am aware of. In truth,I have never heard of your story until recently. However, I have personally been well aware of a complete fire crew, two police men, two ambulance crew, two locals, two sport fishermen, a ghillie and a wife carrying me on a horse blanket more than a mile over rocks and bog to a waiting ambulance a couple of years ago after a bad fall. Yes-yes, I know! Another one! I don't remember much, but, I do recall vividly that none of my rescuers had any decent suitable footwear on! One thing for sure, Ghillie brogues would have been useless!

I must add, that each and everyone involved in helping me that day has my complete and undying gratitude for what they did. They ended up exhausted, wet, filthy and with more than a few scapes and bumps as well and still they remained cheerful throughout. Thank you All.

[User]

...
I do recall vividly that none of my rescuers had any decent suitable footwear on!
...

You're a fascinating individual. I hope that incident wasn't recent. I know falls can be quite painful.

I wonder what you mean by decent and suitable footwear. The people in your story seem like the types who would be prepared and have better footwear than most. Or are you referring to style rather than fit for purpose?

[Jock Scot]

You're a fascinating individual. I hope that incident wasn't recent. I know falls can be quite painful.

I wonder what you mean by decent and suitable footwear. The people in your story seem like the types who would be prepared and have better footwear than most. Or are you referring to style rather than fit for purpose?

Oh it happened two or three years ago.The Fire Brigade arrived on the scene clad in their heavy work boots, the police arrived in shoes and the ambulance team arrived wearing trainers, the two fishermen were clad in chest waders, my wife was clad in her once highly polished riding boots and the locals in wellingtons. Sadly ,and to everyone's credit the direct route, deep boggy ground interspersed with occasional rocky outcrops was no deterrent to the gallant rescue team. Unfortunately the helicopter was lifting some poor soul off Ben Nevis at the time, so the rough, often dangerous, boggy ground was the only option, in and out. Not that I could do much and remembering little, I do have an indelible image of "the team" covered from head to toe in peat bog and assorted vegetation as I was being loaded into the ambulance. As it turned out, I was almost in the same condition as well, as they had to "float" me across the peat bog at times on the horse blanket.

I had 100% detached (sorry the exact medical term escapes me) Crucian tendons(ligaments?) from my knee. It was re-attached later and whilst the repair is not perfect, I am able to hobble about, without too much pain. I have one heck of a scar going from the top of the knee going upwards along the front of the thigh and wearing the kilt was a tad uncomfortable for quite a while. It now makes a good conversation piece!

[User]

...
I had 100% detached (sorry the exact medical term escapes me) Crucian tendons(ligaments?) from my knee. It was re-attached later and whilst the repair is not perfect, I am able to hobble about, without too much pain. I have one heck of a scar going from the top of the knee going upwards along the front of the thigh and wearing the kilt was a tad uncomfortable for quite a while. It now makes a good conversation piece!

Oh my goodness, I was not prepared for those details! I'm glad to hear it's in the past, but my knee feels tender just reading about it. And here I was thinking you twisted an ankle.

[jsrnephdoc]

Not that I am aware of. In truth,I have never heard of your story until recently. However, I have personally been well aware of a complete fire crew, two police men, two ambulance crew, two locals, two sport fishermen, a ghillie and a wife carrying me on a horse blanket more than a mile over rocks and bog to a waiting ambulance a couple of years ago after a bad fall. Yes-yes, I know! Another one! I don't remember much, but, I do recall vividly that none of my rescuers had any decent suitable footwear on! One thing for sure, Ghillie brogues would have been useless!

I must add, that each and everyone involved in helping me that day has my complete and undying gratitude for what they did. They ended up exhausted, wet, filthy and with more than a few scapes and bumps as well and still they remained cheerful throughout. Thank you All.

Once again I must confess to a paucity of real knowledge, but the story of the tongueless and perforated moccasin is certainly not new. Here's one link, and I'm sure I would have virtually NO difficulty finding dozens more. The question, of course, is whether those stories have ANY connection to real Highlands history:

https://celticnationsmagazine.com/th...athi-hennesey/

And, it seems the two of US share some recent history as well, although the ambulance crew that plucked me from the pavement and transported me after my being impaled by a recent model Pontiac whose pilot didn't understand the meaning of red lights, leaving me with fractured 2nd and 3rd cervical vertebral bodies and my VERY non-historical carbon fiber bicycle (computerized electronic shifting, 3D printed saddle, and me in spandex), did NOT have to portage me on canvas (although one of them, despite my physician's knowledge of anatomy reminding me it would be a VERY VERY bad idea to acquiesce to his request "do you think you can sit or stand up?)

My own journey's second stage was 125 miles by helicopter. My wife was not on scene for the impact or the transport, but she sure is involved in the aftermath. Her commonest pronouncement is "I'm going to SELL or give away that (replacement) bike if I even sense you're CONSIDERING riding it (I am, and I will).

And, of course, I was not shod in ANYTHING "Ghillie." (rigid carbon fiber soles, the latest micro-adjustable Boa-dials for closure) 🚴*♂️

[MacKenzie]

Another thing that seems obvious to me is that those boots that started this thread might be OK in foul weather or at athletic contests, but they'd be considered as weird as some of the bizarre costumes we've seen in this thread and others at semi-formal occasions sitting below a kilt.

I think the expected market is those that are going for this look.

[jsrnephdoc]

I think the expected market is those that are going for this look.

Pretty clear to me that they and I are unlikely to meet while shopping for clothing…

Especially those two guys in the front row with what seem to be overly long waistcoats extending WAY too far below their waists, that look almost like protestant clergymen's ritual stoles. Especially the one to the right in the pairing, in the jacket that looks as though it might have happened had the 19th century Dutch painter Piet Mondrian broken into Lochcarron Mills in a drunken stupor after midnight and managed to pilot the looms for a few hours.

But, as the new kid (admittedly an almost-78 y.o. "infant") on the block here, I'd not be at all surprised to learn that's a "historically accurate" look that's—thankfully—faded away from contemporary dress.

But I HAVE learned from these threads that I have to get me one or two nice tattersall shirts.

[MacKenzie]

Especially those two guys in the front row with what seem to be overly long waistcoats extending WAY too far below their waists, that look almost like protestant clergymen's ritual stoles.

That's not the waistcoat. They are detachable front pockets.

https://21stcenturykilts.com/kilts

[jsrnephdoc]

That's not the waistcoat. They are detachable front pockets.

https://21stcenturykilts.com/kilts

I realized that pretty quickly, perhaps after drifting through the surprising "High-Vis Gear with a kilt" thread and seeing Jock Scot's photo of a beheaded freeway traffic cone as the model for a high-vis kilt.

But I stand by my contention that from wherever those appendages originated, they certainly are UGLY!