ownership

[BEEDEE]

Cloves - I should have read the latest copy of THE HIGHLANDER (March/April 2007) that arrived earlier today. There is an article there reporting the speech that the Scottish First Minister, Jack McConnell gave at Princeton University, April6, 2006, entitled Scottish Values, Ideas and Ambitions: From Witherspoon to Today. When he gets to modern Scotland he says: "A smaller example of the ease in which Scottish identity displays itself is with our national dress. When I left school in the 1970s it was rare for a boy to wear a kilt at his final-year school dance. Now I see school dances where nearly all the boys are rigged out in the full kilt - some traditional - and some not so traditional. The point is not that we are going backwards, hankering over an image of the past. The point is that it has become a modern fashion statement with an industry of fashion designers to back it up."

So if someone as high up in the 'establishment' as the First Minister acknowledges changes in the Scottish National Dress, who are we to criticize?

Brian

[beloitpiper]

The point is not that we are going backwards, hankering over an image of the past. The point is that it has become a modern fashion statement with an industry of fashion designers to back it up.

I strongly disagree. It is not "backwards" to ressurect old traditions. To some people, a kilt may be a fashion statement, but to me, it is a heritage statement. Do I think the kilt looks fashionable? Yes I do, but I do not use it to shock people or change the fashion industryor anything like that. The only thing I am trying to say when I wear a kilt is "I am d*nm proud of my heritage. I love it, it is part of my deepest being, and I will keep it alive both in my heart and body."