Thanks, Sydnie7, I read all 160 posts and, if nothing else, it kept me from writing more of my own...I have to admit, it mostly provided support for two or maybe three contradictory positions:

1) Wear your surname, or find a name you can claim.*
B) Wear what you like.
III) Wear what you can afford- this justifies an otherwise "borrowed" association on grounds of thrift.

*Surname does not always equal clan or sept, by the way.


A local Episcopal school, which I did not attend, but do support ( my dear sister went there years ago) uses the Dress Gordon as their tartan ( their mascot is the Highlander). My own conscience is clear about my Dress Gordon kilt on two of the three grounds above. However, placing their sticker on my bumper would be seen by many as pretentious as hell.

These days, two of my three names ( or slightly misspelled versions of them) have their own tartans registered with the STA. On the other hand, I am fairly certain I have no kinship to the people who registered those tartans- at least not since, um 1745 or so. My reverence for the distilling Grants, the soup making Campbells, even the doughnut makers Duncan ( my ancestors spelled it Dunkin, too) is far vaster than any tie I might feel with a gent up in NC who leaves out the a in MacLowlife, even if he pronounces it the same. His grandpa probably changed it from McLoser at Ellis Island, for all I know.

What I admire most is the diligence with which people pursue their own particular viewpoint on this complicated subject.