mourning dress

[Jock Scot]

I do think we all need to be clear of the very different meanings of morning dress and mourning attire.

Again we are heading into the realms of theory and practice here. There may well be actual "mourning tartans", but in six decades of Highland funerals I cannot say that I have ever seen one. Like the pictures of the MacLeod funeral everyone wearing the kilt is wearing what they have got----clan tartans.I would be appalled if someone had a special funeral clan tartan, why have one? What is the matter of your everyday clan tartan? ------Nothing, of course!

As I have said before, the most important thing is the fact that people have attended the funeral and not what they are wearing. However, I do think careful consideration should be given to whether the kilt is suitable attire, particularly outside Scotland, for EVERY funeral. Alright, the pictures show a Highland funeral and quite typically the mourners have turned up with what they have and frankly it matters not whether the sporran is right, the jacket is right, the colour of the wife's nail varnish is right, they are there to pay their respects and anything else is a mere insignificant detail.

Now we do (should) try to dress correctly for the occasion and that is, I suppose, down to years of convention and personal pride, and I am not just talking about kilt attire here, either. Sometimes though, like any soldier will tell you, "sometimes we have to fight with what we have, not what we OUGHT to have" and the same goes with what we wear, kilts or anything else.