Scottish Festival Peeves?

[kiltedsawyer]

Not to point fingers or argue but I'll throw in my two cents on this.



My opinion is that there's a difference between a local biker club which might have a negative image based on uninformed public perception and a group which openly displays and/or advocates racist or bigoted behavior. In my book no tolerance should be afforded the intolerant, especially at an event which is privately sponsored and charges admission. If they want to have a White Supremest Celtic Pride Festival, they can have at it, but as far as I'm concerned: Not At My Games.



My stab at this would be that most people, at least in the States, don't treat Scottish culture (or culture from most any Western European area) with the same egg-shell walking as other cultures because other cultures are relatively new introductions to our social awareness. It's only been recently that we have come to accept and embrace other cultural traditions and as such there is, or ought to be, an amount of reticence to make light of those traditions, intentionally or otherwise. Scottish/British/Western European culture however has been the standard in North America for the last 400 years and as such is more prone to disregardful familiarity. Again, just my opinion; I'm no sociologist.

I find that sort of thinking intolerable.

[Nighthawk]

Pet peeves... Let's see here. My biggest peeve is when people borrow their wives skirts and walk proudly as if they're actually wearing kilts. I have actually seen that- slit in the back and all! Way to research things, gentlemen!

Peeve #2- people who wrap up in table cloths and pretend that they're kilts. I met a guy who was wearing his buddies great kilt, and had it wrapped around himself like 4 times, not a pleat to be seen, and couldn't figure out why it was so hard to walk! I actually told him to take it off so I could show him how to wrap it properly! Right there on the lawn at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, I gave a demo on properly pleating and wearing a great kilt.

Peeve #3- 4 foot tall kids dragging 6 foot long swords. Seriously- who the heck thought that was a good idea? Couldn't these people get their kids a dirk? My son has one!

Peeve #4- This one applies only to Scottish/Irish/ Celtic festivals. Ren Fest goers showing up in Ren fest costumes, like it's the two types of festivals are the same thing. It's annoying. I show up in my Ren Fest clothing because I'm with a living history group called the Renaissance Scots and it's appropriate for me, as it's part of our represented time period. But if you're a festival goer... it's just plain silly.

[Colin MacBean]

Peeve #2- people who wrap up in table cloths and pretend that they're kilts. I met a guy who was wearing his buddies great kilt, and had it wrapped around himself like 4 times, not a pleat to be seen, and couldn't figure out why it was so hard to walk! I actually told him to take it off so I could show him how to wrap it properly! Right there on the lawn at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, I gave a demo on properly pleating and wearing a great kilt.

Is there perhaps a topic already created on this forum on how to properly wear the great kilt?

[Tobus]

Peeve #4- This one applies only to Scottish/Irish/ Celtic festivals. Ren Fest goers showing up in Ren fest costumes, like it's the two types of festivals are the same thing. It's annoying. I show up in my Ren Fest clothing because I'm with a living history group called the Renaissance Scots and it's appropriate for me, as it's part of our represented time period. But if you're a festival goer... it's just plain silly.

It's one of my peeves too, but a thought occurred to me today as I was driving home. How many of us have worn our kilts to a Renaissance Faire? I wonder if these people see that and think the two worlds go together. In other words, if we wear kilts to the Ren Faire, are we not somehow inadvertently inviting them to wear their costumes to a Scottish event? They may think so. After all, a kilt is hardly a Renaissance costume and really doesn't fit in with the genre (well, maybe the earliest belted plaids might just squeeze in the later years of the Renaissance, but you get my point).

I dunno, it's just something to consider.

[macwilkin]

I am not making this up, but I remember seeing a group of "Trekkies" show up to a Civil War living history event in full Starfleet uniform...

T.

[Nick the DSM]

I am not making this up, but I remember seeing a group of "Trekkies" show up to a Civil War living history event in full Starfleet uniform...

T.

Was Spock there checking out the historical inaccuracies?

OT but not so much OT.
In a show called Big Bang Theory, one of the characters goes as a trekky to a ren fest to basically make fun of the historical inaccuracies.

here's the clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt4j0TXaj6c

[Rob Wright]

I only have one pet peeve. Those who tell me what tartan I am wearing and get it wrong.

"Campbell? no, actually Douglas Ancient. No, it's Campbell!"

Rob

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Or the ones that try to tell you "You're not authorized to wear that tartan because [insert lame reason here]"

[macwilkin]

Was Spock there checking out the historical inaccuracies?

OT but not so much OT.
In a show called Big Bang Theory, one of the characters goes as a trekky to a ren fest to basically make fun of the historical inaccuracies.

here's the clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt4j0TXaj6c

They were "reenacting" one of the many episodes where the crew of the Enterprise landed on a planet that looked just like Civil War America/Prohibition-era Chicago, etc. They were "keeping in character", as we would say, but the sad thing was it was at a living history event where quite a few of J.Q. Public were there to learn history.

Live long and prosper,

Todd

[Nighthawk]

I am not making this up, but I remember seeing a group of "Trekkies" show up to a Civil War living history event in full Starfleet uniform...

T.

That's something I would do!

It's one of my peeves too, but a thought occurred to me today as I was driving home. How many of us have worn our kilts to a Renaissance Faire? I wonder if these people see that and think the two worlds go together. In other words, if we wear kilts to the Ren Faire, are we not somehow inadvertently inviting them to wear their costumes to a Scottish event? They may think so. After all, a kilt is hardly a Renaissance costume and really doesn't fit in with the genre (well, maybe the earliest belted plaids might just squeeze in the later years of the Renaissance, but you get my point).

I dunno, it's just something to consider.

You're exactly right, and that's the thing- the earliest belted plaids do squeeze in at the end of the Renaissance, which is what makes it appropriate. Also, ren fests are fantasy events, and not cultural ones. If I wear my kilt, my work boots, and an Iron Maiden t shirt to a ren fest, I can't imagine anyone looking at me and thinking "Wow! He looks like he just walked out of the Highlands of Scotland circa 1650!" That can't be the thought process because the above-mentioned outfit is not a costume of any kind. I know the Maiden guys are getting up there in years, but I don't think they're that old! Or if they are, they looked really good for their age last night! Now Highland games, on the other hand, are not an attempt at mirroring another time period, and that's the thing. They're modern cultural events. Do the ren faire crowd not realize this? That's the question that comes to my mind. Do they think that Seamus Kennedy in his white Guinness t shirt is trying to mirror historical Scotland? If so... how? How can they possibly make that misinterpretation? Where do 1800's pirates fit in with the Highland games? Did Cap'n Jack throw a caber? (Actually, I'd pay good money to see that, come to think of it... )