Two Telling comments? The Answer Perhaps?

[guardsman]

My oh my , think we should all burn this great garment , spit in our parents eye , and say sod the kilt . But my parents are proud of me for doing so . So sod the rest of the world , I am a son of Scottish Ma and Pa , and for special times I will celebrate by wearing the kilt ,I only wish I was a true born Scot , not a sassenach as my Dad always says .

[Cyd]

Perhaps normal, everyday wear for North America was imported from Europe?

dunno about any of this. Tourists have always been easy to spot, and it is what they are wearing that gives them away. Perhaps it is more true with regard to business wear.

[Dughlas mor]

Cyd, Scotsmen are certainly not unique in their reluctance to take advice from foreigners. I am far from being a daily kilt wearer, but I would say that your statement that daily kilt wearing in public is a form of exhibitionism is your opinion only, and I am sure that the daily kilt wearers among us will value it as they see fit.

[greybadger]

What about the UK; we picture a gentleman enjoying the outdoors dressed in tweeds, tattersall shirt, tie and tweed hat. Or would that be touristy in England?

Remove the tweed hat (and the tie if it's hot and not a formal do) and you're pretty spot on for the country sport side of life in England.

[McMurdo]

Perhaps the name of the forum needs to change to XMarkstheAmericanTourist. While I completely understand where you are coming from Jock and I do appreciate your bringing this up I wonder where exactly the tartan industry would be without the enthusiastic American Tourist? It seems to me that there is a love hate relationship with all things kilt and tartan in Scotland, on the one hand tartan and the kilt are national symbols that have resonated and become recognized the world over. On the other hand people do not want to look like a tourist in their own country or look too Scottish.

Another symptom of this type of thinking is that the kilt is to be only worn in Scotland by Scots in a certain way, Tartan Army be damned. The real problem with this exclusionary, inclusive thinking in the modern global climate is that the market will continue to shrink into non existence.

I am not a Scot, I am a Canadian, born to Scottish parents. One thing about Canada is that we are never too far away from our heritage. For example, just a few blocks away is Bannochburn Drive. A few weeks ago I was watching a news program, the news started with pipers then it went to a céilidh, after that they went over to a story on the gaelic community centre, was I watching news from Scotland? No it was news from Atlantic Canada. So you see I am living in a place that tells me that traditions are really kept alive by people not places.

I am sorry you feel the way you do and I am sorry your friend feels the way he does regarding the kilt. To my mind one way to change the mindset would be for Scots, real Scots, to wear the kilt and show the unwashed masses how to do it right.

[Cyd]

... I am sorry you feel the way you do and I am sorry your friend feels the way he does regarding the kilt. To my mind one way to change the mindset would be for Scots, real Scots, to wear the kilt and show the unwashed masses how to do it right.

So "real Scots" are Canadians??

I share your opinions on an "exclusionary mindset" but with all respect, aren't you guilty of the very same thing by first lumping those who see the kilt as a garment reserved for special occasions as being of such a mindset, then suggesting that those same people are not "real Scots" because they don't see tradition through your eyes from a few thousand miles away?

I would suggest that if you are going to argue that opinions from members of the forum from Scotland should be discounted because their view of Highland dress is more conservative than yours and Canadians can somehow "do it better," you damage your own reputation not those you attack. Your last sentence almost gave me whiplash. JockScot was trying to educate. The whole point is that "real Scots" as a group do not, and have never, worn kilts as daily wear! The notion that in promoting that you are somehow reviving a tradition or heritage is absolutely ridiculous.

I have no problem with this as a forum or you individually promoting regularly wearing a kilt. There are even good arguments for doing so. Let's try to keep it real however. To do so is to change tradition, not revive it.

To the moderators: Do you ever moderate yourselves? McMurdo's comments about "real Scots" are quite offensive to REAL Scots, not to mention the "unwashed masses" (assuming they are not synonymous with people born in Scotland that don't wear a kilt)!

[Cyd]

Perhaps the name of the forum needs to change to XMarkstheAmericanTourist. While I completely understand where you are coming from Jock and I do appreciate your bringing this up I wonder where exactly the tartan industry would be without the enthusiastic American Tourist? It seems to me that there is a love hate relationship with all things kilt and tartan in Scotland, on the one hand tartan and the kilt are national symbols that have resonated and become recognized the world over. On the other hand people do not want to look like a tourist in their own country or look too Scottish.

Another symptom of this type of thinking is that the kilt is to be only worn in Scotland by Scots in a certain way, Tartan Army be damned. The real problem with this exclusionary, inclusive thinking in the modern global climate is that the market will continue to shrink into non existence.

I am not a Scot, I am a Canadian, born to Scottish parents. One thing about Canada is that we are never too far away from our heritage. For example, just a few blocks away is Bannochburn Drive. A few weeks ago I was watching a news program, the news started with pipers then it went to a céilidh, after that they went over to a story on the gaelic community centre, was I watching news from Scotland? No it was news from Atlantic Canada. So you see I am living in a place that tells me that traditions are really kept alive by people not places.

I am sorry you feel the way you do and I am sorry your friend feels the way he does regarding the kilt. To my mind one way to change the mindset would be for Scots, real Scots, to wear the kilt and show the unwashed masses how to do it right.

McMurdo, I think this has pretty much worn itself out, but I will accept for the sake of discussion that I have completely misinterpreted your comments.

So everyone knows what we are talking about, I have quoted your post in its entirety. As you claim I have taken you out of context, perhaps you would be kind enough to explain to me and everyone else who exactly you were referring to as "real Scots" and "the unwashed masses." On their face those certainly seem to be derogatory references.

[ThistleDown]

Cyd et al, we'll just drop this aspect of the discussion, shall we? Move along, move along. This is now the second warning shot in an otherwise instructive thread.

[CMcG]

... Anyway during the course of conversation, Sally said to Harry that she wished that Harry would wear the kilt more often when at home, like he used to. He would be dressed very much like Johnthebiker's picture in the "wearing the kilt in Scotland" thread. Then came the first bombshell! " I am not going to look like a tourist in my own country" replied Harry in a quite serious voice. Then came the second bombshell! "Oh come off it Harry you don't look anything like a tourist when wearing the kilt!" Reproached Sally gently......... and on went a very pleasant evening.

...

What do you think?

I agree with the thread title that these two comments are very telling. Thanks for posting this, @Jock Scot. The more I think about this, the more troubling I find it

A quick Google image search for "Scotland tourism" shows: castles, crags, glens, and, of course, kilts. From what I hear, the souvenir shops are loaded with "tartan tat." It's no wonder that tourists end up with a commercial, romantic, and kitschy view of Scots and Scotland. It isn't just being spoon fed to them, it's being rammed down their throats

This process of packaging and promoting Scottish heritage is a double-edged sword. Tourism and tartanry is good for business, but it also contributes to cultural cringe among resident Scots.

In an article about the Görale highlanders of the Podhale region of Poland, Tim Cooley* discusses the ritualized aspect of folklore festivals created out a combination of nation building and tourist trade. The parallels with Scotland are strong here when he analyzes the "riots of preservation vs. invention" where "performed tradition becomes the tradition; the representation becomes the actuality" (2006:73).

The hire industry is not innocent in all this either. We know that most kilt-wearing men in Scotland only do so for special events and that many of them rent their kit. The hire companies are just as wrapped up in a cultural power struggle of representation as the tourist trade, they just happen to market more to resident Scots.

I see this as serious stuff. The way that people choose to represent themselves to others through their clothing speaks volumes about their worldview, values, and beliefs. This is especially significant in the case of national and/or ethnic attire where the way one person dresses can reflect back on an entire group.

"Harry" doesn't want to be associated with the clueless, misguided tourists. Hopefully he doesn't want to be lumped in with the kilt hire crowd either, who are being sold an equally commercialized image. I can't blame him, really.

"Sally's" point rings all the more true, when she suggests that "Harry" doesn't "look anything like a tourist when wearing the kilt!" Take note of this all ye who wish to tread on the side of tradition and heritage. I suppose even those who like kilts for their pure sartorial value would be wise to avoid the tourist (or rental) look...

The negotiation of some of Cooley's oppositions like "preservation versus invention, spurious versus authentic" (2006:68) in any cultural practice is thoroughly fraught, as can be seen from **Hugh Trevor-Roper's (1983) article "The Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland," where he interogates the impact on THCD of Rawlinson, Culloden, the regiments, Sir Walter Scott, George IV's 1822 visit, and the Sobieski-Stuarts. This is why our discussions on Xmarks surrounding these issues can—and should—be ongoing. In a pluralistic, transnational situation, we can hope for a dialectical result that gives us a greater understanding than any single position could allow.

But it would be a shame if Dark Overlords of Tartan Tat and Evil Kilt Rental Conglomerates were to dominate Highland attire and its meaning, wouldn't it?

Perhaps we Xmarkers have not only a vested interest in wearing the kilt well and in appropriate situations, but actually a duty to do so?

The most terrifying aspect of the anecdote Jock shared, however, is that "Harry" feels strongly enough about this that he is willing to disregard the wishes of his longtime girlfriend when she wants him to kilt up more often

Apologies for the academic bent of the above. I'm in the throes of writing my dissertation





*Cooley, Timothy J. 2006. "Folk Festival as Modern Ritual in the Polish Tatra Mountains." In Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader, ed. Jennifer Post, 67–84. New York: Routledge.
**Trevor-Roper, Hugh. 1983. "The Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland." In The Invention of Tradition, ed. Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, 15–42. University of Cambridge.

[creagdhubh]

Well written, Colin!!! Excellent argument(s) with the pertinent, supportive evidence to reinforce it. Well done.