It happened! Woowoo!

[LordDamax]

I was asked if I played the bagpipes! Woowoo! Now I feel even closer to ya'll... having been asked one of the two main questions... ;)

After I said no, it's just comfortable, the guy slipped into the "look how smart I am by telling you all I know about kilts!" routine. Something about scots wearing them as camoflauge and whatnot, "they werent just for looks they had function too!" - Although I'm not sure where the hell you're gonna hide in a red Wallace tartan... a lava field? I was only half listening I was trying to order my sandwich

[Dreadbelly]

There is some small truth in that. The Douglas tartan in the old colours, black and gray, make excellent nighttime camo, which is good. When you are accused of being boogeymen that will come in the night to eat people's children, you certainly don't wish to be seen.

[LordDamax]

I'm sure there are plenty of tartans suitable for cammo, and I'm sure many WERE used for that (I believe reading the hunting tartans were toned down in color to be less 'glaring' during the hunt... or am I way off base?) but the way this guy talked, the kilt was designed AS a cammo outfit. Sure it had function, but it wasnt for warfare...

[sav]

Actually, the Hunting tartans don't necessarily have anything to do with hunting. The hunting tartans were created for tartans that are primarily red to have a green version. So it was just as correct to wear hunting tartan to a dress occasion as it would be to wear a dress tartan hunting. BTW, I gleaned this information from an article that Matt Newsome wrote.
~Sav

[macwilkin]

It's always been my understanding that the word "hunting" referred more to the earth-tones of the hunting tartans (green, brown, etc.) rather than the actual use of the tartan in the hunt.

The Scottish Tartans Museum's FAQ page has this to say about hunting tartans:

Hunting tartans came about in the mid 1800s when two versions of the MacLeod tartan were published in a book called Vestiarium Scoticum (later proved to be a fake--but there is not enough room to go into the history of this important book here). There was a bright yellow MacLeod (MacLeod of Lewis), called "dress" and a green and blue tartan (MacLeod of Harris) called "hunting." The green tartans became very popular after this and most families who had bright red or yellow based tartans designed alternate tartans with a green background (or sometimes brown) and called them "hunting." Families whose tartans are mostly green do not usually have alternate hunting tartans. These tartans actually had little to do with hunts.

-- http://www.scottishtartans.org/faq.html

I too have read statements about hunting tartans being used as camouflage on the hunt because of the muted tones of the colours, but I also remember reading another source that made the statement that this is a bit of a "roast chestnut", since some animals are colour-blind! :mrgreen:

So essentially, the hunting tartan is an alternative tartan for one in brighter colours.

Cheers,

Todd

[LordDamax]

Sure, most animals are color blind, but in 1780, did we know this?

[Dreadbelly]

Animals are colour blind. Yes.

There were quite a few Scots that did not hunt animals though. They hunted other game.

Something to think about.