Kilts in Scotland.

[beloitpiper]

So the Scot in my pipeband (he's a native of Glasgow) told me that his uncle (a former Black-Watchman) wears a kilt everyday, which got me to thinking: are kilts really that common in Scotland? I've, sadly never been to Scotland...yet...and am wondering if they are commonplace on the street.

I have this picture in my head of me going to Scotland in a kilt and the people there laughing at me for being a silly American tourist... Is this unfounded? Are kilts a normal, everyday sight in my ancestral land?

[cavscout]

Here's a thread you might find interesting. Unfortunately it got political, but there is some good stuff upfront.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...kilts+scotland

This one made it a good bit further

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...kilts+scotland

[Monkey@Arms]

During the two years I lived there (85-87), it was rare to see a person going about their daily business in a kilt (although the gentleman who ran the local shoe repair shop did.) As mentioned elsewhere wearing a kilt was generally treated the same way we in the U.S treat wearing a tuxedo. (On the other hand students at St. Andrews University did wear really cool red robes on and off campus, sought of like a Harry Potter movie.)

Best regards,

Argyll

[highlandcelt]

My cousin and his partner go to the UK quite regularly, and they have told me that the Scots don't wear kilts very much, but, in some of the small towns and country side in the highlands, the kilt is worn more, and alot of gaelic is spoken in the pubs. P1M can answer for sure.
I am saving my money to go over to Scotland when my cousin goes next February. I missed the trip this year.

[Pour1Malt]

search fair auld threids oan this topic-

been discussed befair...

but basically- roon here the kilt is often worn tae weddings, hogmanay, an formal settings (like a tux as Monkey said)

also it is often worn casual tae Scotland National sport events... rugby an fitba maistly...

but ai've seen many kilts a curlin an hockey events tae....

very uncommon tae wear it daily....

[Mike1]

If you want to see kilts in Scotland, head for the Royal Mile.

Historical commemorations will bring out a lot of belted plaids (anybody going to Killiecrankie tomorrow?). Again, these are special events and the fellows you see in a plaid at a commemoration today will like as not be in jeans tomorrow.

For the biggest part, on a day-to-day basis, the kilt is the exception and not the rule. It isn't as if you won't see any, but you won't see many.

[Graham]

Here's a thread you might find interesting. Unfortunately it got political, but there is some good stuff upfront.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...kilts+scotland

I must have missed this thread, what an excellent discussion and what a terrible shame that it's rather hard to find.
These are the kind of threads I learn most from.

[Moose McLennan]

I must have missed this thread, what an excellent discussion and what a terrible shame that it's rather hard to find.
These are the kind of threads I learn most from.

That was my excuse to myself for years about not getting a kilt: 'If I were still in Scotland I would get some use out of it.", i.e. weddings, dos/functions, christenings, funerals and the like.
With a few exceptions, highland dress is IMHO the equivalent of the lounge suit for private affairs (as opposed to business) for most Scots. So it might be akin to going to say, Milan, and wondering why everyone you see at the supermarket, at the petrol station or wherever is not wearing a snappy Italian suit.

M.

[cessna152towser]

I agree with P1M. P1M and myself are among the small minority who wear a kilt for casual wear. Though you often see plenty of kilts on the streets where the wearers are either on their way to or from special events, more so at weekends - on my drive home from the airport last Saturday evening I spotted 3 kilted gents in Longtown (which is just over the Border into England) ; about a dozen kilts out and about in Langholm (just inside Scotland) where a rideout event had been held earlier in the day, then there was a guy in a black kilt standing in a pub doorway here in Hawick.

[beloitpiper]

So kilts are uncommon, but not rare. What about bagpipes?