Reality Check

[OC Richard]

So

today I'm hired to pipe at a wedding.

A MacNeill is marrying a MacDuff. Stewarts are in attendance.

And I'm the only kilt in the building.

Being a member here and viewing the world through kilt-coloured glasses I expected a roomful of kilts!

It was a reality check of sorts, that people of Scottish heritage here, who are quite aware of it, would not own kilts or even hire kilts for their wedding.

(But at least they hired a piper )

[Father Bill]

" Reality check" is a good thought for us all. We are gathered here together because we have a common interest in which we encourage (egg on?) one another. The rest of the world just isn't where we are perhaps. Not even the rest of the world of Scots.

Sad perhaps.

[gary meakin]

I think belonging to this group gives us a somewhat skewed idea of kilt wearing.
I have about 50 cousins, nieces, nephews on my MacLachlan side of the family and I'm the only kilt wearer in the bunch.

[MacSpadger]

So

today I'm hired to pipe at a wedding.

A MacNeill is marrying a MacDuff. Stewarts are in attendance.

And I'm the only kilt in the building.

Meh, common enough over here too, and I'd also add that the vast majority of weddings, funerals, etc, are held without pipers.

[OC Richard]

Meh, common enough over here too, and I'd also add that the vast majority of weddings, funerals, etc, are held without pipers.

That surprises me a bit.

Maybe it's another of those things, where the descendants of Scots overseas, the diaspora, work harder at "being Scottish" than those back home who never left.

Around here people of Scottish ancestry (those who are aware of it) usually have a piper at weddings and funerals.

And at the weddings, they usually hire kilts! Which is why the wedding yesterday struck me as odd. And these weren't just Americans of vague Scottish ancestry: I heard some Scottish accents amongst the families.

[Lyle1]

It was a reality check of sorts, that people of Scottish heritage here, who are quite aware of it, would not own kilts or even hire kilts for their wedding.

Quite frankly, I would be more surprised (pleasantly so, but still surprised) to see kilts worn at a wedding. The vast majority of Americans of Scottish descent simply do not wear kilts, for any reason! I have been to many wedding in the US where customs of the wedding couple's ancestors were honored, but national dress seems only to be worn at weddings where the families have roots in the Indian subcontinent; then beautiful saris are often (but not always) in evidence.

[James Hood]

At the Chicago Highland Games and Scottish Festival, there was also a large Indian wedding (in one of the hotels). And yes, those folks are comfortable wearing elegant, classy cultural dress at a formal, celebratory event to honour their heritage. Really dramatic and impressive, good on them.

[creagdhubh]

It is what it is, I suppose!

[Cygnus]

I'm the only kilt-wearer in my family (extended family included) as well. It's surprising what can happen in a few a generations. The immigrating patriarch of my family was, according to all accounts, incredibly proud to be Scottish, and was both a well-known political figure and one of the founding members of the Utah Caledonia Society.

Fast-forward 120 years, and it's just me, trying to revive that sense of pride in our heritage.

(And for those that think 120 years is a long time, I remember listening to my great grandmother talk about the Civil War veterans she knew when she was a little girl!)

[MacSpadger]

I'm the only kilt-wearer in my family (extended family included) as well. It's surprising what can happen in a few a generations. The immigrating patriarch of my family was, according to all accounts, incredibly proud to be Scottish, and was both a well-known political figure and one of the founding members of the Utah Caledonia Society.

Fast-forward 120 years, and it's just me, trying to revive that sense of pride in our heritage.

(And for those that think 120 years is a long time, I remember listening to my great grandmother talk about the Civil War veterans she knew when she was a little girl!)

Don't confuse the kilt with pride in your culture. For many a pride in Scottish culture might mean arts and literature, invention, politics, history, a unique sense of humour, or achievements such as the discovery of penicillin, the invention of TV and fibre optics, the invention of the reaping machine, leading the European Enlightenment, the invention of the steam engine, the telephone, the postage stamp, the rubber tyre, gas lighting, the threshing machine, the bicycle, the raincoat, antiseptics, Quantitative Chemistry, universities, the ultrasound scanner, etc, etc.
All these kinds of examples are probably more important to most Scots than, (let's face it), a bit of cloth that anyone can buy and wrap round their waist. As has been pointed out to me several times by members of this forum, the kilt is becoming less Scottish as different cultures appropriate it and more "Pan Celtic", a phrase which has very little relevance to most of us here, so that's the way it goes, I guess. I'd still say that does not discount pride in your heritage.
Perhaps Robert Louis Stevenson, one of our best Scottish writers, summed it up best long ago when he said it was not what you wore but "a strong Scotch accent of the mind" that made Scots stand out among other peoples and made them different. I don't know, but it seems the kilt no longer is enough or, in some lands, even appropriate. Would I wear a kilt in the USA nowadays? I doubt it. The one time I have worn the kilt on American soil was a mistake, as I seemed to spend most of the evening explaining I was not Irish. It was very boring.
Funny Indian weddings are mentioned here. Pipers are becoming really popular at Indian weddings in the UK, you can earn far more doing Indian weddings than Scottish ones. My area has a population of 12,000 and supports at least 6 pipe bands, Grade 3A, Grade 4, Event, Juvenile and there are also piping schools, training/feeder bands, school bands and cadet training bands, (the local being the 5th Argylls under 16's). There are maybe 3 or 4 pipers in every street. Most of them are at a very high standard. Pipers are not a rare or unusual sighting for native Scots, but have a level of "the exotic" for immigrant communites.