Lowland/Scotch-Irish/American Colonists vs. Highlanders.

[Peter Crowe]

Yes, I agree, Peter. Other than my university years at Aberdeen I've never lived in the Lowlands. At school in the Highlands I was kilted and that continued most often during my university years. My fellow students respected my choice just as I respected theirs. Children in the streets I walked to my lodgings called 'kiltie kiltie cauld bum' but that was the extent of it. (My second degree was at Manchester and after a very few strange weeks, I packed my kilt into a box and and sent it home.)

Those young Aberdeen townies were, as you say, of a different socio-economic class than I was, but they have grown up to be the middle-aged users of kilt-hire shops today. Most often they take their instruction from the owners of those shops, without having the advantage of generations of kilted ancestors. Even if their names are Highland.

I learned from my Dad, who learned growing up wearing the kilt in the 40's and 50's (a much more tweedy era than today). He was the kid who wore his kilt daily to Uddingston Grammar School from 1952-56, and has never complained about getting pelters in a village just outside of Glasgow. His first pair of long trousers were his uniform as a Midshipman in the Merchant Navy at age 17. I also agree the kilt-hire business in Scotland has gone in for gimmicky rather than traditional.