Wearing kilts of other tartans than your clans.

[Jock Scot]

I am a McGowan. I wear MacDonald of The Isle Hunting ancient. I wear the MacDonald because my father said that is our clan affiliation and he wears the MacDonald clan tartan, I wanted a tartan different from his (typical son even if i'm over 40). I am considering another kilt which I would like to be red, so I am thinking either the MacDonald of the Isle red, but could I wear the Gow tartan as well? Without offending highland Scots? Jock Scot??

Thank you for asking.The problem with offending the Highlanders you either catch a "broadside" of abuse(rarely) and a black eye(even more rarely), or far more likely, you may never ever discover that any offence has been given, or, not until 20 years later you may be stuck in a ditch and the only tow rope in the county will suddenly be "lost"! I kid you not.

As clan histories are everyday currency(in a very low key way) in the highlands we have a fair idea when to steer a conversation away from tricky ground,BUT WE DON'T KNOW EVERYONE!!! So we stick to one tartan(its cheaper too) and then we can at least know most of that clan and tartan's history and then we know when to keep quiet! It just is best to stick to one clan tartan.

For you to wear a MacDonald tartan ,but not the same as your father is OK,but it is considered as a very public rejection of your father's clan. Don't forget that there are, perhaps, very bitter memories within a clan, never mind between different clans. I am not sure of the Gow history, but in the highlands you would expect to wear your father's tartan and that would be that. There is nothing to stop you wearing the Gow tartan, it you wish, though.

Please don't runaway with the idea that the highlands is still a seething mass of clan warfare and rivalries. It is not, and it is to the credit of the Scots of today, that nearly all that nastiness is well in the past,we don't forget though and nor should we. Most of the trouble, these days, comes from the ignorant, the arrogant, the drunk and the non Scots who have been brought up with the "biscuit tin" history of the travel industry who have thrived on selling misconceptions and half truths.