One of my nephews is graduating from high school next month in the town of Raymond, Alberta, Canada. He asked if it would be okay to wear my Forbes tartan (muted) kilt. He was told, absolutely not! The reason? A dress code. I was so pleased he would want to wear my kilt, made for me about 18 years ago at a princely sum by one of the finest kiltmakers in Scotland. How many thousands of young men have worn kilts for graduation in countries around the world? Needless to say, I was disappointed my nephew, who would wear the kilt with great respect, had been denied this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There has been some media attention and a family friend created a Facebook support page. A hundred people and more have posted comments.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/...14277515281104

As much as I agree with the Westwind School Division superintendent that there is a dress code for graduation, I believe the reason for enforcing the code is that some fool embarrassed the school last year by wearing a kilt and doing who knows what.

I am not sure that Hamish would be defiant and create a scene, but I have advised his mother that there's more than one way to skin a cat: He could wear trews or he could distribute patches of tartan to students to carry with them (just as was done a couple hundred years ago when tartan was banned).