The Kilt Kops

[Father Bill]

You know . . . an interesting and nascent train of thought just struck me: Why is it frowned on by some to wear the kilt outwith the highlands, but Scotch whisky is universally acclaimed by the same highlanders as something they're proud to share? Should I be drinking only rye?
int:

[Jock Scot]

You know . . . an interesting and nascent train of thought just struck me: Why is it frowned on by some to wear the kilt outwith the highlands, but Scotch whisky is universally acclaimed by the same highlanders as something they're proud to share? Should I be drinking only rye?
int:

I too have been thinking along those lines after the recent F4T2 survey. I know it is not possible now and it may never have been possible, but I do wonder if the tartan trade had "protected" themselves as the Scotch whisky trade have done, then many a Scot would not now bemoaning the loss of control "their" tartan.

[Sir William]

You know . . . an interesting and nascent train of thought just struck me: Why is it frowned on by some to wear the kilt outwith the highlands, but Scotch whisky is universally acclaimed by the same highlanders as something they're proud to share? Should I be drinking only rye?
int:

I was actually thinking on this very same subject the other day and it occurred to me that Scotch whisky, despite the name, is not immediately associated with Scotland.

Some merely view Scotch as just another type of whisky/whiskey: Rye, bourbon, sour mash, corn, etc.

Some just see it as another regional whiskey: Tennessee, Kentucky, Irish, Canadian, etc. I actually heard one person tell another that Scotch, Canadian, and Irish whiskies are just bourbons made outside the US.

I have met a number of people who do not make the connection between the spirit and the country, which I found surprising, though they will readily identify tequila with Mexico, vodka with Russia or Finland, and rum with the Caribbean.

In the minority are those who at least know the various regions in Scotland where whisky is made, and may have been on a distillery tour.

On the other hand, show them a man in a kilt and they immediately think "Scotland".

[davidg]

You know . . . an interesting and nascent train of thought just struck me: Why is it frowned on by some to wear the kilt outwith the highlands, but Scotch whisky is universally acclaimed by the same highlanders as something they're proud to share? Should I be drinking only rye?
int:

I wonder whether this has more to do with the highland/lowland divide than anything else

It seems to me that those who would keep the kilt to themselves are highlanders. Those who would share it around are lowlanders. And the highlanders equally seem to suggest that they would prefer lowlanders not to wear the kilt either

Historically lowlanders did not really wear tartan or kilts so it might be a bit of a "parochial" thing going on here. Not serious enough to start a war though

[Peter Crowe]

I wonder whether this has more to do with the highland/lowland divide than anything else

It seems to me that those who would keep the kilt to themselves are highlanders. Those who would share it around are lowlanders. And the highlanders equally seem to suggest that they would prefer lowlanders not to wear the kilt either

Historically lowlanders did not really wear tartan or kilts so it might be a bit of a "parochial" thing going on here. Not serious enough to start a war though

It may well be be David, but it also overlooks the fact that at the time the kilt was reinvented as Scotland's national dress in the early nineteenth century many folk from the Highlands chose not to emigrate overseas but migrated to the Industrial urban centres of Lowland Scotland.

Moreover, some historians argue (most notably T.M. Devine) very plausibly that the Establishment welcomed and encouraged the development of what we now call Traditional Highland (Civilian) Dress as a politically safe expression of Scottish identity when the eighteenth century project of replacing Scottish identity with a North British identity reached its limits. This also coincided with the discovery that an inclusive dual Scottish-British patriotic identity could be promoted from the reflected glory of the kilted Highland regiments during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

Where I grew up in west-central Scotland (suburbs of Glasgow) in the 1960's and 1970's the wearing of Civilian Highland Dress was a very middle class way to express one's Scottishness. It was perceived if you wore the kilt that you were 'one of the toffs/snobs who lived in the big private houses' as opposed to someone who was a council tenant. A generalisation I know, but not without quite a lot of truth behind it. The same phenomena held true for my father growing up in the 1940's and 50's. In the past 15-20 years this class aspect of kilt wearing has begun to change (at least among the folk I know and observe) with a new found confidence in Scottish identity.

There has been a lot said about Glaswegian attitudes to the kilt for example, which portrays Glasgow people as entirely homogenous in their culture and ignorant of the Scottish Highlands, both assumptions which are (IMHO) incorrect. It is also worth remarking that there is a lot of variation within the Highlands and to take one example Caithness and Sutherland are different from each other and both are very different to Argyll. I don't have access to the figures to be exact about numbers over time, but there is plenty of empirical evidence that very many Highland families migrated to Glasgow between the late 18th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, of Scotland's four major cities Glasgow is not only the one furthest south, it is also furthest west and most physically proximate to the Highland geological boundary (about 10 or so miles away). I should also point out when I say Glasgow, I am also including the contiguous urban and suburban area not merely the City council area. Furthermore, while I was studying at Glasgow University (1996-2000) undergraduate and (2002/03) as a post-graduate, it was often claimed the city had a larger resident population of native Gaelic speakers than the entire population of the Western Isles. Although it should also be pointed out the figures for Punjabi and Urdu speakers were even higher.

[Deil the Yin]

Really interesting/poignant post that I enjoyed reading, but got lost/confused (admittedly not a stretch most of the time) with the negative reference to "middle class" in the paragraph below:

...Where I grew up in west-central Scotland (suburbs of Glasgow) in the 1960's and 1970's the wearing of Civilian Highland Dress was a very middle class way to express one's Scottishness. It was perceived if you wore the kilt that you were 'one of the toffs/snobs who lived in the big private houses' as opposed to someone who was a council tenant. A generalisation I know, but not without quite a lot of truth behind it. The same phenomena held true for my father growing up in the 1940's and 50's. In the past 15-20 years this class aspect of kilt wearing has begun to change (at least among the folk I know and observe) with a new found confidence in Scottish identity.

Should I understand that Glasgow is/was, or is stereotyped as, more or less working class, with the "middle class" a severe minority and thus resented by the majority working class and that you yourself perhaps hail from that working class?

Thanks,
Wesley

PS: have some Crow(e) kinfolk in Kentucke; would be fascinated to hear of your Crowe origins if ye ever have the time...

[M. A. C. Newsome]

You know . . . an interesting and nascent train of thought just struck me: Why is it frowned on by some to wear the kilt outwith the highlands, but Scotch whisky is universally acclaimed by the same highlanders as something they're proud to share? Should I be drinking only rye?
int:

I share the same sentiment. It seems that wherever Scottish people immigrated to (and they went all over the globe), they took certain traditions with them. The love for tartan and the kilt is just one of them. Making whisky, playing the fiddle, in some cases, even speaking the Gaelic language, are just a few of the many traditions and aspects of their culture that migrated along with the people. Would anyone suggest that Highland dancing must only be performed in the Highlands? Or that Auld Lang Syne should only be sung in Ayrshire?

No, those things seem ridiculous to anyone. So why limit the wearing of Highland dress to those either born in, or currently living in the Highlands?

Furthermore, were that the case, the Scots Highlanders long ago would have ceased having any place to buy their tartans and kilts, as the tartan mills would have all shut down for lack of business!

[auld argonian]

...and then there's the inevitable course that so many things must take in the global marketplace...some things that were once exclusive to some ethnic group or geographical area just get adopted by a wider audience and become part of everybody's wardrobe...

Best

AA