Nicely written James, however, your posts do sometimes leave me wondering what the heck you just said. Maybe I'm a bit thick?

Nevertheless, some of the points you raise make me think that some people take themselves too seriously.
While I am aware of the bloody past, even Braveheart and Rob Roy bring that out somewhat, and I am aware of the strongly held views some hold with regard to their family names, tartans etc etc, YET.. I prefer simple explanations and reasons for wearing the kilt as I do.

First, as earlier confessed, I am a hopeless romantic. As such I have no problem in this modern age with picking out the "nice bits" of history and leaving the stuff I don't like (the violence, the hatred, the murders and so on).

Second, I just wear a kilt because I like it. I like the comfort, the romanticism, and the history (nice bits only).

Thirdly, I am both simple and casual. I lean comfortably towards Matt's view of the kilt and history, which seems well-informed but without getting uptight about the rules.

I am such a mixture of race, with English, Scottish, Irish and possibly Scandinavian that I simply like to see myself as a celt. The celts travelled and adopted bits from other cultures while contributing much of their own wheresoever they went.

Many celts wore kilts, and so do I.

I've not thought too much about some of this before, so I thank you for inspiring some deeper thought.