Gentlemen, polish your shoes

[bigdad1]

Well Cajunscot if what you see at the games you attend doesn't meet your standards perhaps you shouldn't attend. And I am not enraged just "bothered" by arbitrary pronouncements.
That said, I always shine my shoes. I was taught to use Kiwi, cotton balls, a zippo and lots of elbow grease. Forty-five years later that still resonates with me.
The best to you.

[macwilkin]

Well Cajunscot if what you see at the games you attend doesn't meet your standards perhaps you shouldn't attend. And I am not enraged just "bothered" by arbitrary pronouncements.
That said, I always shine my shoes. I was taught to use Kiwi, cotton balls, a zippo and lots of elbow grease. Forty-five years later that still resonates with me.
The best to you.

And you mistake my meaning, sir. My remark was directed at blanket statements in general.

I am entitled to my opinions regarding Highland attire, just as you are yours. If you'll re-read my statement, you might see that I am leaning more toward your side then blanket condemnations of all Americans who might attend such events. You'll notice I didn't single you or anyone else out.

My apologies if I caused offence.

Todd

[Dan R Porter]

Nice Kilt...

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I was prompted to start this thread by two photos I saw that were taken at two different Highland games. I didn't realize that a simple observation about shoes not being polished would result in what is, in my opinion, a wholly undeserved attack on JockScot for expressing his opinion about Highland games in North America. Nor did I expect it to degenerate into the sort of self justification for what has become, in some instances, a vulgar parody of Scottish culture.

Jamie has said:

North America highland games are not just about athletic competition, but a celebration of Scotland and things Celtic.

I have added the emphasis because, in my opinion, this is where many folks get it wrong. Highland games are Scottish in their origins, and reflective of Scottish cultural traditions.

They have nothing to do with recently embraced ideas of "things Celtic". They are not Irish games; they are not Welsh games or Breton games, or Anatolian games. They are Highland games, and they are --or are supposed to be-- Scottish.

They are not about the SCA and vaudevillesque recreations of the Court of Mary Queen of Scots. That's nothing to do with Highland games.

Highland games are not about dressing in leather corsets and mukluks. That's nothing to do with Highland games.

The same applies to wearing various bits of surplus military clothing and looking like something out of Carry On Up The Khyber. That's nothing to do with Highland games.

And Neither is dressing up like a pirate, or a cowboy, or a character from Dickens.

And, whether members of this forum like it or not-- and agreeing or disagreeing doesn't enter into it-- the combined weight of all of the above does give offense. And that offense is compounded by the self-justification of those people who feel that it is their right to alter Highland traditions to suit their comic opera perceptions of a pseudo-Celtic world that exists only in the world of delayed adolescent role-playing, Larping, and fantasy video games.

If there was a Kwanza celebration in a local park, would you feel obliged to attend in black face? Or dress like an 18th century Portuguese slave trader? Probably not. But apparently this modicum of self restraint does not apply to respecting Scottish cultural traditions or those who speak out in the defense of same.

That being the case, and since I opened this thread, I now request that the Moderators close it, without further comment.

[McMurdo]

As the original poster has requested it be closed