Quote Originally Posted by ThistleDown View Post
Yes, but all of that can only take place within a structure quite different than that in place within the Standing Council. In fact there are very, very few chiefs who have support staff and all have an increasing public demand on them. Although they seem to be huge tourist attractions (when they are taken from the closet, dusted off and given a bit of a polish) they are not permitted to expense against income any of the funds they put forth when they are.

So if you receive a response then you have a chief who is devoted to his hereditary role.

If you do not then you may have a chief who is too old/too infirm/too young, one who is absent for an extended period of time, one who is just too busy surviving to find the time -- or one who just lacks common courtesy.

The point is that he is being asked to give you permission to do something. If he fails to respond for whatever reason you quite simply have not been given the permission you requested. I suppose you could be discourteous yourself and tell him in your request that if he doesn't reply you will assume consent .
In this age of the Internet there are plenty of possibilities for a Chief to indicate their policy. Of course it's not something the Standing Council could deal with and as I said, not all Chiefs are members in any case.

"So if you receive a response then you have a chief who is devoted to his hereditary role."

One could use the same logic and infer that if you do not then they are not so devoted.

We agree that there can be all kind of reasons but it turns things into a lottery when one will respond and one will not. If they simply state their viewpoint on a public forum then it takes all the guesswork out of it and also spares, both them and those applying, a lot of work and effort. A Chief could potentially get hundreds of such requests per week in his (or her) mailbox. Would you like to have to pay for all the stamps required for a reply, or have the time to reply yourself or pay for staff to process the request?

Clearly we differ upon what is discourteous. I can think of analogies where a time limit for a reply has been given but ignored from past history and nobody has accused the one giving the time limit as being discourteous.

Ultimately it is the individual who has to decide for themselves whether to apply in the first place and if they do, how to deal with a none forthcoming response.

Does a mill seek permission to weave a Clan tartan I wonder? Just imagine if a mill could obtain exclusive weaving rights for the tartans of a Clan that is large or popular or if a Chief could get a royalty for every yard woven. Does a kilt maker seek proof that the person ordering is "entitled"? Do we hear of a Chief asking that they do? Did the Chiefs assembled at the Gathering look at everyone wearing their Clan tartans and wonder if they were automatically entitled or if they had sought permission otherwise?

I'm simply trying to point out that there are larger implications than the simple question (or rather not so simple! ) question at hand.