A few weeks ago I wore a kilt to a dinner with friends. I was out, solo as Joan was busy, and my friend Jim is known for his directness! I don't have much of a problem with folks who are blunt, as long as they have something like manners!

Anyway, Jim asked me if I "had the heritage" to wear a kilt, the implication being that if Iddidn't somehow "have the heritage" that I was a poser. It's kind of funny, since I was wearing a Holyrood tartan kilt, but I did go into a bit of ancestry for conversations sake.

Mothers Side

Hall: one "Hall" origin unknown, died young (early 20's) and lived in Philadelphia. We don't know where he was born, or anything about his ancestry, just that he married Christiana Crockett sometime around 1830, and they had a son, Edward who became eminent in the City through his involvement with post Civil War issues, support war veterans.

MacNaughton: traceable to John McKNight who emigrated from Ulster in 1730.

Fathers side:

Bryson, apparently a sept of the MacFarlanes: traceable to one Scot in North Carolina, father emigrated pre Revolutionary War, but nobody knows exactly when, or from where, in Scotland.

*****

In other words any connections I have with Scotland are at least 170 years old, and that's the Hall ancestor, whose origin is actually unknown. He could have been descended from an English Hall family. The Bryson and MacNaughton ancestors date back over 200 years. My family has been in North America for a LONG time.

Jim's conclusion? "Poser" .

We then went on to have a nice dinner, drank a few beers and of course parted good friends, still. Like I said, I don't have a problem with blunt folks. Jim wasn't being nasty, he was just speaking his opinion on an issue which he really didn't think amounted to a hill of beans. In fact we spent most of the night grousing about new Coast Guard regulations.

So here's my question, directed at the CURRENTLY NATIVE SCOTS on this board (though of course anybody can respond). Am I a "poser" by wearing a tartan kilt?

A.) A "poser" to wear a clan kilt?

B.) A "poser" to wear a kilt in a non-clan tartan that still has Scottish connections, such as Holyrood or the Scottish National Tartan?

B.) A "poser" to wear any kilt at all, including for example the California State Tartan, or the Edzell tartan (U.S. navy-associated tartan)?