Is tartan another assault on our Norse heritage?

[Errogie]

I loathed having to wear a kilt to Sunday school in Thurso or perhaps it was also about taking up too much of a non school day with another classroom substitute. Anyway I grew out of the detested garment and any religous inclination about the same time.

But following the current gaelic signage debate I realise that the really insidious influence as evidenced by wedding photos in local papers is the gradual replacement of trousers with all sorts of tartan finery and accoutrements.

What sort of statement and committment to future generations is a Caithnessian making when on his wedding day he proudly encloses his hurdies in tartan? Why it must be a Highland gaelic one. You have been suduced by tartan fripperies originating among gaelic speaking populations and promulgated by sporran swinging storm troopers from gaelic choirs.

The only answer to preserve our racial purity must be to ban kilts from real Caithness weddings and replace them with some form of thonged leggings as worn by Ragnar Hairybreeks (Kirk Douglas) in the epic movie "The Vikings"!

[gleeber]

Ive never been carried away by the tarten image of Scotland. I dont know what it is that makes grown men dress up like 18th century Italian poofs. Every man tll his own though and sometimes I see someone in a kilt and it seems to have grown on him. On the whole though I dislike the image. Mind you I would be reluctant to dress up as an 8th century Scandanavian killer either.
That being said at least kilts are only an option and still not compulsary. [lol]

[kmahon2001]

When I first moved up here it struck me as odd that a county with very little obvious Gaelic culture should have so many pictures in the newspapers of bridegrooms kitted out in full tartan regalia and so I assumed that the Gaelic culture must be firmly entrenched but only really on show at special occasions.

The same thing seems to happen in Orkney - news coverage of many Orkney weddings or other special occasions show the men in kilts and traditional Gaelic dress etc.

[Anne x]

Good God there is nothing finer than the kilt worn anywhere
whether you have been brought up with it or not family wedding or a funeral there is no assualt on any norsemen
its a Highlander thing Its tradition I wore My first kilt at The Music festival in School Tartan is good its our Heritage like porridge

[butterfly]

There is nowt wrong with wearing a kilt for goodness sake.

[gleeber]

Danna get cerried away now. I never said there was anything wrong with kilts. I said I danna like them.

[Anne x]

thank goodness for that Gleeber Its much better than the Rab C Nesbit or Andy Capp image quite often displayed :lol:

[Aaldtimer]

Andy Capp???!!! He's a Geordie!:eek:

[crayola]

The only answer to preserve our racial purity must be to ban kilts from real Caithness weddings and replace them with some form of thonged leggings as worn by Ragnar Hairybreeks (Kirk Douglas) in the epic movie "The Vikings"!
I'm not sure it would catch on quickly in Caithness but it seems they do it in Edinburgh (http://www.lothene.org/family/vikwedd.html).

I always thought they were a bit funny through there and this doesn't do anything to help me cure my prejudices about Edinburgers. :lol:

[butterfly]

I'm not sure it would catch on quickly in Caithness but it seems they do it in Edinburgh (http://www.lothene.org/family/vikwedd.html).

I always thought they were a bit funny through there and this doesn't to anything to help me cure my prejudices about Edinburgers. :lol:

I dont think it will,doesnt look as smart as the kilt.They look like they have been to a halloween party![lol]

[butterfly]

Danna get cerried away now. I never said there was anything wrong with kilts. I said I danna like them.

That's ok then.;)

[Errogie]

My son got married with a "Braveheart wedding" lots of tweed, tartan and travelling rugs and sundry weapons and other accoutrements. The wee registrar lassie who was doing her first marriage looked distinctly alarmed when the mob arrived outside her office but soon got into the swing of it.

And then my nephew had a sort of Jack Sparrow meets Lord of the rings type theme again with lots of ferocious weaponery in a tiny chapel perched on a cliff edge in Pembrokeshire. When you catch sight of someone's wedding photos they are often a snap shot in time of fashions, hair length and other statements, but tartan as we see it worn today owes more to Hollywood than any authentic tradition from the past and I guess it has just crept up on Caithness Norse pride without anyone noticing. Now when it comes down to funerals the guys in the longships really knew how to throw a hooley!

I think the bridal cog as seen in Orkney weddings is probably more down to Viking origin than anything else we see. That Edinburgh wedding really went for it!

[crayola]

I dont think it will,doesnt look as smart as the kilt.They look like they have been to a halloween party![lol]
I thought it looked more like a grown-up Nativity Play! :lol:

[golach]

Ive never been carried away by the tartan image of Scotland. I don't know what it is that makes grown men dress up like 18th century Italian poofs. Every man tll his own though and sometimes I see someone in a kilt and it seems to have grown on him. On the whole though I dislike the image. Mind you I would be reluctant to dress up as an 8th century Scandanavian killer either.
That being said at least kilts are only an option and still not compulsary. [lol]
Gleeber, as you well know, Highland clans wore the Tartan long before Charlie and the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, and never in a design as you suggest, but more in the design as Errogie suggested (for the want of a better explanation I will call it the Braveheart design).
In 1746 the English and Lowland Scots banned the wearing of Tartan, the carrying of Weapons, and even the ownership of a Gaelic bible. This was rescinded in 1822 when King George IV came to visit Scotland, he wanted to be seen wearing tartan as kind and amicable King to the poor downtrodden Highlanders (never mind that government troops had killed over 30k highlanders in the years leading up to this event).
The Highland Dress we see being worn today by all and sundry is an invention of the Victorians, all because Queen Victoria, fell in love with Braemar, her hubby Prince Albert a German, designed his own tartan outfit, and this is roughly what is now seen as Scotlands national dress.
Lowland Scots never wore tartan.

And just a wee thought, if Kaitness was so Viking, why did the Gunn, Sinclair, McKay,Swanson, Budge, Bain, Mowat, Manson, Cormack and many of the other Kaitness Families have their own tartan?

[Angela]

Without DNA testing, how many of us can know that our heritage is purely Norse, I wonder?

I'm a mix of Caithness folk, Sutherland folk and yes....Gaelic speakers from Wester Ross. ;)

I wore a MacLeod tartan kilt -and trews too! as a wee girl. I loved both -the only complaint I had was that the trews felt just a tad scratchy on my delicate girly limbs. :roll:

The traditional kilt was banned for a time after 1745 because of the associations of tartan with the Jacobite cause but was revived as generally Scottish apparel after George IV came to visit Scotland in 1822. Walter Scott was put in charge of the event and went overboard on a truly tartan theme, with his Majesty stepping off the boat at Leith in full Highland regalia....and pink tights!

I dislike the shortbread tin, tourist tat, sort of 'tartanry' but I do like to see men wearing the kilt. :D

[Gene Hunt]

Why on earth would Scots want to wear anything else than tartan and kilts ??

I am Welsh and wear one whenever I can. I work with a couple of Scots and they are never short of attention from Welsh women when they are in their kilts.

You should all think yourself lucky. We have leeks, daffodils and jokes about molesting sheep.

But a great Rugby team more than makes up for it .. ;)

[squidge]

the Bruce wears a kilt at every available opportunity - usually with a t shirt and a pair of Doc Martins. In fact when he went to India for a month in 2006 he took two kilts and a pair of shorts with him as the only baggage he packed. His indian friend went mad and said that it identified him as a tourist and that they would get ripped off. Like a 6 foot scot with a chinger beard, bald heid and tatoosis gonna look like a local in rajasthan!!!! Wherever he goes he gets complimented - it identifies him as scottish and he likes that. In Brittany in 2007 he got thumbs up and cheers all over the place lol. If he could wear it every day to work he would do so. I dont think there is a man alive who looks horrid in a kilt.

The posts which discuss how mixed we all are are absolutely spot on and i think weddings are reflecting this. Our wedding had elements of scottish, english and a bit of the old french in it too. When we got married my husband wore a belted plaid ( filimore SP?) as did our "Clan Chief" and the best man. He carried a Highland Broadsword which was specially made for the wedding and we wrote our own words. He wrote his vows and said them in scots and at the wedding feast ( haggis neeps and tatties followed by creme brulee lol) a friend of ours toasted us in Gaelic. The reception was decorated with thistles and lancashire roses and we had a ceilidh at which the biggest hit of all was everyone singing Bohemian Rhapsody.

Im sure if you wanted to do the hose and braes thing errogie we could lend you a pair but they are fiddly as hell with a tendency to snap!;)

[Each]

News in from the BBC...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7976510.stm

Scientific evidence of an ancient invasion of Scotland from Ireland may have been uncovered by DNA techniques.

Geneticists also said as many as 40% of the population on the Western Isles could have Viking ancestry, while no Viking ancestry was found in north east Scotland.

This startling revelation really throughs the Norse Identity debate into sharp releif.

[rich]

Surely the picture is of a Ukranian wedding.

[rich]

This is a wonderful example of Scottish influence and dress sense. Oy Vey!!!!!!

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1219572111217&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter