Polish Plaid

Poles living in Scotland now have their own tartan, which incorporates the red and white of the Polish flag.

"I want to buy a kilt because I am living in Scotland," Sebastian Flasza, owner of Rock and Roll Tattoo and Piercing in Edinburgh, told The Times of London. "But I am a Polish Scot. I feel this represents me. Oh, aye."

Poland and Scotland have a long common history. Bonnie Prince Charlie, the ill-fated Stuart heir, was half-Polish, and there is also a myth in Poland that Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity movement, is descended from Sir William Wallace, the Scottish nationalist executed by the English in 1305. [Link]

Québécois Kilts

Bryant Johnson's Scottish kilt shop in Montreal has thrived for 60 years—despite being located in Montreal.

"A lot of my contemporaries in Toronto say, 'How does a guy sell kilts in Montreal?'" Johnson, the proprietor and son in Chas Johnson and Son, told Canadian Press.

"The truth is that there's a lot of French-Canadians who have Scottish heritage going back to the Hudson's Bay Company," Johnson said in a recent interview.

"They don't speak English, but they'll be walking by the door and they'll see scarves with their name on it," Johnson said.

"They'll come in, make inquiries, and go home to La Tuque or whatever. But they always come back." [Link]

It's What's Under the Kilt That Counts

Axl Rose may have Scottish ancestry, but The Daily Record's Brian Mciver is reluctant to call him a true Scot.

[T]he controversial Guns 'N' Roses singer declared himself Scottish at his concert in Glasgow last week, having met the American genealogical qualification of having red hair and wearing a kilt in music videos.

Born William Bruce Rose, Axl does have a distant lineage claim. But as far as most fans know, his Scots links only ever extended as far as his on-stage kiltedness. Even then, his white cycling shorts underneath proved he wasn't that genuine. [Link]

Braveheart-like Battle Brewing in Missouri

From The Kansas City (Mo.) Star of Dec. 20, 2005:

Student asked to change out of kilt seeks dress code change

BETSY TAYLOR
Associated Press

JACKSON, Mo. - When Nathan Warmack wore a Scottish kilt to a high school dance, the senior wasn't trying to make a point. He just wanted to honor his heritage.

But then a principal told him to change into a pair of pants. And what began with a few yards of tartan has sparked an international debate about freedom, symbols and cultural dress.

More than 1,600 people have signed an Internet petition seeking an apology for the student. Scots in the United States are assembling a traditional ensemble they hope the student will wear to the prom. And his family is trying to change the school's dress code policy.

[snip]

... Clan Gunn member, Beth Gardner, started an online petition seeking an apology for Warmack. It questions in part the notion that the kilt was a distraction.

"From what? From the intense concentration it takes to dance?"

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

Sign the "Nathan Warmack's Right to Wear his Kilt" petition here.

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree

Another Victim of Kiltophobia

From KFVS12 (of Cape Girardeau, Mo.), posted Nov. 12, 2005:

Student Removed from High School Dance for Wearing a Kilt

By: Lauren Keith

Jackson, MO - Nathan Warmack says he just wanted to show pride for his Scottish heritage. So he wore a kilt to the "Silver Arrow" dance last Saturday at Jackson High School.

But when he got there, the principal said the kilt was a distraction and told him to change. Now, Nathan and his parents want school leaders to change their dress code policy.

[snip]

Nathan says he's researched his family genealogy and even saved up his own money to buy this kilt. "It was embarrassing. I was hurt when I was told to change," said Nathan.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

Men in Kilts Not to be Mocked

From The (Glasgow, Scotland) Sunday Herald of Sept. 25, 2005:

‘Twee?’ Perhaps, but Tartan Days should be celebrated

By Senay Boztas, Arts Correspondent

THEY might inspire a hearty round of jeering in Scotland, but Tartan Days around the world should not be mocked, according to the author of a new book on the Scottish diaspora.

James Hunter, director of the centre for history at the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands, has made a plea for Scots to respect the diverse ways in which their distant relatives celebrate their Scottishness.

[snip]

But he believes that many people unfairly pillory Scots descendants in countries such as America for celebrating their ancestry with Tartan Days and Highland Games.

“We think that if these people dress in kilts and go to Tartan Days, they are off their heads, but they are as entitled to their view of identity as we are to ours,” he said. “If you tried to organise a Tartan Day in Scotland, I don’t think many people would turn up.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

". . . how canst thou say to thy brother, 'Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the caber that is in thine own.'"

Off-Kilter Kilts

From Seattle (Wash.) Post-Intelligencer of Sept. 17, 2005:

Don't call them men in skirts — they're men in Utilikilts

By: ANNE KIM - Associated Press

It's the freedom, they say. The freedom to move, to feel the breeze, to stay cool on a hot summer day.

And all this freedom comes simply from banishing pants to the back of the closet, say the men who wear the Utilikilt, a rugged modern take on the Celtic kilt.

The garment ---- made in Seattle by the company of the same name ---- adds a twist of practicality to the traditional kilt. Made with tough fabric and accessories such as cargo pockets and a hammer loop, the garment has attracted marine biologists to construction workers who often point to the comfort factor as their reason for donning the pleats.

[snip]

Utilikilts give men a way to make the usually formal kilt into something work-oriented, [Robert Laeger-Robertson, president of the Southwest Washington Scottish Highlanders Association] said.

But David Garman, president of the Scottish American Athletic Association, based in Los Angeles, says Utilikilts miss the point of the tartan colors and patterns, which represents family history and tradition.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]