A favourite photo taken at a friend’s son’s wedding in Edinburgh several years ago: all these handsome men gathered around the bride. The groom and his men are all in the same tartan. If you look closely, you can just see him taking the bride’s arm.
They wear the kilt with a sense of honour and tradition, tho’ this style of kilt didn’t evolve till the 1600s, when the earlier length of plaid was gathered into pleats and fastened around the waist. All the other additions like sporran, socks, brogues etc came later and reflect individual taste.
I think Scots women have a genetic disposition to notice a man in a kilt. There’s an immediate reaction as to whether he’s wearing it too short or too long. Eyes are dawn to his hips, his good legs and that sporran … well … it’s really a purse to keep the car keys in.
However, that decorative, wee sharp knife, called in the Gaelic “Sgian-dubh” (skee- an- doo), is a remnant from four centuries ago, a gesture to friends to show that the only weapon he carries is not concealed …
Of course, there was a great music and dancing at that wedding. Boy, did they make those kilts swing!
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Reference:
http://www.scottishdance.net/highland/MakingKilt.html.
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Sgian-dubh
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/gathering/
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All text and photos by Meg
Story Twigs the Imagination! by Meg Philp is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Went to Edinburgh once in 1986 and happened upon a parade up the high street to the castle. What a glorious bit of serendipity! Later went to a highland games in Aberdeen. Love the pageantry, the tradition, the wildness (and my McFarland clan)!
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Thanks for visiting, scillagrace … something so stirring when there’s a pipe band marching along, tho’ I didn’t like to get too close to them when I was a kid.
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Another aspect of the kilt is the “swish” resulting from those swaggering hips!
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Thanks for adding this. I didn’t realise that most kilts are made up of 10 yards of fabric!
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I know they’re heavy!
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I love men in kilts……so attractive 🤗
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I do too … !
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Agreed! You definitely notice a man in kilt:)
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There is nothing like the sight of a man in a kilt! One of the best weddings I attended was one I wasn’t even invited to. I happened to be visiting Ruthin Castle in Wales, and heard the bagpipes and a single drum–oh, that is enough to stir the blood. We peeked from the sidelines, and it was very moving, and beautiful. Your photos are great, Meg–thank you for sharing!
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It was a lovely wedding. There’s a great photo of me with the piper, which I didn’t include. I stayed in a flat at the end of the Royal Mile.
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