Why do Scotsmen call it a kilt? Because that’s what they did to the last guy who made fun of it.
That jibe from an Irish play should make even Scots titter. We’re a rough lot, sometimes.
Anyone can wear a kilt if they want. It shows respect. Ancestral and other connections are a plus.
Prince William is entitled to wear it even more than most, being the Lord of the Isles and the Duke of Rothesay. He went to the University of St Andrews. The problem is – he doesn’t want to wear it. Whether the plaid is too itchy, too draughty, too traditional, or too much like what Daddy does, he has not been seen wearing the fèileadh since he was quite young.
Are Scots bothered about this? Should we be bothered? Is it a slight against our great nation? Do we want him to wear a plaid around the royal midriff if he ventures north of the Roman wall into Alba?
Is it disrespectful of the Earl of Carrick and Baron of Renfrew not to do so? He is also the Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. Impressive. I’ve just been a bar steward myself.
William has the build for Highland dress and probably the knees. Should we make him wear it? We pay his wages.
One commentator says it was because he was forced to wear it when younger that he turned against the kilt. I think it was probably his old man who said he shouldn’t moan about it but just wear it – and to hurry up about it. King Charles wears the kilt whenever he is in Scotland and has done so at events south of Carlisle also.
The last thing anybody wants is the prince and princess being here but irrelevant, and everyone just waiting for them to get lost. What’s that called again? Oh yeah, doing a Nadine Dorries.
So, will the Prince and Great Steward of Scotland shun the Braemar Games in September? Probably. He cannot go to Highland games in chinos, surely? Actually, he can. Who cares?
If he’s going to be the working heir – and he is – then, as long as he makes some time in his diary for Scotland, why should we be bothered whether he wants to be a dull, foosty traditionalist like pater? Nationalists and pro-independence, non-SNP voters (of whom there seem to be so many now) who shouldn’t even want him in the first place will roar that we should. Most won’t care a jot.
Being Here Has Caused My Sorrow
I don’t care a jot about UFOs and little green men from other worlds. Yet, politicians in the USA are gripped by the claims of attention-seekers and failed pilots with only scant relevant experience who convinced them Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) invaders are already here. Crucially, these soft-centred boffins have produced not a shred of evidence, not even a Nessie-style blurred black and white photo. We’re not all doomed. Sorry, Private Frazer.
Aren’t most Americans just a bit gullible? Look at their politicians. Maybe they are all simply trying to divert the attention of the world away from something more serious which may be happening over there, and which they do not want to share with the rest of the world. I wonder what that could be?
And I wonder how online game producers The Chinese Room found Barra’s Gaelic songbird Maggie MacInnes’s evocative performance of the song Fath Mo Mhulaid A Bhith Ann. It’s now part of the haunting atmosphere in the moody trailer for their new game, Still Wakes The Deep, which was recently released around the world across social media. Let me translate.
“Ship of white, do not refuse to ferry me
I cannot walk to the Western Islands
Being here has caused my sorrow”
That could be just another breakdown on the CalMac ferry and WhatsApped tearfully from Oban pier. Fath Mo Mhulad A Bhith Ann or Being Here Has Caused My Sorrow. On Barra, that’s now just I’m Fed Up Here. The Barrachs of Brevig love brevity.
The song repeats that Gaelic title and line – a lot. You know, like Pump Up the Jam, or Macarena by Los Del Rio which was, of course, one of the most iconic songs of the 1990s. Hey, Macarena. The chorus is just simple phrases that are repeated multiple times throughout the song.
Then there’s the Irish ditty The Rattlin’ Bog. If you want to get any party, Celtic or otherwise, off to a good start, just play that. Better still, get talented musicians who have learnt the words off YouTube to play and sing it. Surefire winner, to be sure.
Finally, as we have been discussing certain Scottish apparel, I must ask – what’s the difference between a Scotsman and Walt Disney? A Scotsman wears a kilt and Walt Disney.
Iain Maciver is a former broadcaster and news reporter from the Outer Hebrides
