Milwaukee Highland Games

Saturday was the Milwaukee Scottish Fest (formerly the Milwaukee Highland Games). I had a great time! My dad came with, but unfortunately didn't wear a kilt. I'm starting to think the only way to get him in one is to require it at my wedding... Anyway, here is what I looked like in my kilt.

Pretty good, if I do say so myself. Brown shoes (brand new!), green hose with red flashes, Cumming hunting kilt (courtesy of the Zor Shiners) with custom tooled harp sporran made by my friend John Hay, a utility belt from Home Depot, green shirt, and crail jacket conversion that my mom and I did last winter.

Here I am in with a fellow clansman in front of the Gordon tent.


The Shamrock Club performed, I piped in the parade with my clan, there was bagpipe competitions, falconry demonstrations, heavy athletics, dance competitions, haggis, Scotch tasting, and good friends. What more could you ask for?!? Unfortunately, there were some things that embarrassed me. As I mentioned in a previous post, some people like to take the Romanticism a bit too far. Ladies and gentlemen, Exhibit A:
Man, what's with that? The comical (almost Anime-esque) hammer, the Renaissance Faire clothes, the drinking horn. I could go on and on. It's like Brigadoon meets Braveheart. Speaking of Braveheart, I saw this DVD for sale also. "William Wallace: the True Story". And on the cover, men in kilts. Wrong, wrong, WRONG!. Ok, a DVD, I can let slide. They're supposed to be entertaining, although using "The True Story" is pretty low when it's not even true. Another think that really rubbed me the wrong way was the "How to fold a kilt" demonstration. This was both a "How to wear the great kilt" demonstration and a kilt history lesson. Sadly, only one was accurate. The presenter shared his "knowledge" with the attentive crowd, which included such gems as:

-Kilts have been worn for thousands of years by the Celtic ethnicity
-The kilt was banned in the 16th century, only to be repealed 150 years later
-Prima Noctis was used to "breed out" the Celts (he actually referenced Braveheart on this one!!!)
-The Romans built Hadrian's Wall because of the Celts fearsome fighting, where they would remove their kilt and fight naked

Ugh. Let me address these one-by-one.

1) "Kilts have been worn for thousands of years by the Celtic ethnicity"

False. Kilts, especially great kilts, are a uniquely SCOTTISH HIGHLAND garment that has only been recorded for about 500 years (1578, to be exact). Source: http://albanach.org/kilt.html

2) "The kilt was banned in the 16th century, only to be repealed 150 years later"

False. The Act of Proscription (effectively banning all Highland culture and gun owning) was signed in 1747 and repealed in 1782. Source: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/proscription_1747.htm

3) "Primae Noctis was used to "breed out" the Celts." (he actually referenced Braveheart on this one!!!)

False. Jus primae noctis certainly did not exist in either England or Scotland during this period. It could never have been implemented by any 13th century monarch. The Church would have had a fit. Primae Noctis went out with the Romans around the 4th century. Source: http://www.baronage.co.uk/bphtm-01/wallace3.html

4) "The Romans built Hadrian's Wall because of the Celts fearsome fighting, where they would remove their kilt and fight naked."

False. First of all, the people living in Scotland during the Roman era were Picts, not Celts. Secondly, as mentioned before, kilts were not around yet. They probably wore a leine. And the wall was built to keep out raiding parties, not because of a naked Scotsman. Source: http://www.hadrians-wall.org/

So yeah, it was a bit upsetting, but all in all, I had a great time at the Highland Games--er, Scottish Fest, despite the tornado-strength wind and 9 inches of rain that cut it short. Next up: the Chicago Highland Games!