Kith is a long-standing Scottish term used to refer to friends or acquaintances.
Category: Uniquely Scottish (page 3 of 4)
This section of the blog focuses on things that are primarily Scottish in nature.
Seann Triubhas pronounced “shawn trews” means old trousers and is a Scottish National Dance. It is symbolizes ridding oneself of trousers and getting into a kilt. Follow this link to see a performance of Seann Triubhas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22qjzuum-tQ
Dirk is another name for a dagger. Scottish Highlanders carried dirks.
Caledonia (kaledonia) was an early name for the area that eventually became known as Scotland. It is often used as a reference to Scotland these days. The first time I heard it was in a song by Celtic Women. I thought it an odd name for a man but eventually found out it was a song about love for the country not for a man.
A Tartan is a textile pattern consisting of stripes of varying widths and colors crossed at right angles. Each design (sett) is distinctive and associated with a specific clan. No two clan tartans are identical. Thus, a knowledgeable person can tell what clan you are associated with by the tartan you are wearing. Of course, things have loosened up a bit and some entities have tartans that are not clans at all. For instance, the tartan shown here is the official Carolina tartan.
All of the participants in a Scottish Highland Games wear kilts. Most of them wear tartan kilts like the one pictured above. The pattern of the weave varies according to the clan a Scotsman belongs to (Wallace in this case). There are more than 6600 official tartan patterns.
The Clan Chief determines a given clan’s approved pattern. It is almost the only thing a Clan Chief can decide on his/her own these days. In addition to a kilt, ladies wear a sash. It is conventionally worn over the right shoulder. There are some exceptions. If the lady is a Clan Chief, the sash is to be worn over the left shoulder. If a sash hampers movement or the playing of an instrument, it may be worn over the left shoulder. It is considered improper to wear several tartan patterns at the same time (say an ancient pattern with a hunting pattern).
In everyday use, men and women have begun to wear “kilts” that are not woven in a tartan pattern. These kilts may be solid in color, have pockets, and so forth.
