Rudders at Home

The boys in my wedding wore kilts. And I loved it. Particularly the boy on the left. Since then, I’ve been trying to get Paul back into a kilt every chance I get.

Believe it or not, it happens more often than you would think.

Each time we need a kilt, we have to rent one. Unfortunately we’ve found that renting a kilt down here in London can be a bit awkward and complicated. Wait a minute, I bet you’re thinking – rent a kilt? Didn’t he come with one? No, no, they’re not built in, and that’s exactly what I thought when the first black tie do came around. I soon discovered that’s not how it worked at all.

Problems that arise from renting are numerous. Besides the obvious fact that everyone and their brother has worn the kilt before you, there’s the crucial bit that you might not be able to find the correct tartan. Apart from that there are other things, such as the quality of the accoutrements. The sporran may be a bit low quality, the shoes may not fit well, the coat may be a bit worn, there are kilt hose to think about as well and to top it off, the person fitting you may not know the proper way and you could end up with a kilt way too short!

I’ve also found good reason to believe that a black tie event is not required in order to wear a kilt. One could happily wear one to a ceilidh, or a wedding, or anytime you might want to look smarter than average. (That’s better looking than average, not more intelligent!)

This has brought me (and Paul) to the conclusion that it would simply be best to invest in a kilt of his own. Not only would it be nice to have things on hand here in London, but when we eventually move to the States, I have a feeling we won’t be able to rent a kilt at the drop of a hat.

And so, my kilt project was born.

Buying a kilt isn’t as straightforward as you may think, especially when you live in London and the man wearing the kilt tends to be a bit snobby about some things. There are tons of things that go into it, and these items will vary depending on what ocaission you’re dressing for.

There are:

• The Kilt (obviously)
• The Kilt Hose (socks)
• The belt and belt buckle (to keep the thing up!)
• The sgian dubh or skean dhu, or skeen dhu or knife, or whatever you want to call it. (in case you want a snack, or need to defend your honor!)
• The sporran (to keep you bits and bobs in)
• The brogues (the shoes)
• The kilt pin (to make sure the kilt doesn’t fly open! – I saw a guy lose his mid-dance at a ceilidh once – oh boy!)
• The flashes  (to keep those hose up!)
• The stuff for on top: shirt and tie, jacket, and vest/waistcoat

Now that’s a lot of stuff!

The plan is to get things gradually, one at a time, simply because things can be expensive, and Paul can be a bit picky about where we get them. We will mostly only be buying items in Scotland, so we have to be patient about actually acquiring these things.

As we start to invest in things, I’ll then blog about them. I’m strangely proud of the idea of Paul and his kilt, and I think it will be quite an interesting experience. There’s a lot for me to learn. Also, as you can see, there’s quite a bit that goes into traditional Scottish dress like this, and I thought this would be a good place to record the 21st century version of the process. Not to mention the fact that if we’re doing it, it’s guaranteed to be an experience!

So, don’t hold your breath, as things may move slowly, but please enjoy the posts that come under this subject in the future.

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We took a country drive today and ended up at Chartwell, which isn’t too far from us. Chartwell was Winston Churchill’s family home. He bought it in 1922 and it now is being taken care of by the National Trust. It’s just down the road from us and we’ve been meaning to get there to have a look since we got the car last year.

There are two main bits to see when you go – the house and the garden. The gardens were definitely the highlight. The house was ok, but not fabulous. Perhaps it was because it was really busy that I was put off a bit. Entry is by timed ticket, which means you have a fifteen minute window to get into the house. Then you can stay in as long as you want – and boy were people sticking around. Getting in wasn’t the problem, it was moving around once you were in. People just were not moving along. Slow shuffle was definitely the speed of the day. There wasn’t much in the way of “house” to see inside, there were a couple dressed rooms, but then the rest was set up as a sort of museum to Churchill. I might have been more appreciative of it had there not been so many people. I thought the gardens were much better.

The amount of space and land was what struck you as you drove in to the place. That was what I liked about Knole Park as well. But not only did Chartwell have space, it was also beautifully landscaped, with other smaller garden areas throughout. My favorite bit was Lady Churchill’s Rose Garden. Not to mention the swimming pool, which is one of the first things you see as you walk into the property.

As big as the space was, it did seem rather homely. It wasn’t nearly as ostentatious as you would think. In fact, the interior was quite humble, and one of the gardens actually had – gasp! – vegetables in it! That was nice to see, considering I haven’t seen a proper growing garden in long long time.

I enjoyed it. If only there weren’t so many people!

Some more pictures from the gardens:

There are further pictures in the gallery.

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The first thing that struck me when I got off the train at Glasgow Central Station was the number of warm coats which greeted us. That and the distinct lack of tartan, shortbread tins, heilan coos, Scottie dogs, Nessies and any tourist tat in general. It was a bit of a novelty for me, and surprisingly refreshing. Although, I did wonder a bit at what country I had landed in. Surely this wasn’t Scotland!

Walking through town to our hotel (we stayed in the Hilton Glasgow! I’d recommend it, but the drinks were overpriced!) the banter around me instantly reminded me that I was indeed in Scotland. 😛

We checked in and then headed out to discover the town. We had a few hours to kill before heading down to Glasgow Green to see Radiohead, so we made our way up to Sauchiehall Street. Sauchiehall Street is Glasgow’s big shopping street. It’s where you can find all the shopping malls, etc. We spent a lot of time on Sauchiehall Street while we were in Glasgow, and while shopping there I experienced some of the best customer service ever in the UK. I was very impressed and would love to go back even just for that!

We didn’t do a lot of touring in Glasgow, but we did see a few things other than Sauchiehall Street and Glasgow Green. We made a brief stop in The Barras, which is Glasgow’s market. That was an interesting wander – it certainly wasn’t Camden, but we enjoyed it! We also had a look around the People’s Palace, a museum about the people of Glasgow.

We also took in some Charles Rennie Mackintosh while we were in the city. We didn’t see as much as I would have liked, but we found we ran out of time. On our last day, we stopped by the Willow Tea Rooms for our lunch. The Willow Tea Rooms were designed by Mackintosh. As industrial as Glasgow’s history is, it is an artistic city, and evidence of this is everywhere.  Street musicians were found all over the place (and I only saw one person playing bagpipes!) and numerous music and art shops all over.

The best bits about Glasgow were definitely the banter, the customer service and the sheer fact that it’s undeniably Scotland – even without all the extra tartan! It was a brilliant place, but almost a polar opposite to Edinburgh. It’s definitely the place to visit for art and music, but if you’re looking for kilts and shortbread, Edinburgh’s the place to go.

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…people were going bananas!!

I kid you not. There were two people dressed as bananas in front of us. What’s even more interesting, and what you can’t see in this picture, was their friend, the carrot. The carrot was just to the left of the pair. Check it out…

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Not a proper holiday, but I’m headed to Glasgow for a bit. Specifically, Paul and I are going up to see Radiohead. However, I’m excited to vist the city. I’ve never been to Glasgow before, and I’m interested in the prospect. Paul reckons I’m an east coast girl all the way, but who can tell until I’ve been to the other side?

I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. Should be a good weekend – maybe I’ll even find that elusive deep fried Mars bar…

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