I kept the kilt which I had bought outright rather than hired for my wedding.
On every anniversary now the 27th, after celebrating with my wonderful wife, I partake in the private ritual of trying to fit into my kilt.
Some years, when I have started to exercise early after the seasonal excesses, I have no trouble at all in adorning myself in the extensive wrap of the tartan cloth. Most years I have to settle for holding everything in for a few seconds and imagine being able to secure the buckles.
In this challenge I am perpetuating the true meaning of tartan.
Of course it is not the same struggle as that endured by William Wallace, Rob Roy and the multitude of Highland heroes but in my own pathetic way I am upholding part of the Scottish identity.
I do have Scots Ancestry and my decision to be wed in a kilt was part homage to my paternal grandmother from Wick (very top north east of Scotland) and partly because, as a male and confident in my own sexuality, I felt it necessary to wear a skirt in public.
For tartan and in particular the kilt there is quite an interesting history and heritage.
The true Highlanders, tough and wiry from having to eke out a living in the harsh environment of their home territory, are more likely to have worn as their everyday attire a rough plaid cloth which was nothing more than an all encompassing wrap held at the waist by a belt. It would have to be durable and capable of being worn in all terrains and with infrequent washing other than in the torrential downpours which typify the all year round Highland climate.
(Not Me in picture)Uprisings and rebellions against the English saw tartan synonymous with the sedition of noble savages, terrifying marauding hordes, border raiders and all out war. After the rout of Bonnie Prince Charlie the wearing of tartan was seen as abhorrent and was banned for a generation.
It was not until the Royal Visit in 1822 of King George IV to Scotland that tartan began to make a comeback.
The King insisted on wearing what was perceived as being the mythical outfit for a Highlander although his hosts must have been aghast at what was regarded as nothing more than a fancy dress costume.It was a clumsy attempt at bonding Hanoverian and Stuart dynasties.
The Scottish novelist, Sir Walter Scott, encouraged those attending the events of the King to dress in tartan not as followers of fashion but to represent a unified image of the nation, in effect as the national costume.
The twenty day Royal visit caught the imagination of Victorian Society already enamoured by an idealised romantic notion of the Highland culture through literature and art of the era. Ordinary folk were elevated to a super-race capable of great endurance, untainted by the social conventions of the time,
By this route tartan began to be rehabilitated.
Entrepreneurs and opportunists exploited the new markets and books on historic tartan weaves for specific clans were widely published although this was not the case in reality.
Tracing your clan links became an obsession for the English and also amongst those who had emigrated to the New World and wanted to retain some of their ancestry. Tartan was seen to enshrine the Scottish qualities and national characteristics of boldness, heroism and honour.
On my wedding day and on every celebration of that momentous occasion I like to think that I am following that tradition in my own way.
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