Come, get your tartans kirked
November 19, 2010 · 4:24 PM
It’s not a skirt, but for some, even the proud, it takes a special occasion to break out the kilt.
“We don’t have too many things in Kitsap County where you can wear it and not be laughed at,” said Larry Dugan of Chico, an organizer for the seventh annual Kirking of the Tartans, a tradition dating back hundreds of years to when the English occupiers of Scotland banned tartans, the plaid designs worn to signify a person’s clan, or family.
In secret, the Scots wore a scrap of the tartan under their clothes and had them blessed in church, just one of the traditions to be honored Sunday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bremerton.
Not just Scots are invited, all are welcome. But those with Scottish heritage are encouraged to wear their kilts or family tartans. In addition to bagpipes, haggis will be served, the Scottish equivalent of lutefisk, a sort of oatmeal breakfast sausage served in an animal stomach.
Despite his fondness for Scotland, some traditions Dugan isn’t as fond of.
“I’d rather have Jimmy Dean,” he said.
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