Blue Bonnet Tartan Weddings

28/08/2026

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The night before a Highland wedding, the women of the township came for the bride's feet. 🕯️

It was called the feet washing, nighe nan cas, and it happened right across the Highlands and Islands and up into Orkney and Shetland. On the eve of the wedding the women arrived at the bride's house with a wooden tub and water warmed on the fire, and she was sat down on a low creepie stool and her feet were washed for her by the married women of the place.

There was nothing solemn about it. The accounts are full of laughing. Somebody would drop a ring into the tub and the unmarried girls would go scrabbling through the water after it, because whoever found it was said to be the next one wed. In some districts the bride's future mother in law did the washing herself, which was its own kind of statement, and in others the older women took the chance to say a great many things to the bride that they would never have said in front of the men.

The young men had their own version, and it was considerably rougher. Soot, grease, whatever came to hand, and a lad marched round the township in a state. In the Lowlands that end of it grew into a custom people still recognise today. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

But it is the women's half I find myself thinking about. Strip away the fun and look at what is actually happening in that room. A young woman is about to leave one household and enter another, and before she goes, every woman in the place puts her hands into the same water and touches her. Nobody ever had to explain what it meant. She was theirs, they were sending her, and they were sending her clean.

We have lost most of these. They went quietly, in a single generation, when people moved to the towns and weddings moved to hotels.

But somebody in your line sat on a low stool by a peat fire with her feet in a tub, surrounded by laughing women, on the last night she was a girl in her mother's house.

07/08/2026

Summer wedding in Brisbane? Here’s some tips about how to keep cool while wearing a kilt.

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04/08/2026

Shoes with a kilt. This fantastic guide from Thistle Shoes lays out the choices available. My advice for weddings has always been to go with what will work for you depending on the ceremony space and whether you will be dancing later. But don’t forget that Wellies are always acceptable with a kilt if push comes to shove and the weather gods decide to be unkind!

https://www.thistleshoes.com/choosing-the-right-kilt-shoes-for-every-occasion/

PS you may have to tap on the little icon to open each photo

When it comes to completing your Scottish outfit, choosing the right kilt shoes makes all the difference. The appropriateness of your brogues depends on the occasion—whether it’s a wedding, formal event, or casual gathering. Traditionally, ghillie brogues have been the go-to choice for their aut...

30/07/2026

How to wear a fly plaid

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20/06/2026

Interesting background to clan tartans

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Your tartan is not a pattern. It is a language. And every thread in it is telling you exactly who you are and where you come from.

The association between specific tartan patterns and individual Scottish clans is one of the most recognizable aspects of Scottish identity in the world today — but its history is more complex, more contested, and ultimately more fascinating than most people realize. In the medieval and early modern Highlands, tartan was primarily a regional marker rather than a clan one. The dyes available in a particular glen determined the colors, and the local weaver determined the pattern. If you could identify a man's tartan, you knew roughly where he came from — not necessarily which family he belonged to.

The specific locking of tartan patterns to individual clans as a formal system largely crystallized in the early 19th century, particularly around the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 — an event stage-managed largely by Sir Walter Scott, who turned the royal visit into a pageant of Highland culture and essentially invited every clan chief to present their clan in full Highland dress. The problem was that many clans had no single definitive recorded pattern. Weavers, clan societies, and tartan merchants scrambled to produce and register designs. Some patterns have genuine deep roots. Others were essentially invented for the occasion. Both kinds are now equally cherished.

What matters is what the tartan became. In the hands of the Scottish diaspora — scattered across Canada, America, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond by famine, clearance, and ambition — the tartan became the single most portable piece of Scotland a family could carry. It needed no translation. It asked no questions about language or religion or political loyalty. It simply said: I know who I am. I know where I come from. And I have not forgotten.

When you wear your tartan, you are not wearing a costume. You are wearing a conversation across centuries between yourself and every ancestor who carried that name before you. 🌿

What is your clan tartan? Drop your surname below and let's celebrate the names that built Scotland.

27/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1B6Wza3bQN/

16/05/2026

It’s World Wh**ky Day!

14/04/2026

Loch Lomond. The finale to a Scottish wedding.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT0uXPECBip/

09/04/2026

It’s National Unicorn Day.

The unicorn is Scotland's official national animal, chosen for its symbolism of purity, innocence, power, and chivalry in Celtic mythology.

It has been on the royal coat of arms since the 12th century, representing strength and independence. Scottish heraldry always depicts the unicorn with a gold chain, to symbolise the belief that Scottish kings have the power to tame wild beasts.

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Raise a multi-coloured glass to National Unicorn Day! 🦄🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (aye, it really is)

05/02/2026

Planning to marry someone who has no Scots heritage? And plan to include a handfasting? Here’s a heads-up There may well be an appropriate tartan for both of you

I’m currently working with a Scottish/Polish couple and this tartan is a distinct possibility



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🇵🇱🇵🇱 Polish Tartan Made To Measure Kilt. by Braw Kilts 🇵🇱🇵🇱

Complimented With Black Leather Straps and Black Matte Buckles.

A bit about the tartan:
The association between Poland and Scotland dates from as far back as the 15th Century when Scots Merchants first settled in the free port of Gdansk. In the 16th Century, many Scots fought for Poland in the wars against Sweden and by the 18th Century as many as 30,000 Scots were estimated to be living in Poland. Although few Poles have visited Scotland in this period, that changed dramatically with the advent of the Second World War, when tens of thousands of Polish Troops were stationed throughout Scotland. The natural affinity between these two peoples saw many Poles settle in Scotland and assimilate into Scottish society. With Poland’s ascension into the European Union, that trend continues to this day and Scotland is a popular choice for Polish People seeking a new life. The Polish Tartan has been designed and woven as a gift to the people of Poland and to those of Polish descent who have chosen Scotland as their home. The colours of the tartan combine the colours of the Scottish and Polish Flags. For Polish people worldwide and those who associate themselves with Poland. Approved by Consul-General Alexander Dietkow.

Tartan & Bio from International Tartans

Braw Kilts