The Sgian Dubh is a small edged knife, usually 3-4 inches in length, that is worn as part of the traditional Highland dress tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the handle visible. It’s origins are fairly unclear, although it is now a purely ornamental item, most communally applied with an underage blade, that is an essential part of the full Highland outfit.

The word sgian dubh, pronounced ‘skee-an doo’, translates from Gaelic to ‘black knife’. This is usually derived as meaning a ‘hidden’ blade, with the black being used much the same way as in black market or blackmail. This is further given credence when compared to other Gaelic words, such as dubh-fhacal translated as ‘riddle’ or ‘hidden word’, or dubh-cheist translated as ‘enigma’ or ‘hidden question’.

One theory behind the origins of the sgian dubh is that the knife evolved form another blade carried by the Highlanders, the sgian achlais. Slightly larger than the sgian dubh and likely a close relative of the dirk, the sgian achlais was carried on the upper sleeve or concealed within the jacket. During this time etiquette demanded that a guest would reveal any weapons upon entering their hosts home. As such the knife would instead be placed on display, but still within reach, usually within the top of the hose.

The sgian dubh also has a lot in common with a more practical utility blade, used for cutting fruit. food or for skinning. When the Highland Dress Proscription Act came into effect after the Battle of Culloden, it was made illegal for Highlanders to bear arms of any kind. The relatively small size of the sgian dubh was deemed acceptable and it therefore became a popular utility knife for everyday use.

The early blades varied in construction, some having a “clipped”, such as found on the Bowie knife or “drop” point. The “spear-point” tip has now become universal. The earliest known blades, some housed in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, are made from German or Scandinavian steel, which was highly prized by the Highlanders. Scalloped filework on the back of the blade is common on all Scottish knives. Most early sgian dubhs are shown to have used stag horn for the construction of the handle, as it was a readily available and hardwearing.

Since the modern sgian dubh is only used in a ceremonial capacity the blades tend to be of a simple construction with a blunted edge and are typically made from stainless steel. The hilts on modern sgian dubhs are made form a variety of materials. The lower quality versions usually utilise a molded resin or plastic, which lowers the price but also the quality. The mid range again dubhs tend to utilise more traditional materials such as real stag horn(generally collected as it is is naturally shed, so no harm is caused to the animals at all), which is renowned for it’s hardiness, or carved wood. On the higher end of the scale full metal handles are used, generally featuring some kind of coloured stone, such as a cairngorm.

Here at ScotClans we sell a fine range of Scottish made sgian dubhs in various styles and finishes and we are sure we will have the right one for you. Something to keep in mind, as with a kilt, is a good sgian dubh will last more than a lifetime and can make a fantastic heirloom to pass down to your children. One of my prized possessions is my fathers sgian dubh.

Come take a look at our full range of sgian dubhs HERE

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The Opening Ceremony

2015 GMHG Torch Light Ceremony

The Parade of the Tartans

Massed Bands

2015 GMHG Kirkin’ of the Tartan

2015 GMHG Heavy Athletics

2015 GMHG Festival Teaser

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The Atholl Highlanders are Europe’s only legally recognised private army, although merely a ceremonial regiment and not officially part of the British Army they were awarded colours.

Atholl Highlanders at the 2009 Gathering

The Regiment evolved from the 77th Regiment of the Foot who were raised by the 4th Duke of Atholl in 1777 (not to be confused with an earlier 77th – Mongomeries Highlanders or a later one – the Middlesex Regiment) . This date will be familiar to any scholars of American history since this was a time when the Brits were quite busy attempting to deal with those pesky colonial types on that side of the Atlantic. They were also about to have their already full hands made even fuller by the French and Spanish jumping in too.

Enter the 77th! (sort of)

Unfortunately the regiment didn’t quite make it to the heart of the fighting. Formed as a relief regiment they spent most of their time over in Ireland waiting to be called into the fray. Under the conditions on which the men signed up they were supposed to serve for either three years or the duration of the war with America. In 1781 at the end of their term of service the men were all expecting to return home, however they were transported to England and marched down to Portsmouth ready to embark on a long sea voyage to the West Indies. This was too much for the men of the 77th who promptly mutinied and refused to go. Exasperated their commanders marched them back to Berwick and the regiment was disbanded in 1783, thus ended the less than glorious history of the 77th.

And that would have been the end of it had it not been for, of all people, the Earl of Eglington. In 1839 the Earl had been rather miffed that the year before Queen Victoria’s coronation had been a rather drab affair by normal standards and the traditional banquet had been cancelled after George IV’s coronation nosh up ended in most of the silverware going missing afterwards.

The Earl decided to put on a tournament at Elgington house in Ayrshire. This being the height of the Gothic revival the while thing was to include a medieval jousting competition. Alas this early forerunner of ‘The Gathering’ ran into several problems including the weather and the events own popularity which ended up with most of Ayrshire gridlocked.

Nevertheless one of the ideas planned for the tournament was for a ceremonial guard, The 6th Duke of Atholl, also Lord Glenlyon offered to supply this and the regiment was reborn as the Atholl Highlander’s. As a purely ceremonial guard the  regiment performed several duties such as escorting Queen Victoria during her tour of Perthshire in 1844 and while a guest at Blair Castle.

In recognition of the service performed by the Highlanders, All local volunteers raised from around the estate the Queen agreed to award them with colours and this was presented by Lady Glenlyon.

The only private army in Europe have withstood the times and indeed are still there albeit 100 strong when many other famous Scottish Regiments have long since disappeared. Many of those who have volunteered with the regiment have seen active service elsewhere, for instance serving with other regiments during both world wars.

So if you ever get into a standup fight with the Duke of Atholl and feel tempted to utter the phrase ‘oh yeah, you and whose army?’ you might want to rethink that strategy.

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I don’t think there is anywhere on earth that can compete with it, it’s a magical place.

Walking in the Rain near Tyndrum

Last week we packed up our camper van and began our journey North-West. We decided to take a two day rest stop on the way by Tyndrum. This scattering of houses on the road north is a popular stop; the West Highland Way has it’s halfway point here and the famous Green Welly stop has become an institution for those travelling along this way. We drove through blazing sunshine all the way and within minutes of arriving the skies darkened over and rain began to fall… typical!

Never mind though, the Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum which serves the best fish and chips in the highlands was a short walk from our camping spot and we spent our free day taking a walk up through the woods to explore the path to Ben Lui.

With the van batteries charged and ready to cope with a few days of rough camping we set off for Arisaig. The journey to this remote part of the North-West highlands is like a history lesson in tarmac. From Tyndrum the road climbs up towards Rannoch Moor and then into Glencoe. Several miles of twisting road opens out at Fort William, a sprawling highland town that was once part of the government’s ‘quieting’ of the highlands but is now an economic and tourist hub for the area. Breaking away from the main route to Inverness you venture into a Jacobite story book; The Glenfinnan monument where Charles Edward Stuart raised the standard and lit the blue touch paper of the rebellion of 1745 and just a few miles further on Loch Nan Uamh where the Jacobite adventure both began and ended on mainland Scotland.

A Picnic Spot at Loch Eilt

On the way we found a quiet lay by to stop for a short picnic. Loch Eilt is a beautiful location and one that might be familiar with Harry Potter fans. A small island in the loch featured as the site of Dumbledore’s grave. There are even more obvious links to the boy wizard on this route too of course, the Glenfinnan viaduct made famous in the second movie and you are almost guaranteed to spot the steam train that takes tourists from Fort William to Mallaig at some point – the train that doubled for the Hogwarts Express.

By the afternoon we had left the main road and we were bumping up and down over the twisting beach road to the site of Arisaig Games.

The Beaches by Arisaig

As locations go Arisaig has one of the best for a highland games you could imagine. From the back of the field you can look over stunning beaches to the Cuillins of Skye and the island of Eigg. This is a useful feature; when the island of Eigg disappears as it often does its time to find shelter!

With every campsite in the area full (and there are many of them) we were fortunate to be allowed to camp on the corner of the games area. ScotClans would be running a stand at the games a few days later. For now though we had a very interesting engagement to attend, the Clanranald barbecue.

On the map Castle Tioram looks like a short hop, even faster by boat but a twisting route along single track roads. Our ageing camper van struggled valiantly over the difficult terrain and after a bone shaking last few miles we arrived at the castle, well not quite the castle but the mainland across from it. Tioram sits on a tidal island and is cut off for a few hours at high tide, unfortunately the tide was coming in so ourselves and many guests had to take off socks and shoes to wade across to the island. in time several boats arrived with more guests and others were ferried over as the gathering began.

Guests Arrive by Boat

In my time I’ve met a lot of clans folk from the highlands and the lowlands, I’ve passed the time of day with many a clan chief but the Clanranald MacDonalds are from a mould that was broken a long time ago. They are welcoming, gracious but absolutely bonkers! Refreshing, hedonistic and above all great fun to be around.

under the presence of the magnificent castle a marquee had been erected. with the sun starting to go down I was keen to explore around the castle and was rewarded with some great shots in the fading light. Tioram is a fantastic ruin but still well preserved in its structural integrity, so much so that restoring the castle would not be impossible or prohibitively expensive. Imagine being the first to spend a night there in a wind and watertight dwelling in nearly 300 years!

Castle Tioram

The night soon fell and the tide once again revealed the sandy causeway back to the mainland and guests began to drift away, Fortunately for us our home for the night was just a short walk as we made use of the fact we had brought the camper van and spent the night in the small car park. While helping to clear up and taking back the camping chairs we had loaned for the night Amanda and I had discovered a large unsmoked cigar tucked in the cup holder. With the kids safely tucked in we stole an hour sharing a cigar and watching the last of the light fade behind the castle. We felt like a couple of naughty kids!

The next day we took a stroll along the beach and helped take down the marquee on the island before retracing our bone shaking journey back to Arisaig. There was more work to do here with another marquee to erect but in no time all was nearly ready for the games.

Arisaig Games

The wonderful thing about small highland games is the way they involve the community, everyone and his dog lends a hand and things may look chaotic but this is very deceptive. There is a method in the madness and in no time everything comes together. ScotClans had been asked here to take part in a new venture for these games, to provide an area that was more focussed on ancestry and heritage. With our experience of Grandfather Mountain Games we decided to replicate much of what COSCA does there and provide assistance tracing peoples clan roots. We also set up a small stall of clan merchandise in the hope that a few sales would at least cover our fuel costs.

The ScotClans Stand, Somewhere in There

The few hours we had there were well spent and the stand was busy right up to the end of the day. We had erected a large world map and invited visitors to place a sticker where they had come from. by the and of the day our map had stickers from Canada to Samoa and many interesting and unusual places in between. It was incredible to imagine how people from so many far flung lands had all descended on this little field beside a beach in the highlands of Scotland and for us it was a symbol of just how far our great Scottish Diaspora have travelled from these shores.

Hopefully our experiment worked and in a few months time we will be replicating this at Cowal Gathering at Dunoon. Our next stop though will be Killin games in a few day time as guests of Clan MacNab.

If you happen to be in that part of Perthshire please drop in and say hello.

To see more photos from our trip please visit our Flikr Gallery

The post ScotClans on the Road to the Isles appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

As well playing a significant role in shaping Scottish history, the declaration’s confirmation of kingship, independence and the rights of the people is said to have formed the basis of the American Declaration of Independence. Today the day is celebrated with a variety of different events hosted by various clan and Scots heritage societies. Here’s a quick round up of snaps from this years celebrations:

Super Selfie from New York Tartan Day Parade
Simon Fraser University (B.C.) Pipe Band drum major Jason Paguio led the Tunes of Glory band at Saturday’s New York Tartan Day Parade and decided to snap a photo as the parade wound its way through Manhattan. “I was hoping I wouldn’t get into trouble,” Paguio said with a chuckle. You can view a news report form the New York festivities here.

McGregors, McAlisters and McIntyres in attendance in WA
About 75 people gathered on the steps of the Legislative Building in Olympia, Washington State on Sunday. The event featured bagpipe music, a reading of a National Tartan Day resolution and a group performance of “Scotland the Brave”.

Thousands celebrate Celtic heritage at Tartan Day South
The fourth annual Tartan Day South Highland Games was held at the Celtic Festival in Cayce, Columbia on Saturday. Thousands flowed in for this year’s event, part of the four-day Tartan Day festivities that also featured a movie night Thursday and concert Friday at West Columbia’s Riverwalk Amphitheater. The festivities concluded Sunday with the Kirkin of the Tartans, a worship service.

Weekend of events in Arbroath kick off Tartan Day Scotland Festival
A weekend of special events marking the heritage and culture of Angus attracted crowds of people to Arbroath. A re-enactment of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath by the medieval nobles of Scotland took place within the walls of Arbroath Abbey for the first time in several years. You can view a video here.

Minneapolis Mayor Hodges honored for Scottish roots
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges was Guest of Honor Saturday at Saturday’s Tartan Day event, which recognizes Scottish history and culture. She wore a sash of her clan’s Modern Red Morrison tartan for the event, held at the state Capitol. In a Facebook post, Hodges said she has lots of Scottish blood:

I was so touched to be the honored guest at Minnesota Tartan Day. I have Scottish heritage from both sides of my family, Clan Morrison on my father Morrison Hodges’ side and Clan Nicholson on my mother Aj Hodges’ side. I think I first knew I was Scottish when the bagpipers played Amazing Grace at my grandfather’s funeral. The second time was when I went to Scotland and for the first time in my Minnesota-raised life I was around a bunch of people who kinda sorta looked like me.

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Scotland’s original strongman, Donald Dinnie (1837–1916).

Organisers of the Aboyne Highland Games have issued a plea for help tracking down an elusive Highland Games competitor. The strongman is one of the only known people in the world to complete a historic Highland Games event, described by some as the ‘holy grail’ of weightlifting.

Slovakian muscleman Peter Puszer, a competitive weightlifter who also holds the title of the strongest man in Slovakia, was last known to be working in an Aberdeen hotel kitchen. The 5ft 7ins, 300lbs champion is one of the only people in the world to have successfully completed the Dinnie Stones challenge at last years Scottish Stones of Strength World Challenge. Organisers of the games have since been unable to track him down.

The Dinnie Stones, or Stanes, are named after Donald Dinnie, who is said to be one of the world’s greatest strongmen with 20 Highland Games championships to his name. He was a founding member of the Aboyne Games in 1867 and is famed for carrying the stones more than four metres over Potarch Bridge near Aboyne. Dinnie has been recognised as the 19th century’s greatest athlete with a career spanning over 50 years.

Games chairman Ian Scott said: “We know that Peter Puszer has been successful in carrying the stones unassisted in the past and we would like to invite him to do the same again at the Aboyne Highland Games this year to see if he is still up to the challenge.

“We know that he used to work in a kitchen at an Aberdeen hotel, so someone must know where he is now.

“I would like to urge anyone with information about his whereabouts to please get in touch so that we can extend to him the invitation.”

Anyone who can help trace Mr Puszer is asked to get in touch with organisers via the Aboyne Highland Games Facebook page.

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Lord Sempill will be attending the 2013 Stone Mountain Game

Every year during the third week of October, you’d be forgiven for thinking a little piece of Atlanta was in fact a little piece of Scotland. Over one weekend, the picturesque grounds of Atlanta’s Stone Mountain Park meadow resound with the sounds of bagpipes, fiddles and harps, as it plays host to one of the biggest Highland Games events in the world.

With only two weeks to go until the beginning of the 41st annual Stone Mountain Highland Games, half a world away in Scotland, Jamie, Lord Sempill is preparing to make the trek to his third international Highland Games event for 2013. “I’m coming back to America for a second time. Rain stopped play at Grandfather Mountain Games in July, so I’m coming back for a dry game – and I don’t mean no alcohol.” For American clans attending Stone Mountain, they’ll have the chance to meet with Jamie and who will be happy to share one of Scotland’s finest offerings, a dram of single malt whisky.

Lord Sempill comes from one of Scotland’s oldest families and has been actively involved in the international clan network for fifteen years. As the driving force behind Edinburgh’s 2009 Clan Gathering, Lord Sempill attracted 42,000 people from around the world to the event, which was described as the largest recorded international clan gathering. The Gathering also included a clan convention which became the largest meeting on record of Scotland’s clan chiefs. He’s certainly got his finger on the pulse in the world of the clans – as an active member of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, an honorary member of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations, Inc., and a board director at the American Scottish Foundation.

Over the years Lord Sempill has seen the relationship grow and prosper between the international clan network and Scotland, with his latest venture yet another step in building those ties. He’s currently working in collaboration with Macdonald & Rees, a new Scotland-based ancestral tourism company who specialise in providing the ultimate ancestral journey – bespoke visits to Scotland based on an individuals clan genealogy. Lord Sempill says that for many descendents around the world, tracing your roots can be a daunting prospect. “For many with Scottish ancestry, it’s a lifelong dream to travel to Scotland and discover family history and ancestral connections. Macdonald and Rees provide descendents with expert historians and genealogists on the ground, that ensure an incredibly meaningful and insightful visit home. Whether an individual or a family group, we can reconnect you to the world of your ancestors.” Jamie recently led a group of Clan Rose descendents to their ancestral homeland just east of Inverness, where they met with Clan chief Chief and 26th Baron of Kilravock, David Rose.

This year thousands of Scottish descendents will don their family tartans and make the trip to Stone Mountain, where two days of Highland Games competitions will take place including the ever-popular heavyweight events, piping, drumming and Highland dance competitions. There will also be a parade of the tartans and Clan Challenge athletic events, open to any attendees. The guest of honour, Margaret Elliot of Redheugh Chief of Clan Elliot will also be making the trip from Scotland. As well as Lord Sempill, other distinguished guests include Andrew Morrison – Viscount Dunrossil, Lord Montgomerie – Younger of Montgomerie and David Rose Chief of Clan Rose.

Lord Sempill and Mike McAlpin at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, 2013

Attendees will also have the chance to find out more about their genealogy in the clan information area, with 65 clans and family associations confirmed in attendance. You’ll most likely find Lord Sempill at the Scottish Heritage USA tent, however he will be making visits to clan association tents. “The torrential rain stopped play at Grandfather Mountain, so I didn’t get to speak to a lot of the clans who were there. I’m especially interested in meeting those who want to make the trip to trace their roots and discover Scotland.”

For more information on the Stone Mountain games, view our event listing over at TartanFootprint.com where you can also download the schedule of events and get in touch with Lord Sempill directly.

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This year the competitors had to toss a much heavier 18ft long pole, taken from a spruce tree felled in a Perthshire wood. The object of the caber toss is to flip the pole so that it lands directly opposite the competitor at a ’12 o’clock’ position and not, as is widely believed, simply to throw it the longest distance.

Heavy Events organiser Raymond McIntosh said the old pole presented no challenge. “The local guys from Highland Perthshire found it too easy because their standard has improved dramatically in the last ten years. Pretty much all of them tossed it last year and you don’t want that.”

President of the Highland Games  Association Jim Brown said that while the weight of a caber is important, the length is the essential thing to sort out real caber tossers. “Really strong men who are not caber tossers prefer shorter, heavy cabers because it’s only them who can lift them. But the real caber tossers have tremendous style and speed and get a tremendous lift on the caber. It’s really is an art which is not always amongst the strong men.”

Mr Brown continued: “Cabers also dry out over the years if they are not looked after and lose their weight. A lot of games organisers put their cabers into a burn before the games to soak up the water and make them heavier.

“And a lot of cabers now are redundant telephone poles because they are treated and won’t dry out. A good larch pole is what you require because it’s a hard timber and will remain a caber for a lot more years than spruce which is a softer timber.”

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Grandfather Mountain and McRae Meadows – Home to the GFM Highland Games

With only one week to go until the beginning of the largest Highland Games held outside of Scotland, this years gathering at Grandfather Mountain is shaping up to be one of the biggest. The games are held in the North Carolinian high country over four days attracting more than 50,000 punters, and coincide with the Council of Scottish Clans Association’s (COSCA) Clan Caucus. With so much to see and do, I’ve put together a handy highlights guide for all of our North American friends attending.

History
The first games were held in 1956, making this years celebrations the 58th annual event. North Carolina boasts a rich history of Scottish immigration, and the game’s location high on the slopes of Grandfather Mountain is said to closely resemble Kintail in the Scottish Highlands. Donald McDonald, co-founder of the first event, modeled the original games upon a 1954 souvenir programme he received from the Braemar Highland Games and included events such as highland wrestling, tug o’ war, shot put, tossing the caber and various running races. A piping and highland dance competition were also held. Small by todays standards, the games were an instant success and generated an enormous amount of interest in Scottish heritage, inspiring the formation of Highland Games in other American states.  Over the years more events were added to the programme including music competitions, a parade of the tartans, ceilidhs and the grueling hill-race known as ‘The Bear’.

Overview
The Games will be held from Thursday 11th till Sunday 14th July at MacRae Meadows on Grandfather Mountain near Linville, North Carolina. The opening ceremony begins at dusk on Thursday, with a torchlight ceremony where representatives of each of the 100 clans and 16 societies announce their family’s participation in the gathering. This ‘raising of the clans’ proclaims that they have once again come together to celebrate their heritage. In addition to the many sporting and music competitions held over the weekend, there’s plenty of other events including an open air scottish-market, ancestry and clan tents, sheepdog demonstrations, kids competitions, a Celtic rock concert, the parade of tartans and a country dance gala.

Highland Games Events
At the centre of the gathering are the highland games events, where athletes will compete in traditional heavyweight events such as turning the caber, tossing the sheaf and the hammer throw. On Friday evening 800 runners will participate in a five-mile footrace, called “The Bear,” that climbs 1,568 feet in elevation from the town of Linville to the summit of Grandfather Mountain. The next test of extreme endurance is the 45th running of the Grandfather Mountain Marathon on Saturday. A clan tug o’ war will take place on Sunday afternoon.

Music and Dance Events
The music and dance competitions begin on Saturday, with groups and individuals competing in piping, drumming, fiddle, harp and dance events. The highlight of the programme is the Highland Dancing Atlantic International Championship where the finest Scottish dancers will compete for the distinguished title. The Celtic Jam takes place on Friday night and features performers that blend the traditional Celtic sounds of the Isles with the traditional bluegrass sounds of the Southern Appalachians. Performers include Tuatha Dea, Cutthroat Shamrock, Ed Miler and Barleyjuice.

COSCA Scottish Clan Caucus – Thursday 11th July
Held over one day prior to the opening of the games, the Clan Caucus is a forum for clan societies and organisations to make their voices heard. This years theme centres around finding the best way forward for Scottish America and features an impressive array of speakers including:

• Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor – Convenor of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and Chief of Clan Macgregor
• Jamie, Lord Sempill (Keynote Speaker) – Coordinator of the 2009 Clan Gathering
• Rt. Hon. Henry McLeish – Former Scottish First Minister
• Dr. Bruce Durie Ph.D, FSAScot, FHEA FIGRS FCollT OLJ. – former head of Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Chair of the Ancestral Tourism Steering Group for Scotland

Topics up for discussion on the day include the future of international clan gatherings, what Scotland can do to make ancestral tourism even better and sustaining Scottish heritage in America. COSCA’s AGM will take place at the games on Saturday at 2pm under the chieftan’s tent on McRae Meadows. Following this, you can join the caucus special guests for an informal open ‘field discussion’ led by Sir Malcolm.

In the days immediately following the games, COSCA will formulate and publish a Grandfather Mountain Scottish Clan Caucus Summary Report 2013. This report will chronicle the discussions, disagreements and areas of consensus reached during the caucus and will provide a useful starting point in figuring out the way forward for the American diaspora.

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Information regarding ticketing, accomodation, parking and directions to Grandfather Mountain can be found at the Games website – www.gmhg.org

And for information on the Clan Caucus, head on over to COSCA’s website for all the latest updates, including the finalised agenda – www.cosca.net

The post Your Guide to Grandfather Mountain 2013 appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Repeated swearing is set to be outlawed during events such as the Tug O’ War

The Scottish Highland Games Association has for the first time published a universal Code of Conduct to be used by competitors and judges. The 15-page document aims to impose identical rules at more than 60 Highland games across Scotland, endeavouring to do away with an alternative form of events and disciplines.

One rule strictly forbids the removal of kilts during competition and states tug o’ war participants may swear only twice before being disqualified.

The guide also states: “The practice of throwing a light caber for distance is not tossing the caber. It should be discontinued.” Over centuries the discipline, which began as a way for clan chieftains to test their warriors, has evolved, with different Highland games issuing their own codes of conduct.

The code also enforces rules that participants must dress traditionally and preserve modesty, stating: “All competitors must appear and compete while wearing a kilt. No competitor will be permitted to dress or undress in the Games arena.”

Cyclists must “present a neat and tidy appearance”, while wrestlers “shall take hold where they please, subject to the following restrictions – the hair, flesh, ears, private parts or clothes”.

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