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Vintage Postcard
Underwear Day
Aug 5
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"John Brown’s tartan underpants are on display at the Tartan museum in Keith. They are made of coarse fabric and have holes in them. Was John Brown moth-infested or was he just air-conditioned?”
~ John Drewry
John Drewry's five couple jig, humorously subtitled "A dance for all true Scotsmen, followers of St. Knickerless!", invites us to celebrate the history of underwear—or for the "True Scotsman" (a playful term for those who wear a kilt without anything underneath), the lack thereof! This dance draws inspiration from an exhibit at the Tartans Museum in Keith, Scotland, featuring the highland dress and tattered tartan undergarments of Queen Victoria's stalwart attendant, John Brown. With reels, turns, and figure eights (but no pas de basques), couples should be able to manage all layers of garments and draperies with ease.
In the realm of philosophy, the term "True Scotsman" has inspired the designation of an informal fallacy known as "No True Scotsman." Introduced in 1975 by British philosopher Anthony Flew, this concept highlights how one might protect a universal generalization from counterexamples by arbitrarily redefining terms to exclude the counterexample. For instance:
Person A: "No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge."
Person B: "But my uncle Angus is a Scotsman, and he puts sugar on his porridge."
Person A: "Ah, but no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge."
So, whether you prefer salt on your porridge or embrace the regimental tradition, enjoy the spirit of the day and dance! 😮 🥣 🧂 🤣
Holey Knickers!
Today is Underwear Day! From the loincloth to lingerie, underwear has a deep fascinating cultural history with diverse influences.
Rather than ponder semi-lasciviously all things lacy for the ladies, we instead focus on the dignity of the kilt and the age old question of what is traditionally worn underneath, namely, the oft distinct absence of underwear.
"True Scotsman" is a humorous term used for a man wearing a kilt without undergarments.
Kilts have been traditionally worn without undergarments since their use as part of Scottish military uniform, leading to the invention of such expressions as "going regimental" or "military practice" for wearing no underwear.
On the Western Front during the First World War, some sergeant majors (reportedly) had mirrors tied to the end of golf clubs or walking sticks to inspect up and under the kilt at parade inspection. However, by 1940 the kilt was retired from combat because of the vulnerability of bare skin to chemical agents, although it was retained as the formal dress uniform of the regiments.
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In the world of philosophy, an offshoot of the "True Scotsman" expression has made its way into a logical term for an informal fallacy called "No True Scotsman." The "No True Scotsman" (NTS) concept was introduced in 1975 by British Philosopher Anthony Flew, to illustrate an ad hoc attempt to retain an unreasoned assertion.
When faced with a counter example to a universal claim ("no Scotsman would do such a thing"), rather than denying the counter example or rejecting the original claim, this fallacy modifies the subject of the assertion to exclude the specific case or others like it by rhetoric, without reference to any specific objective rule.
"No true Scotsman would do such a thing," in this case would mean that those who perform that action are not part of the group, and thus criticism of that action is not criticism of the group.
The following is a simplified rendition of the fallacy to illustrate:
Person A: "No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge."
Person B: "But my uncle Angus likes sugar with his porridge!"
Person A: "Ah yes, but no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge."
NTS can be thought of as a form of inverted cherry picking, whereupon, instead of selecting favourable examples, unfavourable ones are rejected.
For more on the NTS fallacy, click the gentleman below straddling the "No True Scotsman" line - virtual tartan underwear body painting by Joanne Gair.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
