May 10, 2023

The first Friday of May is no pants day. Learn about the origins of this hilarious holiday, and if it was actually invented by a Scotsman in Glasgow in the early 1800s. I talk about a man who wears a kilt every day. You will also learn about some sustainable green bath products.

Listen to music by Marc Gunn, Vicki Swan and Johnny Dyer, Niamh Dunne, and Brobdingnagian Bards

This is Pub Songs & Stories #270.

0:25 - Brobdingnagian Bards “Seven Drunken Nights in Hobbiton” from I Will Not Sing Along

4:49 - WELCOME TO PUB SONGS & STORIES

This is the audio edition of my newsletter. I am Marc Gunn. I’m a rhythm and folk Celtic musician and podcaster living in Atlanta, Georgia.

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6:04 - WHAT’S NEW STORY

7:40 - UPCOMING SHOWS

• MAY 17: Coffee with The Celtfather on YouTube @ 10:30 AM Eastern
• JUN 3-10: Celtic Invasion Vacations, County Mayo, Ireland
• JUN 24: The Lost Druid Brewery, Avondale Estates, GA @ TBD
• JUL 22: Burnt Hickory Brewery, Kennesaw, GA @ 6:30 - 9:30 PM

8:50 - GUEST SONG: Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer "1924"

Hear the story behind the song in show #603 Celtic Tides of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast.

14:44 - STORY OF NO PANTS DAY

In 2000, the Knighthood of Buh, a student organization at the University of Texas at Austin, held their first annual No Pants Day celebration on the first Friday of May. Andrew and I were practicing daily on the South Mall of the university as the Brobdingnagian Bards. So we were there as a bunch of students ran through the school shouting and waving signs about the oppression of pants.

The event resonated with me because, well, we wore kilts at all of our shows. We were “pantless” too.

The event spread to other locations around the nation and eventually the world. But it took me four years before I wrote “A Man Who Wears A Kilt Every Day”, a parody of the traditional Scottish song “Jock Stuart”.

Instead of “a man you don’t meet every day”, my song was about a man who loved wearing kilts, like I did.

I didn’t stop there. Again, I felt like No Pants Day was a Scottish holiday. So I decided to create a backstory for my song. I wanted people to think that the origins of No Pants Day was actually a Scottish holiday called No Troosers Day.

I researched Scottish history and learned about the Proscription Act of 1746. This act banned the Scots from wearing “highland clothing”. The goal of course was to assimilate the Scots into Great Britain, just like the Disarming Act banned the Scottish from wearing weapons.

From that base, I wrote a fictional history of an uprising in Glasgow where the Scots removed their trousers and donned their kilts and rewrote “Jock Stuart” to celebrate their love of the kilt and their culture.

The best thing about this fictional history was that a few years later, a newspaper in Canada quoted the blog where I shared this fake history saying that this was ACTUALLY the origins of No Pants Day.

This should serve as a reminder to all of us. Check your sources!

I finally recorded this song in 2009 for my CD, Kilted For Her Pleasure.

“Jock Stuart (A Man Who Wears A Kilt Every Day)”

 lyrics by Marc Gunn, May 6, 2004, music traditional

Oh my name is Jock Stuart, I´m a trooser-less man
And my roving young fellows move freely

* So be easy and free in nae boxers or briefs
I´m a man who wears a kilt every day.

I’m Highlander made and a piper to trade
And the tartan is me flag that I wear.

I go out with my gun and my dog for to hunt
Try to make me wear troosers, and you'll pay.

I’ve got acres of land, I’ve got ships to command
So burn your pants on No Troosers Day

So come fill up my glass with whiskey or rum
Then send o'er your lass and you'll see.

It's better easy and free in nae boxers or briefs
I’m a man who wears a kilt every day.

20:52 - Marc Gunn “A Man Who Wears A Kilt Every Day” from Kilted For Her Pleasure

23:40 - JOIN THE CLUB

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Thanks to my newest Gunn Runners on Patreon: Don S, Melissa Randall, A. Lynch, Traci Girard-Turner, Michelle Hahn, Lisa M, David Willer, Jo Navarre, Tracy O'Shea, Antoinette Brenion, John Dowling

26:59 - Niamh Dunne "Tides w/ Karan Casey" from Tides

30:25 - GREEN PRODUCTS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

I’m actively trying to buy fewer items that are packaged in plastic because plastic is made from chemicals from fossil fuel production.

It also lasts pretty much forever. It is virtually impossible to remove it entirely from what I buy. But I have found a few items that I enjoy that are not that I thought I’d share.

Did you know you can buy shampoo and conditioner in bar form?

This was one of those weird rabbit holes I went down. Once upon a time, we didn’t have liquid shampoo and conditioner. It certainly wasn’t in a big plastic bottle.

A day after I started researching this a few months back, Gwen came home with a Love Beauty and Planet shampoo conditioner bar from Target. I immediately tried it out and loved it.

You can see a list of Shampoo and Conditioner bars here.

My favorite body soap is the Dr Bronner’s Lavender soap. I was starting to lament losing that when I just saw they have bar soap also. And of course, all of those are wrapped in paper and I can get it at my local Publix.

34:58 - Marc Gunn “Kilty Pleasure” from Selcouth

38:59 - CREDITS

Thanks for listening to Pub Songs & Stories. The show is brought to you by my Gunn Runners on Patreon. Every week, you’ll get a new podcast or song or video or video concert. You’ll also save 25% off all the merch in my store. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs.

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