February
An interview with Mr Robert Keys
Mr Robert Keys, born in Uddingston, is a volunteer guide for Glasgow Cathedral which he does through The Society of Friends of Glasgow Cathedral. He heard of this unique volunteering opportunity by chance through an article in a paper.
Robert began this volunteer work in his retirement, before this he was in food and wine & spirit sales, and also briefly selling men’s clothes. His formative experience of kilts and highland wear was as a young teen in a pipe band. As he entered the working world he would attend licenced functions with his co-workers and dawned a kilt for these occasions.
Since his piping days, Robert has grown fond of highland dress and now owns 6 kilts! And he even has customisations for his outfits, such as a kilt made with only one buckle on either side for when he wears his Prince Charles jacket.
Robert Keys Outside Houston Kiltmakers with Ken Macdonald
Mr Keys views kilts as an investment and spoke proudly of how his wife chose the tartan for the kilt he came in to our store wearing, the Isle of Skye tartan. His favourite tartan is the Davidson Tartan, which is the catchment tartan for his surname.
Robert presents himself well wherever he may be going, and thus generally prefers to wear highland dress formally. His exception is adding a Jacobite shirt to make things a bit more casual.
Robert has also played a small part at tartan design, being involved in the process with Uddingston rugby club when they commissioned a cloth for their centenary dinner.
Mr Keys being shown points of pride in store at Houston Kiltmakers By Ken Macdonald
Throughout his life, Mr Keys has taken his kilts with him on his travels. He brings his kilts to rugby games or pipe band gigs, as well as corporate events. His kilts have seen places such as Canada, Italy, Greece and France.
Robert is not always all kilts and tartan. He enjoys Scottish music artists such as Barbara Dixon, Field Marshall Montgomery, Annie Lennox and Annie Ross. His favourite piping band are the Inveraray & District Pipe Band, who he has followed since their days as a juvenile band.
Roberts choice of 3 Scottish dinner guests, past or present, would be Robert Burns, Ricky Fulton and William Barkley. Some dinner party!