History of the kilt

The kilt is today, along with the bagpipes, one of the great symbols of Scotland. Yet it was not always so, and in fact it was not until the "Highland revival" of the early 19th century that the kilt (and, indeed, all things Highland (or thought to be so) began to occupy that position of preeminent tradition which it does today.

Although some fanciful accounts of the history of the kilt date its origins back to the era of Braveheart, or even the Roman toga, the Scottish kilt actually originated with the belted plaid in the late 16th Century.

Irish leine

The people who eventually became the Highlanders of Scotland came to the Highlands from Ireland in the 5th century C.E. They brought with them their Irish cusoms, traditions, and dress. Throughout the centuries after that, they remained principally connected with their Irish roots rather than with the Anglo Lowlanders of present-day Scotland.

Prior to the late 16th century, the Scottish Highlanders dressed in the Irish style. This consisted primarily, first, of a long "shirt" called a leine (simply the Gaelic word for shirt). This was an upper body garment which extended well below the waist to about mid-thigh or lower. Secondly, there was a mantle or blanket (called in Gaelic a plaide) which was just a rectangle of woven material cast about the shoulders.

Great kilt

The mantle which was worn with the leine developed into the large blanket which was then wrapped around the body and eventually secured at the waist with a belt. This was the belted plaid, perhaps more commonly referred to as the Great kilt.

Philabeg

The story of the "invention" of the modern form of the kilt is mired in controversy. In 1785, the Edinburgh Review published a letter, written some years earlier (in 1768) from a gentleman who claimed that an Englishman named Thomas Rawlinson had invented the kilt by detaching the lower portion of the great kilt (or belted plaid) and having his iron foundry workers wear that, gathered and wrapped around the waist, secured with a belt. This was, it is alleged, the beginnings of the little kilt (feilidh beag, or philabeg, with numerous variant spellings). This, according to the letter, happened about 1725.

Proscription

In 1745, following the defeat of the Jacobite rebellion, the British Parliament, as part of an aggressive policy of cultural repression against the Highland clans, passed the Act of Proscription �which, among other things, banned the wearing of tartan, including the kilt, by civilians in Scotland. This measure, which took effect the following year, was not repealed until 1782. Meanwhile, only Highland regiments, such as the Black Watch, enlisted in the service of Great Britain, were allowed to wear the kilt or practice certain of the other traditons of Highland culture.

Romantic revival

In the late 18th century, perhaps as part of the Romantic notion of the Noble Savage, there began a revival of interest in, and admiration for, the Highlanders of Scotland. Following the repeal of the Act of Proscription, several Highland Societies were founded, principally by lowland gentry whose connection with the Highlands was, in many cases, tenuous at best. These Highland Societies sponsored "Highland gatherings" at which some of the traditions of Highland culture were revived, even if in a somewhat fanciful form.

King George IV's visit to Edinburgh 1822

In 1822, King George IV became the first British monarch in over 150 years to visit Scotland. The event was the occasion for an extravaganza, stage managed by Sir Walter Scott, which featured the tartan, the kilt, and the whole of what was supposed to be "Highland culture". It fueled the rage for anything tartan and proved to be the catalyst for the adoption of the tartan and anything "Highland" by all of Scotland.

Introduction of the knife pleats

In the 1850s, the Gordon Highlanders Pipe Band adopted the use of knife pleats in their kilt uniforms. Prior to this, the kilt had always been box pleated. Within 50 years, the knife pleats had replaced box pleats virtually everywhere until, today, the box pleated kilt is virtually extinct.

References

• John Telfer Dunbar, History of Highland Dress
• Hugh Trevor-Roper
• Matthew A. C. Newsome, Early Highland Dress