[Sca-cooks] Re: OT- KIlts at war

[Brett McNamara]

Considering the lengths the British or I guess more precisely, the
English, went to to suppress the kilt, I seriously doubt the short
variant was a Britsh conspiracy.

Ok, first off, if you're not English but come from a culture that
dealt with them historically, pretty much everything can be seen as a
British conspiracy.  Ugly Imperial politics aside, the comment was
meant to be tongue and cheek.

Now, "lengths the British...went to to suppress the kilt"?!?  The odd
animal that is the modern kilt can be well documented to Thomas
Rawlinson, an Englishman(!), around about 1725.  This is somewhat
debatable, because the "feileadh beag" can be documented slightly
earlier than that.  However, this limey was the most likely progenitor
of the modern version.

Any kilt suppression can be attributed to after the Jacobite Rising of
1745.  But, that was really more of a Scottish suppression.  The "Act
for the Abolition and Proscription of Highland Dress" (1747)  was
later repealed in 1782.  It's worth noting that the English have a
history of Draconian fashion sense, like Henry VIII's prohibition on
saffron shirts in Ireland.



On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 23:11:12 -0500, Stefan li Rous
<stefanlirous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> Cassie replied to Wistan with:
> >   I have been told by a scottsman who recieved his kilt from his
> > grandfather that depending on what shoulder you drapped the end
> > indicated your marital status. I just don"t remember which shoulder is
> > which though.
> Oh? I don't remember hearing that before. In period, it does seem to be
> common that unmarried women wore their hair uncovered, while those who
> were married wore it covered.
> > And I Can't assume it would correlate with the modern
> > wedding band side for the German wear their rings on the right hand.
> Wedding traditions can be tricky. Many traditions are post-medieval and
> many modern ones date from just Victorian times. Check the WEDDINGS
> section of the Florilegium for more details.
> > I have also been told a mans kilt is to be twice as long as he is tall
> > for it will also serve as his shroud in death.Somewhere I have  an
> > article or two on the subject`
> I'd be interested in hearing more about this. What I've heard more was
> that it was just a very convenient length for a poor people because it
> could serve many uses. Not having to be cut and sewn it was very
> economical
> >   My husband and three year old look fabulous in theirs so  I am
> > allways
> > eager to hear peoples opinions on kilts.
> You can find a fair amount of material on the kilt in these Florilegium
> files in the CLOTHING section:
> cl-Scot-male-art  (18K)  6/20/96    Scottish men's clothing.
> cl-Scotland-msg  (114K) 10/31/01    Clothing of Scotland. folding of
> kilts.
> 
> One of the things that surprised me was how short the time frame that
> the traditional kilt was actually worn was (I think ~ 150 years) for
> all the hubbub it causes today. I suspect a lot of it is nostalgia and
> a wish for the "good old days" and probably a bit of rebellion, at
> least a century ago. And because it is different.
> >
> > Brett McNamara <brettmc at gmail.com> wrote:
> > You sure that wasn't a girl scout? ;)
> >
> > It's probably worth mentioning that the kilt we see today, the one
> > most often seen on Catholic school girls, is quite OOP. The best
> > evidence for the period version has it looking suspiciously like plaid
> > togas. I believe the modern variant may have been part of some
> > British conspiracy.
> >
> > Wistan
> Considering the lengths the British or I guess more precisely, the
> English, went to to suppress the kilt, I seriously doubt the short
> variant was a Britsh conspiracy.
> 
> Stefan
> --------
> THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
>     Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas
> StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
> **** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****
> 
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