History of the Scottish Kilt

‘A Man in a Kilt is a Man and a Half’.  Perhaps that’s why, at so many weddings and formal occasions, people with perhaps only a hint of Scottish ancestry, love to ‘don the tartan’ – they can always be sure of admiration from all quarters.

There really is nothing quite like a kilt for making an impression.  And there’s also nothing quite like a kilt for creating an image of Scotland; it is widely regarded as being an important part of the ‘national dress’.
In reality, the kilt, however, has only recently become such an international symbol of Scottishness.
Let’s examine its history in some detail.

The word kilt itself actually derives from an Old Norse word, kilting, introduced into Scotland by the settlers from Scandinavia who wore a similar garment, although without the tartan and the pleats.  To kilt was, in fact, a verb with the meaning of tucking up one’s clothes around the body, so the derivation is quite obvious.  The Scandinavians themselves have long since stopped wearing kilt-like clothing.  Scottish versions of the kilt have been traced as far back as the latter part of the 16th Century.

The kilt was a garment worn almost exclusively by Highland Scots but, after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden in 1746, the English banned both the wearing of the kilt and the tartan, which they saw as being representative of Scottish rebellion.  Transgression of this rule meant either death or transportation.  The only exceptions to the ruling were people who signed up to be in the Highland regiments of the British army, which helped keep the tradition alive.  Army Pipers were allowed to don a kilt, albeit in their regimental colours, and other enlisted men could wear a balmoral, the traditional Scottish cap, with their clan badge.

The wearing of the kilt was permitted again after 1782 but it was as part of the Romantic Revival, during the 19thCentury, that it started to gather momentum in different parts of Scotland.  The popularity of the kilt, and its part in the image of the Scottish people and culture, became so strong that the garment was adopted by other Celtic peoples such as those living in Ireland, Cornwall and Wales, amongst others.  The kilt still maintained its importance in the armed forces, though, and kilted divisions of the army became famous for their formidable bravery – indeed the 51st Highland Division was claimed, even by the Germans, as being the most formidable unit of all during World War One.

It is customary now for all parts of Scotland to regard the kilt as being an integral part of the Scottish tradition and heritage and every Scotsman worth his salt will know his clan tartan and wear, with the greatest sense of pride, his kilt to display that he is, indisputably,’ a man and a half’.