A brif history

[Jordan]

So as I was meandering about the web today I was “reminded” about the fact that I have to give a talk lasting 10-15 min in the beginning of next month on a subject of my choosing for my staff part 2 exams. Since I have worn my kilt to my SQN a couple of times and aside from the usual comments and questions its gone well. So I thought id do a brief history of the kilt.
So I’m wondering does anyone have any good links where I can find information and history about the kilt?
(I’m not a big fan of Wikipedia because if found stuff on there before that has just been plain wrong)
Thanks in advance

Jordan

Ps Mods can you fix my speling in the title

[McMurdo]

Here is a link to Matt Newsome's site, an article entitled Generations of Highland Dress
that should help.

http://albanach.org/generations.html

[Tommie]

[QUOTE
So I’m wondering does anyone have any good links where I can find information and history about the kilt?[/QUOTE]

Your kidding right?
Thats like asking does anyone in here wear kilts.

Mc gave you a great place to start,and good luck on your talk.

[Ian.MacAllan]

The wikipedia article on kilts is not half bad IMHO. I try to review it at least once a month to keep it consistent with Matt Newsome's articles and sources. It very rarely gets seriously corrupted, but that may mean that someone else is doing my work also.

You're right, of course, that some of the articles are ludicrous.

.

[Jordan]

Your kidding right?
Thats like asking does anyone in here wear kilts.

My point exactaly its like asking "who wears kilts and why?"
The more answers i can find the better my overall knowledge will be within an incredably short spce of time

Thank you very much Ian.MacAllan my distrust has been beacuse of subjects that i know enough about to know when its wrong eg cadet uniform they turn up looking horrible and say "well wikipedia says..."

I have started on matt Newsomes site and ill move on to wikipedia then whatever else i can find then ill try to put my final efforts on here to be proof read before D-day

Jordan

[Ian.MacAllan]

The wikipedia article on kilts is not half bad IMHO. . . .

I have found an even better article here: http://www.kiltpedia.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

It's detailed, accurate, fantasy-free, and even covers contemporary kilts well.

.

[Jordan]

I have found an even better article here: http://www.kiltpedia.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

It's detailed, accurate, fantasy-free, and even covers modern kilts well.

Thanks i'll have a look at that today.

Heres what i have so far what does everyone think?

The history of the kilt stretches back to at least the end of the 16th century. Although the kilt is an item of traditional Scottish highland dress, the nationalism of that tradition is relatively recent. It was only with the Romantic Revival of the early 19th century that the highland kilt was adopted as a symbol of national identity.
The great kilt also known as the Breacan an Fhéilidh or Féileadh Mòr is believed to have evolved over the course of the 16th century from the earlier 'brat' or woollen cloak also known as plaid which was worn over a tunic. This earlier cloak or brat may have been plain in colour or in various check or tartan designs, depending on the wealth of the wearer.
Over the course of the 16th century, with the increasing availability of wool, the cloak had grown to such a size that it began to be gathered up and belted. This belted plaid was originally a length of thick woollen cloth made up from two loom widths sewn together to give a total width of 54 to 60 inches, and up to 7 yards (6.4 m) in length. This garment, also known as the great kilt, was gathered up into pleats by hand and secured by a wide belt. The upper half could be worn as a cloak draped over the left shoulder, hung down over the belt and gathered up at the front, or brought up over the shoulders and head for protection against the weather. It was worn over a leine which is a long sleeved shirt stopping below the waist. It would also serve as a camping blanket.
The earliest written source that definitely describes the belted plaid or great kilt comes from 1594. The great kilt is mostly associated with the Scottish highlands, but was also used in poor lowland rural areas.
Sometime in the late 17th or early 18th century the great kilt evolved into the fèileadh beag or philabeg (the small kilt) using a single width of cloth hanging down below the belt came into use and became quite popular throughout the Highlands and northern Lowlands by 1746, though the great kilt also continued in use. The small kilt or philabeg is a clear development from the great kilt as it is essentially the bottom half of the great kilt.
A letter published in Edinburgh Magazine in March 1785 by Ivan Baillie argued that the garment most people would today recognize as a kilt was invented in the 1720s by Thomas Rawlinson, who was a Quaker from Lancashire. Rawlinson was claimed to have designed it for the Highlanders who worked in his charcoal production facility in northern Scotland. Rawlinson thought that the traditional Highland kilt, the "belted plaid" which consisted of a large cloak, was inconvenient for his tree cutters. He supposedly brought the Highland garment to a tailor, intent on making it more practical. The tailor responded by cutting it in two. Rawlinson took this back and then introduced the new kilt. Rawlinson apparently liked this new creation so much that he began to wear it as well and was soon imitated by his Scottish colleagues.
This story has become well known, due in part to the historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, but more recent evidence has shown this theory to be out of date as several illustrations have been found of Highlanders wearing only the bottom part of the belted plaid that date long before Rawlinson ever set foot in Scotland. So while it may well be the case that Rawlinson promoted the philabeg, he is no longer credited with inventing it.
The first instance we have of the pleats being sewn in to the philabeg, creating a true tailored garment, comes from 1792. This kilt, currently in the possession of the Scottish Tartans Society, is the first garment that can truly be called a 'modern' kilt as we know it today. Up until this point, the kilt was folded every time it was put on, rather than having the pleats sown down. The development of the pleat served to speed the donning of the kilt and was brought into use by the Scottish regiments serving in the British Army. The tailored military kilt and its formalised accessories then passed to the civilian market during the early 19th century and has remained popular ever since.
When King George II imposed the Dress Act in 1746 he outlawed all items of highland dress including kilts with the intent of suppressing highland culture although an exception was made for highland regiments.
The ban remained in effect for 35 years.
With the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 the kilt gathered momentum as an emblem of Scottish culture as identified by antiquarians and romantics. Who spent much effort praising the "ancient" and natural qualities of the kilt. And with his successor Queen Victoria dressing her boys in the kilt, widening its appeal. The kilt had become part of the Scottish national identity.

This is what i have just now any comments are appreciated
Jordan