After the group photo I hurried off to the classroom where Torf the Kiltmaker was holding a lecture on the history & wearing of the kilt. It started at noon, so I missed the first part. By the time I arrived he was talking about the invention of the philabeg.



Not wearing his Kilmarnock bonnet, but it's clearly the same guy. Here he's talking about the number of registered tartans exploding in the early 19th century. Despite talking about registered tartans, he didn't seem to be aware of the online databases such as the STA's or the Scottish Register of Tartans.



A brief timeline of the kilt. I thought the knife pleats came a bit earlier, but I don't know when they became widespread. Not a bad general history of the kilt, and he did dismiss a number of pernicious myths, but I had a few quibbles with some of the information he gave, although I don't really remember what they were now. I couldn't help wondering what Matt Newsome would have said if he had been in the peanut gallery. I didn't really say anything, except for informing a few people of the Scottish Register of Tartans website.