Panache Answers the "Big Kilt Questions"

[xman]

Excellent points, however ...

The kilt is Scottish in its origins. The Scots created and wore the kilt. It is not a traditional Irish or any other Celtic cultures’ garment. ...

On a point of order, didn't the kilt technically originate as a Gaelic garment which would include some parts of Ireland? The Scots at the time were a separate people entirely, eventually to amalgamate with the Gaels (and others too I assume) so that now we think of the Scots having been the originators.

[dutchy kilted]

Excellent essay!

"Everything you always wanted to know about kilts but were afraid to ask. "

[davidlpope]

On a point of order, didn't the kilt technically originate as a Gaelic garment which would include some parts of Ireland?

Don't believe so. Matt Newsome knows much about this subject so hopefully he will chime in.

[Dale Seago]

On a point of order, didn't the kilt technically originate as a Gaelic garment which would include some parts of Ireland?

It originated among the Gael who lived in what is now Scotland, not the ones who were still living in Ireland.

The Scots at the time were a separate people entirely, eventually to amalgamate with the Gaels (and others too I assume) so that now we think of the Scots having been the originators.

"Scoti", from which the names Scot and Scotland are derived, appears to have been a generic term used by the Romans to describe the Gael. The later Latin word Scotia (land of the Scoti) was originally applied to Ireland, but by the 11th century was used to refer to the Gaelic-speaking part of what we today call Scotland.

In other words, the Scots were not a separate people who amalgamated with the Gael: They were the Gael. Perhaps you were thinking of the Picts in Scotland being absorbed by the Gael and their culture? If so, that was something that occurred several hundred years before the development of the kilt (or the feileadh mor) in Scotland.