Cornish and Welsh wore kilts.

[Big Homestead]

I have been scouring my book of costume, and did think that I had found something at least kilt like.

There are Egyptian kilts of 4500BC, which do seem to have pleats, and flaps, but that was rather a long time back.

There is no further mention of kilts for several thousand years.

There is the waffenrock, German, 1525, which is a quilted gold brocade item, with shaped pleats basted in in two lines of thread, and two straight bits at the sides, forming just over a semicircle when laid out. Very kiltlike, but alas, the pleats were worn at the front.

There is a quote which mentions the cloth worn by the Scots, which is from Chamberlayne 'The present state of England' 38th edition 1755, saying basically that the English wool was so good in the time of Phillip the Good Duke of Burgundy that all the Scots wore it, from the highest to the lowest, and it brought in so much gold that the Duke established the miitary Order of the Golden Fleece in 1429 when he married Isabel of Portugal. The Staple of English wool was kept in Burgundy - doesn't say why. Perhaps it was not all processed 'at home' but sent out for spinning and weaving in the local fashion whereever it was wanted.

The Duke of Burgundy is depicted in a natty doublet which looks rather like pleats attached to a yoke and set of sleeves - with the shoulders padded and the sleeve tops gathered like something out of Dynasty. It is proper kilt length. The style of the times is for cartridge pleats.

I will need time to study the whole two volumes, but I suspect that kilts and Britain other than England are not going to get much mention.

I knew about the Egyptians and forgot all about it, thank you for the reminder.

[gilmore]

...I mean, "celtic" is such a broad term anyway! The celtic peoples were spread all over Europe, mostly in Germany. It seems that just because certain parts of the British Isles held on to the La Têne art style, they are now considered celtic, which eveybody else is left to whatever heritage they can scrap up. And with modern DNA tracking, it's been shown that there is just as much "celtic blood" in England as there is in Ireland or Scotland.

Oh, and I've decided to back up my arguments here, so here's my sources...

I agree with most of what you say, and am glad that you provide citations for your arguments, unlike many (most?) internet discussion in which people just make things up, but...

You are confusing genetics with culture. Genes do not determine culture (well, except maybe a very tiny bit.) What makes or made a Celt a Celt was language, dress, ways of living, etc. These could easily have been adopted by non-Celts, or dropped by Celts. While it is true that genetics have recently shown that the "English" gene pool is far more Celtic than previosuly thought---and that the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Normans and Vikings added much less to it than had been imagined---most would make a clear distinction between English and Celtic, though that distinction might be fanciful at times.

And dress, including kilts, is a cultural artifact.

[Sir Robert]

Yes, yes genes are not culture but when we have almost zero cultural data the genetic data can help fill in the gaps in our understanding of the flow of cultures and peoples.

Me, I'm a Pict. Yes I really have Pictish ancessors. I am also a Celt. Yes I have that blood too.

[Bryan]

We all seem to be forgetting that, according to most historians, and I believe Matt Newsome could shed some light on this, the modern day "little kilt" was invented by an Englishman. *gasp* And it was the enthusiasm of an English Queen for all things Highlands that spread the love of highland dress through the lowlands of Scotland.

[gilmore]

We all seem to be forgetting that, according to most historians, and I believe Matt Newsome could shed some light on this, the modern day "little kilt" was invented by an Englishman. *gasp* And it was the enthusiasm of an English Queen for all things Highlands that spread the love of highland dress through the lowlands of Scotland.

That is not at all settled, as I recall.

[beloitpiper]

That is not at all settled, as I recall.

Agreed. I've heard the English-inventor-theory just as frequently as the French-inventor-theory. Although, I'm pretty sure of one thing though; if it wasn't for Queen Victoria's love for tartan, I highly doubt that highland fashion would've grown into the industry that it is now. Let us not forget, it is basically because of the military that we still have tartan and kilts and all of that jazz.

[ccga3359]

Let us not forget, it is basically because of the military that we still have tartan and kilts and all of that jazz.

Military pipe bands are responsible for jazz as well?

[Chef]

We all seem to be forgetting that, according to most historians, and I believe Matt Newsome could shed some light on this, the modern day "little kilt" was invented by an Englishman. *gasp* And it was the enthusiasm of an English Queen for all things Highlands that spread the love of highland dress through the lowlands of Scotland.

Well since you brought Matt's name into it, I can tell you that idea is incorrect. From one of Matt Newsome's writing's on the subject:

One story commonly repeated is that an Englishman named Thomas Rawlinson opened an iron-smelting factory in the Highlands around the year 1730. His workers all dressed in the belted plaids, which proved too hot and cumbersome for close work in his factory. He solved the problem by cutting the garment in half. The lower part could now be worn separately and the upper part discarded when coming indoors. This is considered proof that an Englishman invented the Scottish national dress.
The problem with this story is that we know of numerous illustrations of Highlanders wearing the only the bottom part of the belted plaid that date long before Rawlinson ever set foot in Scotland. Remember that the belted plaid consisted of two widths of material stitched together. If one neglects to stitch the two together, and only the bottom 4 yards are worn, pleated and belted around the waist, the resulting garment is called the feilidh-beag (little wrap). The word is often spelled in English “phillabeg.” I will not go into detailed evidence of the wearing of the phillabeg here, but I will say that there is some suggestion of its use in the late 17th century, and it was definitely being worn in the early 18th century. It most likely came about as a natural evolution of the belted plaid and Rawlinson probably observed its and quickly deduced its usefulness in his situation and introduced it among his workers.
The first instance we have of the pleats being sewn in to the phillabeg, creating a true tailored kilt, comes in 1792. This kilt is in possession of the Scottish Tartans Society and is currently on display at the Scottish Tartans Museum of Franklin, NC. It contains 4 yards of tartan, and has wide box pleats that are each sewn in. This is the first garment that can truly be called a kilt in the form we know it today. The tailoring and style are different from a modern kilt, but it is a kilt nonetheless, with its origins in the belted plaid of the late 16th century

Also while Queen Victoria's love of Scotland helped to popularise the kilt in Victorian times it's identity as as a symbol of Scottish nationalism was already set. Many in the lowlands began adopting the kilt after the Treaty of Union, to show their disproval of the union. It was further popularised by Sir Walter Scott with his romantic descriptions of the Highlands. It is this image of Scotland that many believe is the reason Her Majesty was so taken with things Scottish, as the works of Sir Walter were very popular during the Victorian era.

[Bryan]

Well, Queen Vic sure seemed to help things along.