A little history please?

[McFarkus]

The fly plaid which is generally used in a full-dress situation, provides echoes of the original great kilt click here for pictures.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

the Kilt pin...well, I had never heard the story of the Queen, and always thought it was just a way for those not used to wearing a kilt (when it became popular in the 19th c.) to feel more secure about the kilt not flying up in the wind....but if you think about it, you only pin the outer apron, and if the outer apron blows up..it still leaves the under flap visable....
As far as the sgian dubh is concerned I agree with the theory that is was a ghillies implement....
My two cents...
Cheers,
Chad

I've always believed that the kilt pin, as we know it, evolved from the blanket pin, which any proper Scottish gentleman knows is the only real kilt pin. As Chad pointed out above, the kilt pin really doesn't do much to hold the apron of the kilt in place. However, the corner of the apron does provide a handy place to store a blanket pin until needed.

Why a blanket Pin?

Simple. It allows you fasten your plaid around you (they have no button, zip, or velcro closure) when the need arises. If you "pop a button" on your tweeds the handy blanket pin will close your jacket against the mightiest gale. And once you've stuffed your deer into a bag, you can pin it closed shoving the needle through fabric and hide alike. Just try doing that with your wee claymore or bejeweled grouse claw.

In short, like so many other Scottish inventions, the "blanket" kilt pin is useful.

[camellid]

That is really good info. (about the kilt pin) Thanks the is the kinda info I was looking for. I have been reading the forum for the past 5 days. I just can't seem to stop. LOL My eyes are starting to go cross. LOL Thanks again for the more info. It really is quite fun to find out about the ways things where back then.

[puffer]

Here is MHO

Fly Paid = DECOR ( If you want some thing to be "functional", then you will want a "LAIRD's PLAID"


Sqian Dubhs ( type most wear) = DECOR To me the Sqian Dudh should be "FUNCTIONAL" here is a picture of the one I carry most often. (for "dress" I have one with a stag handle - both are SHARP.


SPORRANS = Belt purse. All most all men, Scots (highland & lowland, English, Welsh,Irish etc ( incl. Americans), carried a "belt purse" until the mid - late 1800s. All but the "highland Scots, carried them on the side. They were mostly suspended from the "main Belt, but some were suspended from a separate belt (like a sporran belt) What did they carry in them ?? What ever they would have carried in their pockets ( most men's pant & of course kilts, did not have pockets.

I have 10 "Sporrans"
Here are a couple I have made (period 1800 -1850)



Puffer

[camellid]

Thanks Puffer, They are great looking sporrans great job on them. I am not to sure what a LAIRD's PLAID is. Can you tell me what it is and what it's for? I am not really looking to use any of it, but I would like to know more about what they used the accessories for. So I can tell more people about the history behind it all. Thanks again

[puffer]

Thanks Puffer, They are great looking sporrans great job on them. I am not to sure what a LAIRD's PLAID is. Can you tell me what it is and what it's for? I am not really looking to use any of it, but I would like to know more about what they used the accessories for. So I can tell more people about the history behind it all. Thanks again

The "Lairds Plaid" is basically a "blanket" & a VERY common & USEFUL "accessory"
The one I showed was ordered from SWK to match my kilt It is 4'x8' http://stores.channeladvisor.com/Sti...0Piper%20Plaid
NOTE- He calls it "Piper's Plaid", but IMHO, it is a "LAIRD's Plaid"

Here is how it is worn/carried


PUFFER

[Andrew Cameron Goodman]

The sgian dubh is descended from the sgian achlais which was actually carried hidden on ones person and was called an armpit knife.. The name sgian dubh or black knife alludes to the hidden or dark use.. It was placed in a visible place when visiting someone as a sign of respect as mentioned..

[piperdbh]

I think I read somewhere that the sgian dubh was the only weapon Scots were allowed to possess after the '45. I also read that it was the only weapon allowed inside a church. Both stories might have a little truth to them; both might be completely false.
According to So You're Going to Wear the Kilt, the fly plaid is a 19th cesntury, probably Victorian invention, as has been discussed in a previous post.
My favorite Scottish dress detail is the matter of the holes in ghillie brogues. Those that we wear today are purely decorative, but I've read that they were originally punched in the shoes to let the water drain out, when a person (ghillie) would walk through a creek instead of trying to "rock-hop" across, as most of us would do. I question that story, though, as onyone who wears leather shoes will readily see the disadvantages to having wet hide on one's tarsal appendages. If they were wearing wool hose inside the shoes, the soles of the socks would soon felt (with moisture, body heat and agitation), and would, in the process, shrink, causing too-tight socks. That, coupled with shrinking leather shoes, would lead to an uncomfortable situation, especially if the wearer had to wear this combination for very long.

That's probably more than you were looking for, but it's my contribution.
Happy kilting!

[Pleater]

Having spend many long days out on the hills I'd think anyone who deliberately got socks and shoes wet an idiot.

I used to take off my boots and socks to wade through streams and small rivers, and then walk bare foot until I dried off.

I remember being rather amused when I saw the Bayeaux tapestry where the Normans were wading ashore and had taken off their hosen and shoen, so the makers had carefully embroidered in their toes.

Anne the Pleater

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

The sgian dubh is descended from the sgian achlais which was actually carried hidden on ones person and was called an armpit knife.. The name sgian dubh or black knife alludes to the hidden or dark use.. It was placed in a visible place when visiting someone as a sign of respect as mentioned..

While this is certainly a quaint story, it doesn't seem to be founded in any sort of fact. The earliest verifiable reference to a sgian dubh is c.1811-- where it can be clearly seen in the portrait of Alasdair MacDonald of Glengarry, by Sir Henry Raeburn.

The sgian dubh was, in all likelihood, a small skinning knife carried in the pocket or sporran, and only thrust into the top of the stocking as a matter of convenience when the gamekeeper was dressing deer in the field. This would explain its absence from pictures and engravings of 16th, 17th, and 18th century highlanders, and why it is first generally encountered in 19th century hunting scenes, notably those by Landseer.

The sgian dubh derived its name not from some sinister or "dark" purpose, but rather from the staining of the mild steel blade and wooden hilt from constant rough usage in the field.

The sgian achails corresponded more to a modern "utility knife", and was used for most chores a hunting knife would be put to in the woods of North America. It served as an eating utensil, as much as anything else, in a time when knives and forks were a rare commodity in Scotland and, when carried, would probably have been tucked through the belt, or perhaps kept in a fold of the plaid which would provide a secure "pocket", preventing the loss of the knife.

Like the sgian dubh the sgian achails was a specific tool, intended for a specific task. Neither was intended as a weapon although, like a hammer (or a bar of soap in the toe of a sock) it could be used as such if the need arose.