History of the kilt

A description from 1746 states:[4] The garb is certainly very loose, and fits men inured to it to go through great fatigues, to make very quick marches, to bear out against the inclemency of the weather, to wade through rivers, and shelter in huts, woods, and rocks upon occasion; which men dressed in the low country garb could not possibly endure.For battle, it was customary to take off the plaid beforehand and set it aside, the Highland charge being made wearing only the léine croich or war shirt, a knee-length shirt of leather, linen, or canvas, heavily pleated and sometimes quilted as protection.[7] A letter written by Ivan Baillie in 1768 and published in the Edinburgh Magazine in March 1785 states that the garment people would recognize as a kilt today was invented in the 1720s by Thomas Rawlinson, a Quaker from Lancashire.[10] David Stewart of Garth (1825) wrote of the story as being unsubstantiated, and "one of the arguments brought forward by some modern authors, to prove that the Highland garb is of recent introduction.[18] John Telfer Dunbar (1979) takes the letter at face value,[19] and Hugh Trevor-Roper (1983) accepts it without much question,[8] relying on it heavily in a later posthumous volume (2008).[20] Banks & de La Chapelle (2007) label the story a "legend", accept the location, then suggest that the workers themselves may have invented the short kilt.[21] Murray Pittock (2010) wrote that "it is ... ridiculous to suppose that an English Quaker industrialist could determine the sartorial priorities of ... a national culture" and that the story was characterised by "easy vehemence and lack of either rigour or depth".[26] Mackay further suggests Scottish coats of arms published in 1659 and 1673 show supporters in small kilts,[27] and A. Campbell (1899) did likewise,[28] as did Innes of Learney;[29] Dunbar again offered a conflicting opinion.[30] Mackay also quoted c. 1715 Scots Jacobite songs that specifically mentioned the "philabeg",[31] and mid-17th-century sources that seem to treat the plaid and kilt as separate garments.[35] Mackay raised a point of logic: Since the belted plaid was made of two pieces of tartan cloth stitched together to provide the necessary top-to-bottom span, "It is surely too great a strain upon our credulity to ask us to believe" that no one before Rawlinson ever thought to use the lower one by itself.[37] All of the above is typical of the long-running debate, with different authors (often with unkind words for the opposition) offering their opinions and some evidence, with neither viewpoint clearly having the evidentiary upper-hand.Professor and museum curator Hugh Cheape wrote of the dispute: "Such a debate has tended to be circular, without adding much more than value judgement to our knowledge of Highland dress.In the aftermath of that rebellion the Government decided to form more Highland regiments for the army in order to direct the energies of Gaels, that "hardy and intrepid race of men".[43] In doing so, they formed effective new army regiments to send to fight in India, North America, and other locations while lowering the possibility of rebellion at home.However, on D-Day, June 1944, Lord Lovat, commander of 1 Special Service Brigade, was accompanied by his personal piper Bill Millin, who wore a kilt– and played the bagpipes – while German bullets whizzed around him.
Highland chieftain Lord Mungo Murray wearing belted plaid, around 1680.
Highland soldier in 1744, an early picture of great kilt, with the plaid being used to protect the musket lock from rain and wind.
General William Gordon , shown wearing a belted plaid – possibly the uniform of the short-lived 105th Regiment of Foot – in the painting by Pompeo Batoni (1765–66).
Alastair Ruadh MacDonnell , c. 1747, in a belted plaid with a retainer in the small kilt, probably the first to appear in a portrait.
Portrait by Henry Raeburn of Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry in 1812.
David Wilkie 's 1829 flattering portrait of the kilted King George IV , with lighting chosen to tone down the brightness of his kilt and his knees shown bare, without the pink tights he actually wore at the event in 1822.
Satirical caricature of European women curious about kilted Scottish soldiers, c. 1815
An officer of the Black Watch c. 1743
Men of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders man a bunker at Aix, France (1939)
belted plaidOld NorsemusketGaelictartandrawstringGeneral William Gordon105th Regiment of FootPompeo BatoniHighland chargecanvasScottish HighlandsLowlandsformal attirewhite-tieSheriffmuir doubletGordon Highlanders (92nd Regiment of Foot)National Army MuseumAlastair Ruadh MacDonnellThomas RawlinsonQuakerLancashireMacDonnells of GlengarryWalter ScottDavid Stewart of GarthJohn MacCullochTyndrumJohn SinclairThomas Innes of LearneyHugh Trevor-RoperMurray PittockRothiemaysupportersWilliam Breretonsewn-in pleatsHenry RaeburnAlexander Ranaldson MacDonellDavid WilkiekiltedKing George IVtightsJacobite risingsKing George IIDress Actromanticsromanticised "primitive" peoplesJacobitismHighland clearancesvisit of King George IV to Scotlandinvented traditionsVictoriaScottish national identityBlack WatchIndependent Highland CompaniesEarl of Crawford's Highland RegimentJacobiteJacobite rising of 1745Queen's Own Cameron Highlandersthe evacuation of DunkirkLord Lovat1 Special Service BrigadepersonalBill MillinGaelic IrelandScottish regimentsRoyal Regiment of ScotlandScots GuardsRoyal Scots Dragoon GuardsWayback MachineScott, WalterQuarterly ReviewStewart of Garth, DavidMacCulloch, JohnTrevor-Roper, HughPittock, MurrayPurser, JohnThe NationalCampbell, John FrancisWodrowGroves, John PercyW. & A.K. JohnstonStanding Council of Scottish ChiefsInnes of Learney, ThomasJohnston and BaconHobsbawm, Eric