Military Kilts in the 1850s

[Riverkilt]

Just finished reading, "MacDonald of the 42nd" by Donald Featherstone. The book is supposed to be the story of Hector MacDonald's service in the 42nd Royal Highlanders - the Black Watch.

Its a very realistic book - particularly in describing the hardships of soldiering in that era and the carnage of combat.

The kilt is mentioned a few times in the book.

When he is given his intitial training, "They were shown how to hang their kilt on two pegs at the head of the bed.."

Speaking of soldiering in the rain and kilts vs. pantaloons, "If the wet kilt and hose were taken off and wrung out, they might be immediately worn again with perfect safety; although the mosquitos were a great trouble to wearers of the kilt."

Speaking of sending out bands and recruiting parties by various regiments to recruit new members, "The 42nd needed no such assistance - the attraction of the kilt kept their ranks filled."

Of soldiering in cold weather, "It was not uncommon to see kilted Highlanders crying with the pain of their frozen knees."

Of soldiering in the mud, "the glutinous mixture made their kilts heavy and plastered them to the body, so that every movement of the legs was painful as the mud abrasively lacerated the insides of the men's thighs."

Of soldiering in hot weather, "the ponderous folds of woollen cloth that formed their kilts tucked into massive wads over their hips and without protection from the sun for their bare thighs and knees."

In India, a story of a young officer of the 42nd attempting to ride a camel for the first time, "and so became probably the first man ever to attempt to ride the humped beast whilst wearing a kilt."

Of soldiering in scrub brush, "Under his feet the dry grass and twigs crackled and his bare knees below his kilt were whipped and torn by the thorn bushes and undergrowth through which they were pushing."

Nice little peeks at the reality of kilting as a member of the Black Watch.

[kilted-jack]

Just finished reading, "MacDonald of the 42nd" by Donald Featherstone. The book is supposed to be the story of Hector MacDonald's service in the 42nd Royal Highlanders - the Black Watch.

Its a very realistic book - particularly in describing the hardships of soldiering in that era and the carnage of combat.

The kilt is mentioned a few times in the book.

When he is given his intitial training, "They were shown how to hang their kilt on two pegs at the head of the bed.."

Speaking of soldiering in the rain and kilts vs. pantaloons, "If the wet kilt and hose were taken off and wrung out, they might be immediately worn again with perfect safety; although the mosquitos were a great trouble to wearers of the kilt."

Speaking of sending out bands and recruiting parties by various regiments to recruit new members, "The 42nd needed no such assistance - the attraction of the kilt kept their ranks filled."

Of soldiering in cold weather, "It was not uncommon to see kilted Highlanders crying with the pain of their frozen knees."

Of soldiering in the mud, "the glutinous mixture made their kilts heavy and plastered them to the body, so that every movement of the legs was painful as the mud abrasively lacerated the insides of the men's thighs."

Of soldiering in hot weather, "the ponderous folds of woollen cloth that formed their kilts tucked into massive wads over their hips and without protection from the sun for their bare thighs and knees."

In India, a story of a young officer of the 42nd attempting to ride a camel for the first time, "and so became probably the first man ever to attempt to ride the humped beast whilst wearing a kilt."

Of soldiering in scrub brush, "Under his feet the dry grass and twigs crackled and his bare knees below his kilt were whipped and torn by the thorn bushes and undergrowth through which they were pushing."

Nice little peeks at the reality of kilting as a member of the Black Watch.

Great insight

[NorCalPiper]

Soldiering in a kilt is probably the LAST thing I'd want to do in a kilt!

[thescot]

I can think of several things that would come behind soldiering in a kilt.

I'd rather soldier in a kilt than:
* change the oil in my car in a kilt
* wrestle a steer in a kilt
* Swim the Channel in a kilt
* get thrown in the drunk tank in downtown Chicago in a kilt

Soldiering in anything is a job!

Sounds like a good book.

[Nick the DSM]

Some of that made me think: Ouch!

[Noel Christian Riddell]

Great stuff! Frozen and chafed knees, moquito bites and extra weight... sign me up. ^_^

Having worn the boots and carried the rifle myself, I must agree with Jim: 'Soldiering in anything is a job!'

[SteveB]

Everything must be looked at in the context of the period.

Trousers of the time were formed to the wearers body, and worked fine for basic walking and sitting. They provided a very sharp "sawing" action with rapid motion, as well as tended to "ride up" on the wearer, resulting in some abrasion to the family heritage.

My own experience of the field kilted is that I could move with less restriction than my trousered comrades. I also could move better after trudging through shallow swamplands as the hose got the mud and did not reduce the movement of the kilt. The trousers stuck to the legs and pulled on anything north of the mud line.

For the smaller pests the standard issue:" Repellent, insect, flying and crawling" worked quite well.

[Lachlan09]

I read that book many years ago in paperback. Good read.

The OP's comments remind me of problems of military kilt-wearing in other eras.

Mosquitoes – The pestilent West Indies were almost a death-sentence to 18th Century British troops, so that by the 1790’s, Highland troops, when stationed there, were issued white cotton trousers to replace their kilts. Likewise, the 91st Regt of Foot (Argyllshire Highlanders) put aside their kilts and wore trews for the 1809 Walcheren (Holland) Expedition, being a malarial area. The 93rd Regt. of Foot (Sutherland Highlanders) replaced their kilts with trews for the 1814/15 New Orleans Expedition for the same reason.

Cold Weather – the men wouldn’t be crying just because their knees were cold. The Crimea was an extremely cold, bleak place in winter and the army was based outdoors all the time, particularly in the winter of 1854, when many men had to sleep in the open air of the bleak, windy terrain or in inadequate tents, then take their turn in the wet, muddy trenches around Sevastapol. During this time, kilts got wet and froze. The hard tartan material of that time became like sheets of metal, the hems severely chafing and even cutting the men’s knees. When Queen Victoria inspected a detachment of the 93rd’s at Balmoral in 1871, she saw how raw the men’s knees were and instigated a change to soft tartan material, used ever since for army kilts.

Mud, wet and cold – The effect of this miserable combination came to the fore in the Great War, when thousands of kilted men had to endure personal miseries of static duties in damp, muddy trenches and funk-holes, wet and cloying, muddy kilts which made them heavy and unpleasant, lice and their eggs colonizing the dark warmth of the deepest pleat recesses, kilts getting dangerously hooked on the barbed-wire (a fact noticed by German observers who picked them off as they struggled and noted, after attacks, the many dead kilties caught in the wire). From Winter 1916, British kilted troops on the Western Front were issued trousers and puttees for wear in the depths of winter, as instructed by official orders.

Heat – another enemy of kilted soldiers. At the battle of Magersfontein, December 1899 (during the 2nd Boer War), the Highland Brigade was decimated out in an open plain, then pinned down by accurate Boer sniper fire. As the Highlanders lay hugging the ground, unable to advance or withdraw, the sun beat down on them and caused severe sun-burn and blistering on the unprotected, vulnerable backs of the men’s knees.

[Mike in Dayton]

I can think of several things that would come behind soldiering in a kilt.

I'd rather soldier in a kilt than:
* change the oil in my car in a kilt
* wrestle a steer in a kilt
* Swim the Channel in a kilt
* get thrown in the drunk tank in downtown Chicago in a kilt

Soldiering in anything is a job!

Sounds like a good book.

"*change the oil in my car in a kilt"
I have done that! Changed the front brake rotors out too. The car was in my garage with the door closed so no issue with "the question" being answered.

That is interesting information in that book. I can understand the mosquito issue. Having done Geocaching in a kilt I have found myself in very wet areas loaded with those buggers. As for the mud and the cold, I never thought about the cloth freezing. I can see that would be problem.