"Before The Kilt" by Jerry Kelly

[Steve Ashton]

I just got this in the mail this afternoon.

"Before The Kilt"
How the Irish and Scots Dressed in the 16th Century
By Gerald A. John Kelly
Published by The Druid Press
Copyright 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1466219786

Excerpt from About the Author;

A graduate of Yale University and the Harvard Business School, Jerry Kelly is a former Adjunct Professor of Irish Language and Culture at Fordham University.

He taught Irish on behalf of The Irish Arts Center in New York from 1979 to 1981; plus mythology and Seanchas through the medium of the Irish Language at Scoil Chaeilge Ghearoid Toibin/The Gerry Tobin Irish Language School from 1989 to 2007; and Irish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic culture at Fordham from 2008 to 2010.

He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Irish Institute of Molloy College, teaches Irish on behalf of The Philo-Celtic Society, writes the Seanchas column of the Irish Language magazine AN GAEL, and is a member of the American Conference for Irish Studies and the American Irish Teachers' Association.


I have not had time to read this fully, but a glance through it appears very interesting.
It opens with a glossary of Irish Gaelic words used in the book and goes on to a very extensive discussion of Gaeil and Celts language and culture.

The rest of the book is a discussion using works of art from the 16th and 17th Century showing Irish and Scottish Dress of the period such as works by Lucas de Heere, Albrecht Durer & John Derrick.

I'll post more as I get a chance to read the entire book.

From first glance well worth the $12.00.

[MacEanruig]

From the description, it sounds like a great deal, especially since the price is listed $20 at Druid Press. I might have to order a copy.

[S.S.Muldoon]

I think I just felt slightly over $20 fly away...

I would just have blown it on bills anyhow!

[S.S.Muldoon]

OK Steve, et al...

My copy arrived today and I've had about two cups of tea's worth of time flipping through the pages.

I really like this work so far. Kelly, the author does more than re-hash the period drawings and representations most of which even the most casual arm-chair historian would already be familiar. He appears to take the time and pains to separate the wheat from the chaff, drawing attention to the fact that a lot of historical images appear to be re-workings of other artist's illustrations. In particular, he calls into question a good deal of Derrick's Image of Irelande woodcuts as exaggerated copies of other artists' work, less as historical record and more as contemporary propaganda for an Elizabethan English audience living in fear of a wild, uncouth, and uncivilized vision of Gaelic culture festering just above their Northern borders and beyond their Western sea.

With the caveat that I still haven't really sat down and read it yet, I feel the price was worth having all of the plates and illustrations frequently referenced in other works all together in one volume. Very handy for research.

But true to the title, and as much as some wish to romanticize the "ancient lineage of the garb of old gaul", there is nary a kilt to be found between the covers.

And if that's a deal-breaker for you, there is always the option of using a pic of Rowdy Roddy Piper as a bookmark. Problem solved!

Thanks for letting us know about this book Steve. I was glad to add it to my library.

[DyerStraits]

Does the book delve into, or make any reference to, the often posited mentions of the (hypothetical/adaptational/etymological) Scandinavian origins of the kilt?

[Steve Ashton]

No, the book deals exclusively with the clothing before the kilt. And in particular what the Irish and, to a lesser degree, the Scots wore.

It takes those known, documented historical drawings, paintings and written descriptions and compares then to each other.

It does not describe the kilt at all but what there was before and possibly leading up to the development of the kilt and stops. It deals primarily with the Leine and Brat.

As the author is a professor of Irish, he deals primarily with the Irish clothing and language. If you are looking for a book that describes the early development of the kilt, this is not the book for you.

[DyerStraits]

No, the book deals exclusively with the clothing before the kilt. And in particular what the Irish and, to a lesser degree, the Scots wore.

It takes those known, documented historical drawings, paintings and written descriptions and compares then to each other.

It does not describe the kilt at all but what there was before and possibly leading up to the development of the kilt and stops. It deals primarily with the Leine and Brat.

As the author is a professor of Irish, he deals primarily with the Irish clothing and language. If you are looking for a book that describes the early development of the kilt, this is not the book for you.

Many Thanks, Steve, this is simultaneously enlightening, intriguing and affirming, as the Brat would appear to be a (possible) predecessor of the Great Kilt, i.e., a large
belted and folded (pleated) at the waist cloaked outer garment, worn on top of a tunic under-garment. Although it apparently does not attempt to specify the origin of the Scottish Highlander Kilt, it does appear to support its predominantly Celtic, rather than Scandinavian, origin, to wit: http://www.clans.org.uk/kilts_2.html

W\

[Damion]

The author of that book has a video on youtube I just watched. I won't post a link, it's pretty much him flicking through the book and showing some of the plates. The last 30 seconds had some interesting information.
Essentially he said that the kilt is first identified in the 1630s and that it's an exclusively Scottish fashion, that is the Irish Gaels don't seem to have adopted it. Of course this may have been due to the English invasion and subjugation of Ireland which removed the Gaelic leadership and imposed English culture in its stead. Certainly up to that time the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland appear to have worn the same clothing.
Also noteworthy was that at the end of the 19th century the Irish nationalists wanted to introduce an ethnic dress along the lines of the Highland dress of Scotland. They considered reintroducing the leine, the long yellow shirt of the Irish warrior class. There was concern that this would be seen as comedic (they were all raised with Victorian sensibilities afterall) and so they adopted the kilt instead.

It makes sense in a way, the Irish may have adopted the great kilt had they remained under Celtic leadership which then would have become the wee kilt like it did for the Scots. If the lowlanders can adopt the kilt, why not the Irish who have equal claim to kinship with the Highlanders - current DNA testing notwithstanding.