So... which plaid is which?

[Father Bill]

I saw a post today labelled a 'fly plaid' that was actually around the torso and back. In my head that's a 'piper's plaid'. I could be wrong.

Does anyone have pictures or diagrams to differentiate the different ways of wearing a plaid and their respective names? I think I know a fly plaid, a laird's plaid and a few others, but I'd like to be sure that I'm using the proper terms for each of them.

I know that plaids are normally considered a bit outré, but nonetheless they are indeed 'out there' so I'd like to be sure I'm saying the right thing in each case.

It may also be that the names have migrated over the decades and even centuries, in which case, I'll always be wrong. I'm married, so I'm accustomed to that.

With thanks in advance!

[MurrayInGA]

Following. I was just thinking about this the other day and also looking for clarification.

[PassingW]

The "I'm married, so I'm accustomed to that." bit, or questions about the plaids?

[imrichmond]

The piper's plaid starts at the left shoulder, runs across the back, under the right arm, across the chest and is fastened at the left shoulder so that it hangs down the piper's left side with the fringe about level with the top of the spat (if these are worn). Putting one of these on can be a real pain and is usually easier with the help of a second person.

The fly plaid is a simple rectangle of cloth, usually fringed at both ends, which is attached at the left shoulder so that part of it hangs on the left side of the chest with most of the length hanging down the back. Other than the attachment at the shoulder, the fly plaid hangs loose front and back, hence the name "fly" plaid.

[Father Bill]

The piper's plaid starts at the left shoulder, runs across the back, under the right arm, across the chest and is fastened at the left shoulder so that it hangs down the piper's left side with the fringe about level with the top of the spat (if these are worn). Putting one of these on can be a real pain and is usually easier with the help of a second person.

The fly plaid is a simple rectangle of cloth, usually fringed at both ends, which is attached at the left shoulder so that part of it hangs on the left side of the chest with most of the length hanging down the back. Other than the attachment at the shoulder, the fly plaid hangs loose front and back, hence the name "fly" plaid.

That's what I thought. So... beyond those two and the Laird's plaid, are there any other variations I should keep in mind?

[EagleJCS]

The piper's plaid is also known as the drummer's plaid.

There is a 'belted plaid', which is similar, but has a belt holding the cloth to the back of the body. The plaid does not come across the front of the body. OCRichard might be able to write a better description and provide some pictures.

That should about cover it.

[figheadair]

The piper's plaid is also known as the drummer's plaid.

There is a 'belted plaid', which is similar, but has a belt holding the cloth to the back of the body. The plaid does not come across the front of the body. OCRichard might be able to write a better description and provide some pictures.

That should about cover it.

No, they are different garments. As has been said, a piper's plaid is worn across the body and nowadays often has the folds sewn in. A drummer's plaid is ties at the waist under the doublet and fastened at the shoulder. Here you can see both

blog.jpg

The drummer's plaid is refinement of the early 19th century style that replicated the old belted plaid but was a separate garment to the kilt. I think it was simply referred to a a plaid at the time but for clarity, is something I refer to as a Half Plaid. Here is the outfit worn by Donald Munro Ross c.1820 comprising a kilt, jacket and (half) plaid.

Donald Munro Ross c1820_02.jpg

[OC Richard]

This is always a confusing topic for people, mainly because

1) there are three different sorts of traditional plaid (not counting the Laird's Plaid and the entirely modern so-called "fly plaid" both of which are merely a big piece of cloth with no tailoring or construction)

2) there are several terms which are used loosely by many people, so that one term will often be used for two or three distinct sorts of plaids, and sometimes even for things that aren't plaids at all.

For things to make sense you have to know a bit of history.

Originally, before tailored kilts, there was the ancient kilt, just a huge piece of fabric wrapped around the body at the waist and tied to one shoulder by a ribbon, or pinned.

In Gaelic breac means patterned (striped, spotted, etc) and so this original kilt was called breacan-an-feileadh more or less "folded patterned thing".

Then the modern kilt came along, ending and the waist with stitched pleats, so to differentiate this new thing they called it the feileadh-beag "small folded thing" or 'phillabeg' or 'little kilt' when writing in English.

This led to the backformation term feileadh-mor "big folded thing" or 'phillamore' or 'great kilt' when writing in English. But...here's where some of the confusion starts...it was also called 'belted plaid' in English.

So when the upper half of the phillamore was cut off (c1800) that length could be wrapped around the body. It could be loosely wrapped, but as the Victorian period progressed it came to be wrapped more neatly and tightly. Both ends were fringed.

This thing, which in Victorian times was called the "long plaid", was very popular with civilians and in the army was worn by officers in trews (people didn't ride horses in kilts) and sometimes by officers and certain sergeants with kilts. It was also worn by pipers. Nowadays people have forgot that pipers made up a tiny minority of people who wore the long plaid and have dubbed the long plaid a "pipers plaid".

The second thing that happened when the top half of the phillamore got detached (c1800) was that a desire arose to artificially create something of the look of the old phillamore, that big amount of cloth gathered around the waist and tied with a ribbon or pinned to the shoulder.

Thus the "small plaid" or "belted plaid" was born. (I warned you.) In Victorian times it was very popular with civilians and in the army, where it was worn by all ranks regardless of duty from private riflemen up to Generals.

The belted plaid as made for civilians and army officers was a complex multi-piece tailored garment. It had a triangular tab that went through the left epaulette and was pinned with a plaid brooch, and a cloth self-belt that went round the waist under the jacket or waistcoat. It had purled fringe all around.

A simpler version of the belted plaid was used by enlisted men in the kilted Highland regiments, a single piece of tartan, not fringed, with a ribbon that went around the waist and a pair of ribbons (or cloth loop) to attach to the left epaulette. It usually had a small rosette of ribbon at the top tip near the attachment ribbon.

Though this simpler small-plaid had a belt of ribbon it came to be called a "fly plaid" for some reason. It was worn by all enlisted men, the riflemen in the ranks and the pioneers and yes the drummers too.

Though drummers made up a tiny minority of the men in a regiment who wore these, nowadays it's generally called a "drummers plaid".

This military "fly plaid" is not to be confused with the modern cheap kilt-hire "nappy", just a piece of cloth with non-purled fringe, which just hangs loose from the shoulder (not included in the collage).

[OC Richard]

To make the point that the Long Plaid shouldn't properly be called a "piper's plaid" here you can see that all the officers of Highland regiments (kilted or not) wore them, and there were a lot more officers than pipers.



And- say it ain't so- a piper of the 79th Foot (Cameron Highlanders) wearing a belted plaid (as worn by the officers in Full Dress)



Long plaids were very popular in Victorian civilian Highland Dress, often just draped around the body, less often with a brooch.





Belted plaids were also popular with Victorian civilians



As we know Highland Dress was mostly scrubbed of accessories between 1910 and 1920, making plaids of any sort much less seen.



You have to have a stellar reputation as a piper to get away with wearing all that stuff!

[Father Bill]

I knew this would get complex!