Phillabeg, Feilidh-beag, or "Little Kilt"

[GunnHighlander]

I Re-enact with "Montgomerie's Highlanders", the 77th Highland Regiment of the french and indian war. We wear the Feilidh-beag in the Black Watch Tartan. The "little kilt" is nothing more than a Feilidh-mor with the extra material cut off. So it's exactly the same, i.e. the aprons, the pleats, etc. except it isn't as "modern" (buckles, straps) as a modern formal kilt.

When the highlanders came to the colonies to fight the french and indians on behalf of the crown in 1756, they first wore the great kilt. They quickly learned that fighting in the mountains of western Pa, N.Y. and Canada didn't lend itself to the bulk of a great kilt, so they cut the extra material above the belt off. Hence the fillabeg.

Not much difference.

[Woodsheal]

J.T.,
Welcome to the forum! I'm a reenactor too: NY Provincial for F&I War, and also 1745 Jacobite. What you are saying re: plaids and philabegs has been "standard" knowledge for years.
However, some recent research and conjecture regarding the belted plaid is that it likely had a drawstring, running through sewn loops at waist level, to ease the donning and wearing of the cumbersome item.

Again, consider these two articles on the subject:

http://www.tartansauthority.com/Web/...eltedplaid.asp

http://albanach.org/drawstring.htm

So, my question remains: if the plaid had a drawstring, would not also the philabeg when it was split away from its wider forebear...?