kilts in Scotland

[macwilkin]

Started reading this thread when I got off work (& home) around 2:30am this morn'. Very interesting and wish to contribute a little something, but was much too tired then to dig for my source material & all... well it's 11:02am and my cat wouldn't let me sleep, so here I am

Reading about the wearing of the kilt amongst the Lowland regiments earlier reminded me of a book I've had for sometime. It's entitled "The Scottish Regiments" (2nd Edition 1996: HarperCollins Publishers; Glasgow) by Dr. Diana M. Henderson (Territorial Army); with forward by H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh K.G K.T.
It details the Scottish regiments at the time (1996) incl. their individual regimental histories, badge & motto, tartans & clan affiliations, battle honours, music & toasts, and allied & affiliated regiments.
Anyhow, I wish to include a few snippets from the introduction and the section on tartans from the chapter of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, I thought it might be of interest to some.

from the introduction:
"...for many people, the bagpipes, the tartan and the glengarries can seem outmoded and contrived, and it is not difficult to find evidence to support this belief. For example, historically, the use of the highland bagpipe is not strictly correct in the context of Lowland regiments who originally used a specifically lowland form of the instrument. The ubiquitous glengarry was only introduced in the 1840s when LtCol. The Hon. Lauderdale Maule of the 79th Cameron Highlanders adapted the old 'humle' bonnet from which the present cap is derived. In addition, it was as late as 1881 before tartan was adopted by the Lowland regiments, at a time when the 'Highland' image and the cloth itself had become widely popular throughout Scotland."

from 'Tartans of the Royal Highland Fusiliers':
"The Royal Scots Fusiliers did not wear tartan until 1881, a factor which makes them no less Scottish. By 1881, however, the wearing of tartan was so popular all over Scotland, not just in the Highlands, that the major army reorganisations in that year were used to introduce tartan into Lowland regiments.
In addition, both the Scots Guards and the Royal Scots Fusiliers were offered the opportunity to wear Government tartan trews. The Royal Scots Fusiliers objected strongly to this without success, but after 1901 they adopted their own tartan, the Government or Black Watch sett with a blue line added."

"For many years the Highland Light Infantry laid claim to the kilt and tried to have it restored to the regiment. Although trews had originally been just as much the mark of a Highlander as the kilt, the adoption of trews by Lowland regiments in 1881 was considered by many to have devalued the trews as Highland garb."

Diana Henderson is the head of the Scots at War Trust and the author of another "must-have" book, Highland Soldier, which is a social study of the Seaforth Highlanders during the late 19th century.

My copy of The Scottish Regiments is very "dog-eared", since I frequently use it as a reference. It provides a very concise history of each Scottish regiment, as well as regimental customs, traditions, tartans, etc. If you can find a copy, it is well worth adding to your library.

Great post, T.E.!

Todd