How many kilts would a Scot have had.

[macwilkin]

I think about this every single time I go to a CW reenactment of any kind and can't help but shake my head and laugh, because I know our ancestors would be doing the same thing!

So do I, especially when someone brings out a reproduction of a weapon, uniform, etc. that the troops despised, such as the Austrian Lorenz Rifle, and reenactors go crazy.

Several years ago, everyone had to have a repro smoothbore M1842 Musket, even though the soldiers would have traded their eye teeth for a Springfield or Enfield rifled musket.

Sorry for the OT.

T.

[GMan]

Interesting thought. You can only wear one garment at a time so I would say only one Kilt. Easy for travel and getting around and your "luggage" would not get lost. And as far as smell, everyone would blend in to the surroundings, without that "fresh scent"

[davedove]

As to smell, I think there is more than BO that could cause a smell that the English would notice. Could it be that wool spun in a croft by a different method that the English would retain the natural smell from the sheep. Lanolin is smelly. Maybe substances used to dye the wool could have distinctive and not necessarily offensive smells. I doubt any Scot could smell worse than an English person, peasant or lord. What could smell more like BO than Henry VIII or the Marquis of Bournemouth on a hot summer day? BO can only produce so much of a stench. So, either there was a smell from a different source or the English were just being anti-Scot bigots.

A different diet can cause noticible differences in BO. Although I don't see the Scottish diet being that much different from the English. It was probably mostly bigotry.

[Kilted KT]

I'll tell you, as a long-distance hiker, once you and everyone else you're with smells (and you smell BAD) it doesn't matter anymore. You stop noticing it, unless something extreme (like someone taking off their shoes) happens. In fact, you start to recognise individual people's natural smells, and can tell who's around you by that. You can start to smell "day-hikers" up to a mile away depending on the wind (for real!) by the soap/artificial scents they're wearing.

Andrew.

I agree with you completely. Having taken extremely large groups ( in excess of 100) 7th graders on week long camping trips without the niceties of "modern" society, people smell "bad" only when there are others wearing deoderant or other such things to hide their natural scent. after a few days, every smells "bad" and a day or so later, since everyone smells, no one smells.

Keep in mind that while we may think the scots of old smelled foul due to a lack of bathing or sanitation, they walked on the same roads that horses defecated on, indoor plumbing wasn't in every house.

I think Monty Python's "Holy Grail" explained this best.
"
LARGE MAN: Who's that then?

CART DRIVER(Grudgingly): I dunno, Must be a king.

LARGE MAN: Why?

CART DRIVER : He hasn't got (feces) all over him.
"

[Mattg]

This is very interesting....I would think that a man of those days would not be too worried about having a wide selection of clothing

[pdcorlis]

This is very interesting....I would think that a man of those days would not be too worried about having a wide selection of clothing

Agreed - probably more interested in having a warm dry place to sleep and enough food to keep his family alive.

[Streetcar]

The smell might not be completely prejudicial.

Our duty pants are still wool. (Lord knows why!) When they get wet, they smell worse than a wet dog. The smell of a damp, wool kilt, might be distinctive enough to be recognized through the assorted B/O of the time.

[macwilkin]

The smell might not be completely prejudicial.

Our duty pants are still wool. (Lord knows why!) When they get wet, they smell worse than a wet dog. The smell of a damp, wool kilt, might be distinctive enough to be recognized through the assorted B/O of the time.

See my post about the CW soldiers. Same principle.

Sorry, I don't buy the "bigotry" reason as the only reason -- I'm sure a ploughman from Devon or Northumberland smelled just as bad as a lad from Forres or Ayr.

Cheers,

Todd

[Mattg]

See my post about the CW soldiers. Same principle.

Sorry, I don't buy the "bigotry" reason as the only reason -- I'm sure a ploughman from Devon or Northumberland smelled just as bad as a lad from Forres or Ayr.

Cheers,

Todd

I agree, a English peasant would smell as bad as a Scottish one. Though I'm sure that the English only thought it worse that the smelly person was Scottish, and the other way around!

[ByDand]

I would also have suspected one to wear when the
other is being washed, but I remember reading that
an englishman could tell if a scot was approaching
by the smell.

Reminds me of a line from the movie "Cool Hand Luke" when the guard said he could smell Paul Newman and Newman replied "that should be easy for a genuine SOB". Just joking and not wanting to insult the English as this was a very long time ago.