Interesting 1773 Description of Kilt

[Bugbear]

While reading, I came across an interesting description of a gentleman and his kilt outfit in, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell.*

James Boswell writes of getting on a boat to travel to Raasay, which he spells, "Rasay," on Wednesday, 8th September 1773:

He (Mr. Malcolm Macleod, the boat pilot) was now sixty-two years of age, hale, and well proportioned,--with a manly countenance, tanned by the weather, yet having a ruddiness in his cheeks, over a great part of which his rough beard extended.--His eye was quick and lively, yet his look was not fierce, but he appeared at once firm and good-humoured. He wore a pair of brogues,--Tartan hose which came up only near to his knees, and left them bare,--a purple camblet kilt,--a black waistcoat,-- a short green cloth coat bound with gold cord,--a yellowish bushy wig,--a large blue bonnet with a gold thread button. I never saw a figure that gave a more perfect representation of a Highland gentleman. I wished much to have a picture of him just as he was. I found him frank and polite,in the true sense of the word. (229-30)

either of the journals are in the public domain and on line, but the point of this book was to present the two perspectives of the same events being recorded by Johnson and Boswell. Johnson does not mention the kilt in his description.

I note the tartan hose, but am not sure what to make of the "purple camblet kilt." Any comments?

* Samuel Johnson, and James Boswell, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (London : W. Strachan, 1775; London: Charles Dilly, 1785; repr., Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2008).