Kilt Covers (Circa WW1 orWW2)

[TheBrus]

The Brattie
Neil Munro

The brattie for sweepin’, the brattie for dirt!
Tie on your brattie and tuck up your shirt!
It’s always the case when there’s cleanin’ to do
That the first for the besom’s the Bonnets o’ Blue.
Once we were gentry and cleaned in the kilt,
Wi’ a braw Hielan’ sporran and money ‘ntil’t;
Now deil to the sporran! And tartan’s napoo;
It’s ower guid for the work and it’s put out o’ view
Below the brown brattie for sweepin’!

The mothers that bore us—the best ever stept!—
Were up in the mornin’ when other folk slept;
Do ye think they were deckin’ themsel’s in the glass,
Or plannin’ diversions to mak’ the day pass?
Na, Na! the wee mothers, the dainty and dour,
Were up at revally to fight wi’ the stour—
That the hame might be tidy, and children be spruce,
They swept like the winds o’ the hill through the hoose,
And bonny they looked in their bratties!

Dirt will come down on ye, dae what ye can,
And cleanin’ a steadin’s a task for a man,
So we’re up like our mothers at screigh o’ the dawn,
Sarks up to the elbows and aprons on.
The thing to mak’ Europe as clean as a whistle
‘S a besom o’ beath frae the land o’ the thistle,
A besom o’ heath and a wash o’ the sea;
The breeks for our sailors, for us the bare knee,
And the brattie, the brattie o’ Scotland!

If ever we fight wi’ true gentry again,
We’ll go in full tartan and meet them like men.
Our sporrans ‘ll glitter, our feathers ‘ll wave,
To honor a foe that is gallant and brave;
But for mucking a midden and cleanin’ out swine
That’s needin’ a duckin’ in water o’ Rhine,
It were silly to dress in our Sunday array,
So we’ll dress like our work as our mothers would say,
And that’s wi’ the bonny brown brattie!

[Standard]

Check out post #718 here: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...57#post1055057

As for a kilt apron here in the 21st century, I'd say a good choice for everyday work wear would still be canvas, but teflon coated fibers would be really nice.

[Mr.Charles Anthony]

TheBrus
Thanks for the Post; the crowd at the Lecture should enjoy that!
CSA

[Mr.Charles Anthony]

Readers;
Thanks for the news, photos, advice & comments. I have some odd scraps of Home Despot drop cloths in my sewing bin, I think I toss one together; this with a drawstring, it would be a better fit, I think. Then, if I can fiqure it out, I'll post an image. It should be great for mucking the horse stall, (or cooking in the kitchen)
With Thanks
CSAnthony

[Tobus]

FYI, you can purchase original ones here (it says they have 10 available). Note: the shipping to the US is about $15, so the total cost would be around $23. That's really not too bad. Cheaper than the reproductions sold by WPG.

[Mither Tap]

Thanks for the poem TheBrus!

I like Neil Munro, just finished the Para Handy tales about twa weeks ago.

Chris S

[Glen]

FYI, you can purchase original ones here (it says they have 10 available). Note: the shipping to the US is about $15, so the total cost would be around $23. That's really not too bad. Cheaper than the reproductions sold by WPG.

I have one of those, and it works well, although long on someone short...

[Glen]

I have one of those, and it works well, although long on someone short...

[Tobus]

I have one of those, and it works well, although long on someone short...

Actually, they can fit shorter guys, but they're meant to be worn high just like a military kilt. As I understand it, the typical size of these aprons is 53x68cm (about 20.75"x26.75"). So, if worn with a typical high-rise military kilt that's around 27" tall, it would be the right length.

Looking at photos of the construction of the military aprons, it seems like it would be a simple matter to cut the stitching at the top, trim the material, and re-hem it (moving the ties down in the process) in order to make it work with a modern civilian kilt that has a lower rise, or to accommodate a shorter person. Depending on where you want the height of the front pocket to be, you might have to remove length from both top and bottom. But I couldn't imagine it taking more than an hour, start to finish, using a sewing machine.

Yours definitely needs to be either raised up, or shortened so that the bottom of the apron is about the same length as your kilt.

[Bohica]

Photo of my father in 1939 with the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada showing the "front only" apron


http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/...ca55/small.jpg