Trying to find the oldest kilt

[furrycelt]

i got to thinking when i was reading this post about kilt collections. McMurdo mentioned having a kilt that was 67 years old. I thought "WOW". The oldest kilt i own is under 10 years of age.

So, to the group: raise your hand if you have a really old kilt. Tell us its story, age, how you got it, what shape it is in, do you wear it, etc.

Who here has the oldest kilt?

[Macman]

My oldest kilt isn't as old as McMurdo's, but it is 34 years old. It's a Red Mackintosh, and I had it made by a local kiltmaker when I was 18; it was my only kilt for over thirty years. It's been worn well (or well-worn!) but is still in very good shape, and the stories it could tell! I gave it to my dad to wear when I got my new Hunting Mackintosh for my wedding four years ago.

[McMurdo]

That was actually a typo it is 57yrs old as is the sporran that came with it, I am wearing the sporran now actually. If it is a quality piece it can last forever. BTW furrycelt it's a Gunn Modern and I wear it often, for a long time it was my only kilt. Right now though I am having it taken out slightly as it does not quite fit anymore. Here is my Dad and I, the first and second owners of this wonderful garment.



It was made by A&J Scott and co. Aberdeen, 1950, I was given the kilt about 3 yrs ago because I was looking for a kilt to wear to a function at work, so when Dad lent it to me I asked if I could keep it, he said yes as he would never fit into it again, his suspiscion is that it shrunk at the dry cleaners

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I have a MacGregor kilt that is probably at least 80 years old. I don't know for sure. It's a really solid heavy weight cloth, full 8 yards, pleated to the stripe. Probably an ex-piper's kilt I am thinking. You can see some obvious wear at the hips where a chain strap was worn with it.

I got it from a vintage clothing dealer on Ebay for a grand total of $75. My exact size. Yes, you may all be jealous now.

When I got it (maybe 6 years ago), I estimated it's age to be about 75 to 80 years old, which lined up precisely with what the dealer claimed for it.

I don't wear it as often as I once did just because I have so many others, so why wear out the old one. But I do enjoy wearing it -- it wears well and feels great. I need to replace the leather straps and put a new waistband on it, but can't seem to find time to.

Now if you want to talk about old kilts, I could tell you what we have in the museum... :-)

Matt

[cessna152towser]

I met these two re-enactors at a World War II event in the north of England last year and the older one nearest the camera told me that his kilt had been made for one of his relatives in 1943.

[Oldhiker]

Not exactly a kilt but an old tartan.

How about a tartan from 1726 as the oldest? It isn't mine..... but the Clan Young makes claims that this is the oldest tartan still in existence

http://www.clanyoung.info/
Clan Young Society - Christina Young Tartan
by Russell A Smith
I am not an authority on tartans, but want to pass along some information from published material regarding the "CY". As Douglas Young has explained, it is an Arisaid plaid. It bears the initials CY and the date 1726. It's approximate size is 7 x 17 feet. From a distance, it appears rather a drab tan tablecloth. A closer look reveals the colors of Wheat, Orange, Yellow, and Purple. These colors were from natural dyes and are muted by 265 years, so it may have been a bit brighter in its day. The Scottish Tartans Society now owns it and the following information comes from Comrie. One of the worlds greatest authorities on Highland dress, Mr. John Telfer Dunbar stated in 1939, that this was "the most valuable tartan" he had ever examined. He purchased it in that year from Mary C. Bruce. He referred to it as a "double bar plain", due to the bars around it's border. It was a family tartan and it's history of use was for "a banqueting cloth, a coverlet for the bridal bed and as a mort cloth for laying out the bodies of the slain." The use of the word "slain" and the plural of body are of interest. I guess we should remember that this is pre-Culloden and the times were not peaceful. The CY also enjoys the honor of being the largest piece of tartan to survive the banning of tartans in Scotland.


©1998, 1999, 2000 Clan Young, Inc.

[MacWage]

On old tartans:
http://albanach.org/oldtartans.html

One of the oldest commonly used tartans is Caledonian (like Rocky and several others sell-> I have a kilt in one and material for a second).
From the above link:
"The Caledonia tartan, worn by any without a clan, was popular in the eighteenth century, but no one is really sure how far back its origins go."

The ACTUAL oldest known tartan is the Falkirk/Shepherd tartan, as it was found as a stopper in a 3rd century bottle during some digging.

As for th OLDEST kilt I've actually seen:
In the Scottish Tartan Museum, Franklin, NC. It is a "four yard" box pleat and the oldest known kilt (Matt could give a date to it, if he so desires).

As all of the true kilts I own, I have made . . . I am not even in the running for owning the oldest kilt not on museum display.

[ccga3359]

I think that this is an interesting thread and I'm curious too as to you has the oldest kilt still being worn on a semi-regular basis.

[orangehaggis]

Matt: If you suspect that your MacGregor is a military garment, it may well be from the Essex and Kent Scottish Reg't of Windsor, Ontario. A good mate and lodge brother of mine is a swing tenor drummer in the regiment's pipes and drums.

http://www.army.dnd.ca/Essex_Kent_Sc...ts/main_e.html

Mark O - USA

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Matt: If you suspect that your MacGregor is a military garment, it may well be from the Essex and Kent Scottish Reg't of Windsor, Ontario. A good mate and lodge brother of mine is a swing tenor drummer in the regiment's pipes and drums.

http://www.army.dnd.ca/Essex_Kent_Sc...ts/main_e.html

Mark O - USA

It very well may be. However, there are no labels, markings, stamps, or any other identifying elements in the kilt. Most military kilts I have seen have had some kind of government label in them -- but then again I am not familiar with Canadian regiments.

The vintage clothing dealer I bought it from knew nothing about kilts and I don't think really knew what she had. She could tell me nothing about the origins of the kilt -- she apparantly got it from an estate and who knows where they got it from.
M