Why Does the Kilt Symbolize Scotland?

When did Lowlanders start wearing the kilt?
When did the kilt become a national symbol?
When did Scotland adopt the kilt as national dress?
Why did the Scots wear kilts instead of pants?
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[@RodFleming-World]

The answer to your question is 1782. After the 1745 rebellion, wearing tartan was made illegal but after 1782, when the Dress Act was repealed, it became fashionable amongst Lowland Scots, which it certainly had not been before. In 1822 King George IV wore a kilt on a State visit to Scotland - the ultimate approval - and ever since then, the wearing of the kilt and tartan has been adopted by Lowland as well as the remaining Highland Scots, and also the British Royal family.

[@mjtriola5638]

Half right. Scottish nobles turned to Sir Walter Scott for advice on what to wear. See The Emperor's New Kilt. The video get's it right. True crime fans: See the part about the Sobieski Stuart brothers, LOL.

[@mjtriola5638]

Trivia question for true believers: What color of hose did George IV wear with his kilt and why?

[@RodFleming-World]

Which part was 'half wrong'?

[@johngraceland9899]

Hello guys, fascinating knowledge I I throughly enjoy your videos and your passion for wearing the kilt. I am a highlander now living in England but wear my kilt at every chance I have and play the pipes very proud of my roots. Great job keep them videos coming..

[@jk28416]

There is no Lowlander / highlander differentiation Stirling is often called 'the gateway to the highlands', and the dress is referred to as 'highland apparel', but everyone in Scotland has the same 'right' or heritage to 'full highland apparel'. Including the Islands Glasgow Edinburgh Roxburgh etc. Many of the main battles of Scottish independence and major Clans have home lands in southern Scotland, which in many parts is just as high as the highlands.

[@clintedwards4027]

Love the shirt, Rocky!

[@charlesdriggers199]

Through my ancestry , I have found that I have come from both the highland and lowland and border areas of Scotland. Contrary to beliefs. There are a lot of instances where there were marriages between highland and lowland Scots. And I am not talking after 1745.

[@maximilianolimamoreira5002]

yeah,just because Highlanders were generally seem as backwards,and barbarians by some Lowlanders,does not mean that they did not feel love by some,not everyone had the same negative view of them,for sure.

[@whiskeyblenderfraley4235]

@Charles Driggers, I've discovered that same thing with my ancestry as well. At first I found it very odd to learn about marriages between my highland ancestors and my lowland/border ones, but as I've done more research, I've found that was not at all uncommon. Glad to see someone else out there that has the same thing going on in their family tree!

[@charlesdriggers199]

@@whiskeyblenderfraley4235 People would be surprised if they really did just a little digging. Too many people will get a DNA test and that is that. If I had just done that I would have believed I had Meso American and Finnish ancestry. When I look at the truth from the historians there is no truth in it. What I am getting at is people would have more understanding of who they are and the history of where they come from if they really search for it.

[@thecarrotmonster8827]

As a lowlander who's lived in Scotland all my life it's hard to explain to people, even other Scottish people why I don't care too much about wearing kilt. It's just not part of my history. I literally have zero Highland heritage, and people are like but your Scottish? Yeah not a kilt wearing Highlander though. They just weren't a thing down in Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders where I live until fairly recently in our history. Americans like yourselves might actually have more of a connection to the Highlands than me because of the Highland clearances and people settling in the US. I'm still an extremely proud Scotsman but just not a kilt wearing one which people can't get there head around.

[@colinp2238]

Reviewing this today and well you always see more the second time around. Eric there is a name that the lowlanders call the highlanders, teuchter, it's used as an insult, meaning something like bumpkin or yokel, and to us they (lowlanders) are always sassenach, which I believ means Saxon.

[@flyerbluedog]

What about Highland Regiments in the British Army who’ve been wearing kilts since the 18th century? Would a Lowlander who joined the British Army at that time be sent to a "Regular" Regiment or Highland Regiment?

[@maximilianolimamoreira5002]

generally not, most would dress similarly to English, Welsh and Irish regulars, but some Lowland regiments did wear kilts.

[@yvonnesmith2115]

Not a lot. People ham it up for weddings.

[@babyinuyasha]

Where did you get the "ungrateful colonial" shirt?

[@USAKiltsOfficial]

We sell it! www.usakilts.com/accessories/shirts/tshirts.html

[@babyinuyasha]

@@USAKiltsOfficial that's the bee's knees

[@Generic_Username_0331]

And here is the video Eric refers to. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHqzqoWKfLGKhqs

[@drrd4127]

I am from Scotland and we don't even identify ourselves as Lowlander vs Highlanders, we are just Scottish. We identify ourselves by our city, town or village usually "I am a Glaswegian", "I am Dundonian", just like in America. Honestly, if the lowlanders didn't keep any of the Highland traditions alive, they would not exist, 80 percent of Scotland's population live in the Lowlands central belt, that's why they are trying to teach lowlanders Gaelic because they know the Highlanders can't keep the language alive themselves, Oh I should say Western Islanders.

[@USAKiltsOfficial]

Thanks for giving us a perspective from Scotland! Insightful!

[@stanleyshannon4408]

Where is Glaswegia?

[@demonicbunny3po]

I’m glad that tartan and highland customs were able to be preserved in such a way. So many other cultures and customs have been completely lost to history. Like the Native Americans who had a long oral tradition, but because of various events (and I mean that in multiple repeated events) the Native American populations lost a lot of their food culture. We no longer know how their meals were prepared in full and can only make educated guesses.

[@RodFleming-World]

Well...be careful with that. The circumstances surrounding the rehabilitation of Highland culture and its adoption (one might say appropriation) by Lowlanders are not at all straightforward. In fact wearing a kilt today and indeed ever since 1822, is as much a celebration of the British Empire as it is of being Scottish. We are of course proud to be Scots, and many of us do wear the tartan but there is little real connection between tartan culture now and Highland culture as it existed prior to 1745. It's definitely not a line of cultural development.

[@demonicbunny3po]

Rod Fleming Which is more preferable: Cultural Appropriation or Cultural Death? One allows for a continuing culture to exist, the other leaves the culture as dust in the wind and maybe a note in the history texts.

[@RodFleming-World]

@@demonicbunny3po I don't recall making a value judgement of that nature.

[@demonicbunny3po]

Rod Fleming sorry for implying that.

[@RodFleming-World]

@@demonicbunny3po it's ok I was just confused. And you are of course quite right, it is better for a culture to survive, however it does.

[@alfonsobonso2000]

Speaking as a low lander (of highland stock), I have always assumed that large scale acceptance of highland dress came from the clearances. This resulted in a mass movement of highlanders (and their traditions) to the cities in the central belt. Could be totally wrong mind you.

[@colinp2238]

I hope you are not a Campbell?

[@colinp2238]

@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 They became a powerful clan because they sold out to the English.

[@alfonsobonso2000]

Lol no I'm a Mackenzie.

[@colinp2238]

@@alfonsobonso2000 You should thank your ancestors lol.

[@timothycampbell495]

@@colinp2238 Rather the Campbells sold out to the English then either bought it back at a discount or took it back with a sword, all the while thinking the Sassnachs were just arrogant twatts. So, with either the pen or the sword, whichever was more expedient. But don't ever think the Campbells, as a clan, ever had any love for the English 😉

[@andyleighton6969]

Ah, the eternal search for membership of the Clan McFake [except on St Patrick's day when all Americans are Irish].

[@galoglaich3281]

Andy leighton On st patricks day its the search for clan O' Fake

[@la_old_salt2241]

Except we Scots, we're still Scots.

[@pipsheppard6747]

Looking forward to the Scott video! Since nearly all of my Scottish clans were Lowland, I'm glad the culture allowed for more tartans. Gives me LOTS more kilt options! :-)

[@maxwellfan55]

Well done for keeping this all so interesting and alive guys.

[@daibhidhjudah1687]

ONE colour in the clothes of slaves; TWO in the clothes of soldiers; THREE in the clothes of goodly heroes, or young lords of territories; SIX in the clothes of ollavs [poets, sages]; SEVEN in the clothes of kings and queens." The Book of Lecan adds that ALL these colors were later used in the dress of Bishops. The REAL origin of Tartan, however, is found in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. In chapter 37 we read how the brothers of Joseph sold their younger brother into slavery in Egypt. This brother was the favorite son of Israel or Jacob, and verse 3 mentions that his father gave him "a tunic of MANY COLORS." This "tunic" or "coat" of MANY COLORS is also mentioned in verses 23 and 31-33. It seems fitting that JUDAH, who was responsible for turning his brother over to the Midianite traders (see verse 26), should have descendants wearing clothes of "MANY COLORS". Down through their long history in the British Isles this appeared as a token of shame for the reprehensible thing he had done.

[@cliffelliott9331]

You guy's totally ignore the border Scots. Talk for a moment about the Elliot rievers, history and tartan. Thank you.

[@la_old_salt2241]

And the Maxwells, and Pollocks.

[@veronicalogotheti5416]

So nothing to do with scottland

[@straycat1674]

He says the king spent a considerable amount of money and is highly garb like it’s not the case nowadays with us. God knows how much money I’ve put in to all the stuff I have! It’s like crack.

[@falcor1969]

You're not quite correct. Tartan is the name used to describe the 'clan' sett. A sett is a group of colours and checkers that are recognised as that of a clan and the name of that clan. This sett is repeated within the woollen fabric that we call a tartan. No two 'clans' ever had the same sett with colours and checkers. This means that no two clans have the same tartan. Even today, if you wanted to design your own tartan you can not use the same combination of colours and checkers or 'sett' as a known clan.

[@mister-v-3086]

To add to Rod Fleming's offering: After Sir Walter Scott got finished pushing the Highlands and its people, they had that great party/festival/celebration that included the King. It got bad enough that several newspapers complained that "...they've turned us into a nation of highlanders!" And then came the Sobieski Stuarts...which is a Whole 'Nother Story.

[@jk28416]

The kilt and plaide (gaelic for tartan) has been worn in Scotland For 1000s of years, the 1600's thing is a myth from one piece of evidence (Irish writing or something). Magnus Bar fot (Magnus iii) was a viking king who claimed the west of Scotland from around 1070 and is said (in Norse) to 'wear kilts as the Scottish do', hence 'bar fot' meaning bare legged in Norse. P.S. real Scot here who's done real research not copy and paste. Remember a kilt is just a blanket rapped around you and held with a belt. The 'pants' are called tartan trews by the way.

[@matthewporter1107]

I know my comment here is a bit late, just hope you dont take three years to respond to me. Lol. But i find it a little irritating that England would constantly battle tge people of Scotland for centuries and then the king of many kings ban the tartan, the kilt tge bagpipes even. But that wasnt enough. Then the king begins to clear the highlands and lowlands removing people from their homes and their property. And then many years later and many kings later, show up wearing dressed as a highlander. The nerve. When you put it all together like that as it happened, its kind of a thumbing your nose at the scots.

[@justinhall3243]

This is exactly why I thought Atlas Hall's efforts to get Scotland to officially recognize clan Hall and register a tartan was silly. Clan Hall were border reivers and rode horses on raids, we didn't have time for such a silly garment. :P

[@jimm6095]

Tartans were brought to Scotland by the Anglo Saxons! They were common among Germanic peoples, not Celtic peoples! Neither the Bretons, the Welsh nor the Irish have traditional tartans! Where can you find this Roman statue with Tartans??? Probably is a Germanic warrior!

[@antoniojose8606]

Eu estou vendo muitos vídeos no KZbin e fotos na pinterest sobre esta roupa tem diversos modelos e cumprimento.

[@maximilianolimamoreira5002]

isso,não é uma vestimenta com um único comprimento,ou modelo.

[@colinp2238]

Two things here "keeping up with the Jones? That's a bad example - Jones are Welsh so which Scot would want to keep up with them? I can't wait to see the real Georgian video, i didn't know that they were that advanced. And finally, at 5:59 is that Homer or Rocky? Now be honest!!!

[@hootmanwillie]

definitely rocky,

[@hootmanwillie]

but mostly Bob Wilson.

[@colinp2238]

@@hootmanwillie You can't a fool me there is a no sanity clause.

[@USAKiltsOfficial]

Ask and yee shall receive ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHqzqoWKfLGKhqs

[@colinp2238]

@@USAKiltsOfficial Thanks I think I already watched that but I was applying Scttish humour meaning a video shot in the Georgian era, sorry.

[@davidmacgregor5193]

Highlanders wore kilts, Lowlanders wore trews. My paternal family side are Highlanders, MacGregor and Cameron. My maternal side are Lowlanders, Moffatt and Marshall.

[@antoniojose8606]

Valeu pela atenção!

[@maximilianolimamoreira5002]

só não entendo muito bem,como funciona a medida de centímetros lá.

[@haydenr5128]

Is there a link I can find to the video you were talking about making?

[@philiptruitt]

Thanks folks!

[@raymondfink9580]

My wife’s mother’s family is descendants of sir Walters family

[@maximilianolimamoreira5002]

great,Raymond,interesting to know.

[@douglasfrank9323]

There are records of Mary Stuart and her court nobles buying plaid cloth to make Highland garb to wear on her progress to the Highlands.

[@whiskeyvictor5703]

Intriguing. Do you have a specific reference?

[@douglasfrank9323]

@@whiskeyvictor5703 I'm sorry, but no. A few years ago I came across an item from her court accounts referring to the purchase ells of tartan fabric to make garb for a progress she made to the Highlands to meet clan chieftains. If I remember correctly it was early in her reign. Before her marriage to Darnley. It stuck because it was the first time I encountered the term ell as a measure of fabric rather than yards.

[@whiskeyvictor5703]

@@douglasfrank9323 According to Wiktionary: English ell: 45"; Scottish ell: 37". Same thing as a cubit. I guess Scottish forearms were not as lengthy as those of the Sassenachs! 😁

[@slm3913]

Lowlanders were considered Sassenachs. And still are today by the Highlanders. Kilts go all the way back in the Highlands in the years of the 600 ad. The clan was Macinnes

[@davidstafford7465]

As a Scotsman I can tell you the kilt was originally Irish

[@OldNavajoTricks]

As were the Scots. :-D

[@molecatcher3383]

Not all. Not the Picts, Cumbric people, Angles, Norse or Normans. All eventually became known as Scots but it was not their ethnic origin. The original Scots did come from Northern Ireland - or maybe the original Northern Irelanders came from Scotland.

[@OldNavajoTricks]

@@molecatcher3383 I am Cumbrian :-p But the Scoti people who became the name of 'Scot land' did come over from Ireland.

[@TheEggmaniac]

There is no evidence of the kilt coming from Ireland to Scotland. The great kilt (feileadh mòr) was developed in Scotland. It was one long length of wool, usually with a tartan pattern, that was wrapped around the body ,and belted at the waist. People often mention the leine, of Ireland as being similar. But it is not, as a leine was a linen shirt, of just one colour, with tailored arms and belted at the waist. Quite different to early kilts. Scots often wore a leine or shirt under their great kilt. The Highlanders would often take off their kilts and just wear the leine, to charge at the enemy. Giving them more freedom in movement. The Gaels from Ireland moved to parts of Scotland and became part of the Scottish population, but they didnt bring the kilt with them. It was developed in Scotland.

[@kevinhendryx665]

Lowlanders were envious! Haha! Seriously, "Highland clothes" including tartan, plaids, and philabegs, were adopted by the Jacobite armies of rebellion as a uniform and statement of loyalty even within "Lowland" regiments and volunteers. So this identification of "kilts" with Scotland, or at least Scottish nationalism, has a long lineage. The Romantic Revival spearheaded by Scott revived and strengthened this tradition.

[@veronicalogotheti5416]

The material is celtic

[@smacwhinnie]

Amalgamation of Scottish regiments introduced kilts to lowlanders. See “highlandism”