Well plaid

David Stevenson responds to my letter on the history of Highland dress (Letters 21 August). I was not simply giving my view but referring to documented history which indicates the relatively late arrival after a short gestation period of our “ancient national dress”. The kilt per se, as an item of male attire, does, as Mr Stevenson suggests, go back into the mists of time – but, oddly enough, perhaps not in Scotland.

Long before the Scots arrived here, the Romans thought it worthy of note that the tribes to the north of their empire wore trousers (they were horsemen). Prior to the 18th century highland dress was a cloak or plaid made of rough wool so it would have contained a lot of lanolin and been relatively warm and waterproof and an eminently suitable garment for “kilt-

ing up” to cross burn and bog and as wrap-around cover for sleeping in. Conversely, it was eminently unsuitable for the sweltering environs of an iron smelting plant, so industrialist Thomas Rawlinson devised a light, short kilt for both himself and his Invergarry workforce. There are, to my knowledge, no visual examples of clan tartans or setts predating those of the Sobieskis so like the brothers themselves they are obvious inventions intended to promote the highlandisation of Scotland – which took off apace in the following century.

It is only in the past few decades that the kilt has become a matter of de rigueur dress for certain occasions, eg weddings, in southern Scotland and indeed, in its proper form of 8 yards of top quality wool and on the right frame it can be rather handsome, if very expensive, garb. However, for those aiming at suitable attire rather than making a statement it is eminently unsuitable for everyday modern wear. Wearing it for hill walking, for example, as is common, without pantaloons below (as per George IV) is not something that the doctor would order, given the risk of Lyme disease. (DR) A MCCORMICK

Kirkland Road Terregles, Dumfries