Reasons Why

Reasons Why
©2009 Matthew A. C. Newsome, GTS, FSA Scot

As the father of small children, one of the questions I routinely hear around the house is “Why?” I’m certain other parents will relate. Children have such inquisitive minds, eager to learn, sucking up the knowledge like little sponges. Sometimes the questions can be unrelenting.

However, I find no respite when I leave the house for work, for as it turns out, one of the questions I get asked most often at the Scottish Tartans Museum is also “Why?” There are so many fascinating and unique aspects to the Scottish National Dress that people want to know the origin and reason behind them. So, in honor of inquisitive minds, both young and old, I’d like to dedicate this month’s column to answering that most popular of questions – Why!

We shall begin with the sporran. “Why do you wear that pouch with your kilt?” The short answer is because there are no pockets in the kilt. You need somewhere to keep your wallet and keys, after all (and these days a cell phone). But it is important to note that the sporran actually predates the kilt.

Sporran is merely the Gaelic word for a purse or pouch. Even the distinctive style of wearing the sporran in the front seems to have been a common Highland fashion long before anyone donned the kilt. Way back in the twelfth century, the French Benedictine Abbot, Guibert of Nogent, when describing a group of dancing devils he had seen in a vision, wrote that they wore their pouches “in the manner of the Scots, hanging forward from their haunches, as they are wont.”

So the sporran has a very practical purpose. But what about some of the other details of Highland dress that seem just for show only. What about the colored flashes attached to the garters? First of all, the garter itself is very functional – it keeps the hose from slipping down. And before the advent of elastic, traditional garters were lengths of knit or woven cloth, simply wrapped around the leg and tied. The bits of colored ribbon we call “flashes” that are attached to our modern elastic garters are simply meant to emulate the knotted ends of the old garter ties.

The ribbons attached to the back of Scottish bonnets have a similar pedigree. The traditional Highland bonnet would have had a drawstring run through the headband. This cord would have been pulled to size and tied in a knot in the back. Even though our modern bonnets are specifically sized, we still have the ribbons in the back as a holdover of this older style. And that’s why one ought to tie the ribbons of the Balmoral bonnet into a bow. That old tale about ribbons being worn tied if one were married or loose if still a bachelor has no real basis in history.

What about the wide kilt belt? A well fitted kilt will stay up just nicely without one, held on at the waist with straps and buckles. However, the earliest kilts did not have these straps and buckles. The belt was once essential. The fact that the belt once was needed to hold the kilt in place is likely also why it is customary to wear the sporran from a separate belt. If your kilt has no straps, doing so enables you to easily put on or remove the sporran without having to undo the belt that is holding his kilt in place.

On the subject of straps and buckles, most kilts made today have a single strap on the left, and two on the right – one up at the waist and a second one lower down on the hip. Why is the lower strap there?

Again, we look to history for the answer. In the days before kilts were made with straps and buckles, many would fasten their kilt with pins. The original kilt pin was not a decorative piece of jewelry worn at the bottom of the kilt. Rather it was a functional item, looking rather like a lady’s hatpin, worn at the waist of the kilt to hold it closed.

Military kilts, then as now, had a high rise. Two pins were often worn, one at the waist, as usual, and a second one higher at the top of the rise, to keep the outer apron secure. Later, these two pins were replaced with straps and buckles; again, one at the waist, and one up at the top of the rise.

Military fashion often plays a role in influencing civilian Highland attire. People saw the two straps on the right of the kilt, and came to believe two was the proper number. However, civilian kilts typically only have a two-inch rise, not four as on most military kilts. Therefore the whole arrangement got shifted down, with one leather strap at the waist, and another down at the hip where it really serves no practical purpose (in fact many today still choose to have their kilts made without it, including yours truly).

Finally, what of the sgian dubh? It is truly a “Highlander’s weapon of last resort” as people claim? In fact, it began not as a weapon at all, but as a tool. It’s likely origin was as a simple skinning knife, worn when hunting, and kept snugly tucked into the top of the hose for convenience. Sgian dubh is Gaelic for “black knife” and “black” in this case does not mean “hidden” as many suppose, but refers to the actual color of the knife; either because ebony (or blackwood) was a common material used for the handle, or more likely because the steel blade itself was black in color.

Scottish Highland attire is full of many unique and interesting customs, all of which have their root somewhere in history. It’s part of what makes this tradition so interesting. And knowing the practical reasons behind some of these traditions allows one to wear the kilt with confidence; as well as continue the long tradition of kilt wearing as clothing, rather than a stylized costume.