THE SOLID COLORED KILT
©2006 Matthew A. C. Newsome, FSA
Scot, GTS
published in the Scottish
Banner, July 2006
In
many peoples’ minds, if it is a kilt it must be tartan. I
have a friend who for years insisted to me that if it was not
tartan, it was not a kilt – it was a skirt! He would not be
swayed. To him, this was all that made the difference.
Certainly it is true to say that most kilts are tartan, but
tartan has never been the exclusive cloth for making kilts.
People see a solid colored kilt
and often think “contemporary kilt.” And purveyors of
contemporary styles of Highland attire have indeed made the
solid color kilt more popular today than perhaps it has been
in the past (I’m thinking here of the various outfitters
offering some version of an “urban kilt” or “work kilt.”) So
the impression many have is that a traditional kilt is tartan,
while solid kilts are a new fad in Highland dress.
Another assumption people have is
that only non-Scots wore solid color kilts. Of course the
prime example of this is the Irish. Until the contemporary
kilt styles mentioned above became popular, if one saw a solid
color kilt worn at a Highland Games it was likely either
saffron or emerald green and worn by an Irishman! Perhaps
less well known is the use of solid colored kilts by
Cornishmen. Prior to the introduction of the Cornish National
tartan in 1963, Cornish nationalists who wanted to wear
Highland dress opted for a solid black kilt.
(Of course, the kilt is not part
of the traditional clothing of either the Irish or the
Cornish, but we are talking here of the use of the solid kilt
as part of the more modern movement to develop a national
costume in both countries).
So a lot of mystery surrounds
solid colored kilts. They are the black sheep of the kilt
family – no one quite knows for sure how to react when a
gentleman shows up to an event dressed in one. Is he a poor
non-Scot who doesn’t have a tartan of his own? Is he trying
to follow the modern urban kilt fad? Where do we place him?
As it turns out, the solid colored
kilt is really not new, nor is it non-Scottish. Solid colored
kilts have been worn in Scotland from a very early time,
probably ever since kilts were first worn. They have never
been as popular as tartan kilts, but they have been worn
nonetheless, without any of the modern stigma associated with
them in some people’s minds.
The earliest example of a solid
colored kilt that I am personally aware of is found in a
portrait of Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow painted in 1635.
This large painting shows the family tree of the Campbells of
Lochow with Sir Duncan sitting at the base of it. It can be
found in the excellent little book, Tartan: The Highland
Textile, by Hugh Cheape. Sir Duncan is wearing a
feilidh-mhor (belted plaid, or “great kilt”) of solid
red. The feilidh-mhor is the earliest form of the
kilt, and the first recorded mention of this garment being
worn at all is in the Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell
written in 1594 – only 41 years earlier. It would seem that
the solid kilt is almost as old as the kilt itself!
Though the Highland Scots became
well known for their tartans, the solid color kilt was not a
passing fad. It was still around in the nineteenth century
when artist Robert R. McIan illustrated kilted Highland
figures for James Logan’s work, The Clans of the Scottish
Highlands, published between 1845 and 1847. His figure
for the MacIntyre clan is bedecked in a striking solid blue
kilt.
Perhaps the most famous nineteenth
century figure to sport the solid kilt is Queen Victoria’s own
John Brown. He was quite famous for wearing the solid black
kilt suit, complete with matching vest and jacket. Artist
Kenneth MacLeay included him in such an outfit in his
collection of portraits of Royal retainers in 1870. Shortly
after Brown’s death in 1883, Queen Victoria commissioned a
life sized portrait by Carl Rudolph Sohn which also shows him
in black kilt suit. I have seen at least one Highland Dress
outfitter today market a solid black kilt, vest, jacket and
hose as a “John Brown” outfit!
So the history of the solid kilt
in Scotland is a long one. The use of solid colored kilts
outside of Scotland is comparatively recent. The Irish,
perhaps most associated today with solid saffron and green
kilts, adopted these garments as symbols of Irish nationalism
in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It was sometime
during or just after WWI that the Irish military adopted use
of saffron kilts for pipers in the regiments. Today, with the
introduction of tartans for all of the Irish counties, and
many Irish family tartans also being designed, the use of
saffron and green kilts by the Irish is declining, but it
still remains a good choice – and you don’t have to be Irish
to wear them!
Of course no treatment of solid
colored kilts would be complete without a mention of the
distinctive uniform of the London Scottish regiment. The
London Scottish was founded in 1859, sponsored by the Highland
Society of London and the Caledonian Society of London
(Scottish ex-pat societies). Originally named The London
Scottish Rifle Volunteers, it was under the command of Lt Col
Lord Elcho, who decided to clothe the soldiers not in tartan
but in the solid hodden grey common throughout Scotland.
Elcho said “A soldier is a man hunter. As a deer stalker
chooses the least visible of colors, so ought a soldier to be
clad.”
Originally the cloth was a light
grey, but over time shades of brown and purple were
introduced. Still called “hodden grey,” this became the
inspiration for the khaki color now used by militaries world
wide (though the only other regiment to wear the hodden grey
kilt is the Toronto Scottish in Canada).
So when you are in the market for
your next kilt, ask your outfitter what colors and shades are
available in solid kilts. You may be surprised at the range
most are able to offer you. A muted green or soft brown kilt
is perhaps the perfect thing for hillwalking. And what a stir
you’ll make arriving at the Tartan Ball in a bright scarlet
kilt, or a deep royal blue.
One thing is for certain – when
you wear a solid kilt you’ll never have to worry about the
tartan police asking if you have the “right” to wear it!
PHOTO CAPTION: Matthew
Newsome with author and retired kiltmaker Bob Martin at the
2006 Gatlinburg (TN) Scottish Festival. Matthew is wearing a
solid green Harris Tweed kilt with tartan vest, and Bob is in
the hodden grey kilt of the London Scottish.
