solid color great kilts

**clan campbell** · 11th July 11, 01:15 AM

would there have been solid color great kilts, or would they have been a plaid type pattern, not tartan but plaid.

**paulhenry** · 11th July 11, 01:25 AM

Originally Posted by clan campbell

would there have been solid color great kilts, or would they have been a plaid type pattern, not tartan but plaid.

the word plaid is often misunderstood, generally in the UK it means a long length of tartan wrapped over the shoulder,and never as the actual design of tartan, In the States it can mean either, which leads to confusion.

So the answer to your question, I'm sure there could well be plain coloured , tweedy fabrics and tartan great kilts, but in this instance your use of the words tartan and plaid are exactly the same!

**clan campbell** · 11th July 11, 01:27 AM

right, when i say plaid i mean like different patterns of color in the material as opposed to a clan tartan, but yes your right and alright

**Bugbear** · 11th July 11, 01:31 AM

Yes, Mat Newsome has posted a picture of an old, old painting of a person wearing a belted plaid that is a solid color; blue, if I remember correctly. I will have to dig up my old thread to find the details. Someone else will probably cough up the picture before I find it.

**clan campbell** · 11th July 11, 01:36 AM

thanks

**Bugbear** · 11th July 11, 01:45 AM

Ok, copied and pasted from my thread, "Traditional Solid Color Kilts and Definitions"
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...nitions-51672/
Here's what Matt Newsome said:

But as for simply "non-tartan" kilts, those have been around for as long as the kilt itself, and are very traditional. It has never been a requirement
that a kilt be made from tartan, and though tartan has always been the most popular cloth for making kilts, other options have always been there.

The earliest evidence we have of a solid color kilt is in a portrait of Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow painted in 1635 (recently posted in the historic
portrait thread). He's wearing a solid red feilidh-mor.

Guess it was red rather than blue. The thread has an interesting line of discussion, too.

* Sorry, I had to do some fast editing to get the picture address to copy.

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 11th July 11, 05:13 AM

Thanks, Bugbear, you beat me to it! So yes, we have at least one historic example of a person being depicted in a solid colored belted plaid.

**Ryan Ross** · 11th July 11, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by clan campbell

right, when i say plaid i mean like different patterns of color in the material as opposed to a clan tartan, but yes your right and alright

...tartan is always the correct word for bilaterally symmetrical crosshatched fabric patterns of Scottish origin, whether they are named (modern clan, district, personal, etc. tartans), or unnamed (as all tartans were in yesteryear- the naming of tartans has really just become stylish in the last two hundred years or so). But yes, "plaid" originally refered only to a garment, wheras "tartan" refers to the pattern in the cloth. Just wanted to drive that home.

**clan campbell** · 11th July 11, 01:23 PM

the reason i asked this was cause i bought a solid colour double width wool and i was wondering how traditional it would be, cause i cant afford a Campbell ancient great kilt at the moment

**Bugbear** · 11th July 11, 01:30 PM

It would be historical rather than traditional all around.

But you have a primary source to justify the choice, thanks to Matt. If it were red cloth, you would be even more justified, going by the painting; looking at the names...