Kilt - ala Encyclopedia Britannica

[awoodfellow]

i have complete set of 1975 Encyclopedia Brittanica including annuals through the mid '80's. it never occured to me until tonight to look up "kilt" according to EB.

from the Micropedia Vol 5

" kilt, in it's most well-known form, a knee-length pleated skirt worn by Highland men in Scotland from the beginning of the 17th century. It is also part of the dress uniform of Scottish regiments in the British Army. Usually made of tartan (q.v.), the modern kilt, known as the little kilt ( feile-beag), consists of about seven and a half yards of cloth, which, except for half a yard at either end, is pleated. The cloth is wrapped around the wearer's waist and secured with a belt; the unpleated ends are crossed over each other in front. The little kilt developed from an earlier form known as the belted plaid (breacanfeile), which was made of twice as much material, the lower half of which formed the kilts; the other half was wrapped across the chest and draped over the left shoulder to form the plaid.

The term kilt is frequently used by scholars to descrive the loincloth (q.v.), or "schenti", worn by Egyptian men during the dynastic period."

referencing the Macropedia
Vol 5 pg 1016 section c
Vol 6 pg 304 section f

Vol 5-1016C
..."The simple tunic, the ancestor of a long line of similar pieces, the skirt and the kilt (or divided coverings for the legs), the mantle, or cape (precursor of the coat), as well as moccasins or boots, are among the probabilities."

Vol 6-304f
..."Men, whose costume during the week may well be a sombre business suit, sometimes dress for church by donning the kilt, once prohibited by the English. The kilt is seen on other days of the week on soldiers of the Scottish regiments (the army has it's national Scottish headquarters in the city [Edinburgh]) and is also worn by visitors from the Highlands and islands."

...
'ambrose

[gmcdavid]

i have complete set of 1975 Encyclopedia Brittanica including annuals through the mid '80's. it never occured to me until tonight to look up "kilt" according to EB.

from the Micropedia Vol 5
[....]

This brings back memories..... I worked for the EB during a couple summers while in college. This was while they were changing over to the Micropedia/Macropedia format, c. 1970.

I recently discovered that the Encyclopedia has its own tartan:

http://www.tartans.scotland.net/tart...tartan_id=1077

It is on the list of tartans I would like to have, if only the money was there.

Glenn