Englishman invents the modern kilt?

[JSFMACLJR]

This theory about a certain Rawlinson inventing the philabeg was propagated by the late Hugh Trevor-Roper (Lord Dacre) who loved to debunk received wisdom about Scots traditions. Recent scholarship has since debunked his Rawlinson canard with primary source images of philabegs being worn earlier from at least the late XVIIth century. Trevor-Roper (despite authenticating the phoney Hitler diaries) did (and still does) have some standing as a serious academic historian but he was an incorrigible Scotophobe. This is worth bearing in mind whenever reading T-R's works as they pertain to Scotland and the Scots.

Lord Dacre and I became friends in the early 1980's when he came to lecture at The University of The South. I was an undergraduate, majoring in British History. I had the chance to dine with him on several occasions, and always enjoyed those times. Yes, his Scotophobia did break through from time to time, but he was an academic authority with a great deal to contribute to serious historical research.

[Peter Crowe]

Lord Dacre and I became friends in the early 1980's when he came to lecture at The University of The South. I was an undergraduate, majoring in British History. I had the chance to dine with him on several occasions, and always enjoyed those times. Yes, his Scotophobia did break through from time to time, but he was an academic authority with a great deal to contribute to serious historical research.

I quite agree about Trevor-Roper's eminence as a serious historian, T-R supervised my wife's Ph.D. supervisor (at Glasgow University) while he was working for his D. Phil at Oxford. Having studied Politics and Scottish History as my joint Honours options for an MA degree (undergraduate) at Glasgow University I often noticed that when discussing Scottish history, philosophy, and theology T-R's English prejudice was noticeable. This became most clear when reading his views on the Scottish Enlightenment and Presbyterianism where he often took a selective view of the evidence. T-R certainly expounded the view that the Scottish Enlightenment was entirely a result of the Union of 1707, however, a cursory knowledge of someone like Fletcher of Saltoun's life and works would clearly refute that.