Burns Night without Kilts

[Peter Crowe]

Having attended many Burns suppers I don't actually remember anyone wearing kilts at any of them. That is not to say that someone should not do so, just that it was not a particular feature of the occasion. Please remember that kilt-wearing was not, until fairly recently, particularly common throughout Scotland and especially so in areas such as the west of Scotland where Burns lived. So it is not really expected that attendees at Burns suppers be kilted. Quite the opposite actually.

Kyleism

Have to agree Phil, It is only in the last 15-20 years that Kilts have been a feature of Burns Suppers in my experience. The Bard himself never wore Highland Dress, but dressed in the clothes appropriate to what he was, a Lowland Scots Tenant Farmer. He is often described as wearing buckskin breeches and (riding) boots. He may have worn a Blue Bonnet and a shepherd's shoulder plaid 'on the hill', but while authentically Scots his manner of dress was not 'Highland'.