Australian Highland Dress in 1898

[neloon]

Minus,
They were just shorts with a fitted waist and button fly made in the same tartan as the kilt.
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-ph...ng-out-of-kilt
They were originally part of Officers uniform in the Highland regiments but two pairs came to be supplied automatically by civilian kiltmakers up until WW2 and to order thereafter. They were not, of course, very hygienic because they could not be washed very frequently and they were not very comfortable even by the comfort standards of those days. They were usually just called "(under)trews".
The "regimental" rule applied only to Privates (the lowest rank of soldier) when on active service but, by WW1, even they were issued with plain "drawers, short" against the extreme cold of the trenches and for civilian wear - my father was one such soldier.
Alan