Pakistani kilt origins

[O'Callaghan]

Read this article in the Guardian (a major Sassenach newspaper, for those who don't know):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004...an.jamesastill

This article, from five years ago, is about Golden Pipes. This business was only founded in 1980, but the great-grandfather of one of the owners founded the Peterson Pipe Co, founded around 1900, but which went bust in 1958.

Apparently, Golden Pipes exported 10,000 kilts a year about five years ago.

Cajunscot wanted proof that the Pakistani kilt makers go back generations (see the latest 'Irish Kilts' thread). This was so far off topic that I thought it should be another thread.

[macwilkin]

Read this article in the Guardian (a major Sassenach newspaper, for those who don't know):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004...an.jamesastill

This article, from five years ago, is about Golden Pipes. This business was only founded in 1980, but the great-grandfather of one of the owners founded the Peterson Pipe Co, founded around 1900, but which went bust in 1958.

Apparently, Golden Pipes exported 10,000 kilts a year about five years ago.

Cajunscot wanted proof that the Pakistani kilt makers go back generations (see the latest 'Irish Kilts' thread). This was so far off topic that I thought it should be another thread.

Sorry, but no cigar. I do not see anywhere in that article that this firm provided kilts for members of Highland Regiments stationed in India during the Raj. The article does mention bagpipes being made by the firm in 1910, but nothing about kilts, save in a modern-day setting.

T.

[macwilkin]

From Queen Victoria's Highlanders (Men-at-Arms Series No. 442, Osprey Publishing Co.) By Stuart Reid and Gerry Embleton (illustrator), pg. 45:

All units at this period included a detachment of tailors, who worked part-time for the quartermaster in fitting uniforms and carrying out repairs and alterations. In Highland regiments, the tailors also needed to be time-served kilt-makers, as these garments were made up by the regiments themselves. The 1881 amalgamations therefore necessitated the transfer of a cadre of men from the kilted to the formerly non-kilted battalions, not only to instruct them in the arcane mysteries of wearing Highland dress, but also to train up the kilt makers.

*emphasis mine

So, if Reid is to be believed, then why on earth would the Jocks seek out local firms in India when their kilts were made within the regiment, and by Scottish kilt-makers to boot?

T.