The invention of Scotland

Telegraph.co.uk ^ | 06/06/2008 | Adam Sisman

[forkinsocket]

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[thundrey]

ping

[iowamark]

historical myth, however innocently concocted, could have unforeseen, even pernicious, consequence

How true!

[sasportas]

The kilt not invented until the 19th century? Somebody should have told Mel Gibson. William Wallace and all his braveheart lads are in kilts. The Irish too.

[ZULU]

Interesting perspective from an apparently unabashed Anglophile.

I remember reading that after the Battle of Culloden in the early 1700’s the Georges instituted ferocious laws against the Scots, including bans on traditional dress and clan tartans.

I suggest that England ALSO has its “legends” that have become part of English tradition, e.g. Robin Hood, “King” Arthur, Horatio Hornblower, Willikin, etc. etc.

The Scots have been more sinned against than sinners in Anglo-Scottish relationships going back to the time of Edward I and before.

But I guess as Americans we are fortunate Englishmen like this “gentleman” made things so rough for the Scots and later Scots-Irish. It helped create some of our most productive and patriotic immigrants in the 1700s.

[thundrey]

He shouldn’t have done it anyway, because he was a lowlander and his language, custom and dress would have had more in common with a northumbrian englishman than a scottish highlander....

[AnAmericanMother]

We went round and round on this awhile ago.

Trevor-Roper (or his editor, or his publicist) is being deliberately deceptive or at least exaggerating. The underlying facts are not news and have been known to everybody for years. "Ossian" was exposed as a fraud almost immediately, and nobody seriously contended for its authenticity. The Scots got stroppy about it (and still do) when it was used as a launching pad for general abuse of Scotland (something of which dear Dr. Johnson, much as I admire him, was far too fond).

The "kilt" as we know it today indeed probably was invented in the 18th century (although there are recorded examples of similar garments back into the 17th century - probably earlier attempts to modify the original garment that didn't catch on.) But the original of the kilt, the "belted plaid," was worn by Highlanders as far back as we have records. It basically looks like a kilt and shoulder plaid all in one piece, with the pleats not permanently sewn in -- it was just a big rectangle of cloth. You gathered it together over your belt, crossed the ends over the front, fastened your belt, and stood up (breathing heavily). The extra fabric hung down in the back like a tail, or could be used as a cloak or raincoat. The whole thing was thrown off to go into battle, so you had a bunch of screaming lunatics in their shirt-tails waving large basket-hilt broadswords around, which would unnerve almost anybody.

As for tartans, the "tartan for every clan and sept" nonsense was invented by the Victorians, who loved to pigeonhole stuff. And it wasn't an ironclad rule, folks wore what they liked. But there are a number of tartans associated with particular districts (and thus particular clans, mostly) that predate 1745 - as well as the Black Watch or military pattern.

[Dumpster Baby]

This article comes at a time when I'm reading Diana Gabaldon's "Drums Of Autumn" and "A Breath Of Snow And Ashes", about Highlander immigrants to 1760's America.

I'm finding myself dreaming in heavy Scots accents and in those dreams fretting about Colonial Scots' concerns and tribulations.

[AreaMan]

The invention of Scotland

Willie is not amused!

[sionnsar]

Well done, AnAmericanMother.

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[3AngelaD]

Best thing posted all day!

[x]

The kilt not invented until the 19th century? Somebody should have told Mel Gibson. William Wallace and all his braveheart lads are in kilts. The Irish too.

Supposedly kilts go back at least as far as the 16th century.

The myth is probably that they are ancient and go back to the earliest days.

Also, it had been Highland garb, and it's not clear whether Lowlanders wore kilts before the 19th century revival.

And those distinctive patterns for different families probably were also more or less the invention of 19th century commercial interests, or at least they systematized what had been sketchy and uncertain.

You can see the same process going on even today.

"Irish county" tartan patterns have been "discovered" or created in our own lifetime.

[Ditter]

I have never figured out how the Scots and the Irish got started with kilts. I have been to both countries and it was cold even in July.

[the scotsman]

Roper missed the point of the Declaration of Arbroath.

No one believes that 14th century Scotland had democracy in the modern sense, however the point is that the rights of Scots re the monarchy as enshrined in that famous document were a huge political bomb in medieval Europe. AND the notion of being King of Scots (ie a monarch being guardian of a people, not a land) was also a huge step forward.

[the scotsman]

The modern kilt is a modern version of the Celtic all body shawl.

And the notion that up until now, the myth of the modern kilt is not known is bunkum. Bit late, that Roper fellow...

It is well known to the average man in the street in Scotland and throughout Britain, that it is a myth, the whole George IV parading in 1822 in a kilt and the ‘invention’ of the tartan and shortbread idea of Scotland is well known and has been the subject of many a book and TV documentary over the last 40 years...

[the scotsman]

1—Not BUT highland Scots, and even then only some clans.

The myth of 1715 and 1745-46 being ‘Scotland vs England’ is a sadly pervasive one.When of course it was simply Charlie’s Highlanders/French/Irish Catholic allies against all the rest (Lowland and Highland Scots, English, Welsh, Ulster Irish Protestants...)

2—Agreed. An obvious fact pompous twits like Heffer (who is a journalist btw, NOT a historian) and Roper ignore...

ALL nations have their myths.

3—Agreed.

English aggression against Scotland was historically far more prevalant, from early days (1018) to its final days (1640’s). And Scots and English aggression took different forms, goals and agendas.

[Fiji Hill]

Braveheart is loaded with anachronisms. In the battle scene, set in 1297, soldiers wear kilts, which apeared much later, and Roman-era blue paint while "hanging a moon" like 21st century American teenagers. It's as if a movie on the Battle of Gettysburg showed soldiers fighting with crossbows, spears, Kalashnikov assault rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades.

[sasportas]

Thanks for the info. Hollywood had to put their spin on the William Wallace era I guess.

[Candor7]

Plaids have been a part of Celtic culture for 3 thousand years, but the ENglish can't stand the truth.

Here is a summery of the most ancient sample of "the cloth" taken from Mummies from the Tarim Basin,woven of Europen sheeps wool as tested, who almost all had the celtic blood marker, "Type O".

They had travelled from Europe to Urumchi.

"As to the mysteries initially posed by Caucasian mummies, the author deduces from a wonderful cat's cradle of evidence that in the steppes north of the Black Sea two groups of the Indo-European population split off, one going west and the other east. This took place not earlier than 4000 B.C., by which time the wild, but edible, hairy sheep had been inbred to become the doubly useful woolly sheep. Because of this dual diaspora the plaid twill clothing on some of the Caucasian mummies bears an uncanny resemblance to its contemporary central European counterpart, which was later carried west to the British Isles."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_2_156/ai_55487308

http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?t=55916

http://books.google.com/books?id=gZ6ODFrQkOgC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=Lou+Lan+Type+O+blood&source=web&ots=bTKFetMGq3&sig=YktfIEsHKYTN8nrkRas39Ly0k7I&hl=en#PPP1,M1

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks sionnsar.

Eminent Historian Debunks Scottish History As Largely Fabrication
The Times Online | 5-18-2008 | Stuart MacDonald
Posted on 05/19/2008 4:05:09 PM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018335/posts

Highland Bagpipe Is A Recent Invention For Nostalgic Scotish Emigres, Expert Claims
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003956/posts