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To: lexington minuteman 1775
Nothing, of course. That's the point of the kilt!

You know, the ancient Celts would rush upon their enemy without a stich of clothing, aside from perhaps a golden torque around their neck, screaming and whooping up a storm. Scared the mess out of the Romans. And the Irish had a thing they called warp spasm, in which the warrior became un-naturaly enraged as he plunged into the throes of battle-his eyes would burn, he would seemingly loose all sense of reason and ration, and strike out into the midst of his enemy's lines whooping and hollering, his sword flinging about, simply terrifying his foe. N B Forrest, who, incidentally or not, was of Gaelic axtraction, acted muc hin the same way in battle: he would rush into enemy lines (a major general now) with not a gray clad soul near him, and begin whacking Federal troopers off their horses with his saber in the left hand, and blasting away with a revolver in his right, with an energy and force that would quite often turn the Union troops and send them fleeing. In one battle, he killed at least four or five soldiers with his sword and likely wounded many others-all while surrounded by enemy calvary men. Perhaps that ancient warrior Celt in his blood coursing through. It kept the sceer up!

59 posted on 12/06/2001 7:14:02 PM PST by Cleburne
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To: Cleburne
The battles as shown in the movie Braveheart took some artistic liberties with the dress of the period. The Battle of Stirling Bridge occurred on 9-11-1297. It is my understanding that the kilt was not worn by the Scots until some time in the 1400's.

When the Celts attacked the Romans they were frequently buck naked. The Celts were in the six foot range while the Romans were closer to the five foot range, 5'2" if I remember correctly.

63 posted on 12/06/2001 7:39:17 PM PST by blam
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To: Cleburne
And the Irish had a thing they called warp spasm, in which the warrior became un-naturaly enraged as he plunged into the throes of battle-his eyes would burn, he would seemingly loose all sense of reason and ration, and strike out into the midst of his enemy's lines whooping and hollering, his sword flinging about, simply terrifying his foe.

THAT'S why I seem to 'lose it' when I fight. It's in the blood.

69 posted on 12/06/2001 8:11:36 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
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To: Cleburne
Did you ever hear of a bersekr? They were Viking warriors who behaved in much the same way, possibly eating hallucinogenic mushrooms before going into action. Appropriately enough, they were throughly feared.

As for the Romans fearing Celts - not very likely. Particularly since a lot of Romans WERE Celts. The typical Roman helmit was actually called a Gallic Helmet. Thos large rectangular shields the Romans used were based on a Celtic model and the famous gladius, or Roman short sword was actually called the gladius Hispaniensis by the Romans as it was adopted from the Celt-Iberians in Spain. The Romans, although originating in Central Italy, both adopted conquered people into their system, as well as their tools, ideas and customs. In a sense this was the great strength of the Empire, its ability to absorb and incorporate conquered people into the political and military structure, rather than attempt to keep all the wealth and power for themselves. Its also, in a way, the strength of America, take the best which is sent to or immigrates to us, and discard the rest.

113 posted on 12/07/2001 12:34:14 PM PST by ZULU
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