THE KILT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9304, 3 August 1908, Page 2

THE KILT.

o THE MASSING OF SCOTLAND'S PICTURESQUE DRESS. (By D.C., in the "Weekly Scotsman.") The English tourist who visits the Highlands nowadays expecting to find the hardy men of the north arrayed in the kilt must suffer a grievous disappointment. It may be questioned if the appearanco of a kilted Scotsman is much moro common on the streets of .Inverness;, the Highland capital, than it is o)i Bond Street or Pall Mall. For Highland p a triot-ism resembles the English variety in so far as it is not so frequently exercised at home as abroad. The widespread impression in England that the kilt is stili the customary .attire in the Highlands is perhaps due to tho eccentricity of home-sick Highlanders in London who adhere to the ancient dress as tho most striking emblem of their nationality. I There is no doubt that the Highlands have lost some of tho glamour that attracted tourists fifteen or twenty years ago. Sightseers will regard with disfavour the change of costume from " spleuchan : ' and Glengarry bonnet to the nioro orthodox frock coat and tile hat. The change is a significant one, and is contemporary with tho passing away of many old Highland superstitions and tho progress of culture in the north. In faete it might be said that the use of the kilt has been on the wane since the advent of tho railway train to the mountain fastnesses and gloomy moorlands of the Highlands. Perhaps the motor-car has been tho coup de grace ! It is as easy to imagine John Bull driving his automobile attired in trunk hose as in Highland costume. TWO COMMON OBJECTIONS. Among the many reasons advanced for tho present unpopularity oi : tho Kilt the most plausible is that tho costume — to put it delicately — does not quite come up to the modern standard or society in regard to the amount of material necessary ior the adornment of mankind. Tho Highlander is nothing if not modest, and to see. a faint blush mantling the cheeks of some fair American tourist as sho views the kilt for the first time must of necessity be a painful experience for him. This explanation cannot be dismissed as entirely frivolous, ungenerous though tho sentiment may bo to the broad-mind-edness tiiid intellect of the Sassenach. Many Highlanders have given up wearing tho kilt because- oi their natural objection to the attire exciting tho unwelcome and unrestrained curiosity of passers-by. In the. unlikely contingency of an attempt bointr made to revive tho mode of the kilt" in the Highlands, as the Gaelic language is being revived, the price of a well-mado costume is too prohibitive to admit of the dress coming into general use. One cannot buy a kilt and tunic suitable for every-day wear for less than £10 in Inverness; and for an evening costume tho price* is almost three, times as much. In London, paradoxically enough, the prices are somewhat lower ; but no true Highlander would wear a London-made kilt, his refusal to do so being based on more than patriotic grounds. There is au art in kilt-making, particularly in getting the pleats to " lie," that is seldom found outside the boundaries of Highland soil. Although the number of Scotsmen who wear the kilt is gradually diminishing, an increasing demand is experienced every year from American tourists. The latter appear to bo as enthusiastic about taking a kilt back to America as the Britisher who returns from abroad is proud in the possession of a Red Indian scalp. Besides being an interesting memento of a "real good time," the kilt will doubtless serve a double purpose in being used at fancy dress balls. "To what base uses — !" A SORRY SPECTACLE. In an Edinburbh speech the late Primo Minister appropriately referred to the " nomad tribes who, in the month of August, appear in Perth station with their guns and fishing rods, and sometimes in tho kilt — but the kilt with white knees. . ." At this _ we are told thero was laughter. To a Highlander tears would have been more appropriate. Tho average English shooting visitor presents a sorry spectacle in Highland attire, but tho appearance of mi attenuated Yankee globe-trotter who affects tho kilt is nioro than sufficient to prejudice a fair-minded individual against tho costume for ever. The penchant exists, undoubtedly. On arriving in the Highlands many Americans wear the kilt as a matter of course as their wives buy tartan-edged pictorial post-cards and Highland "candy." It is unfortunate that some of tho mere vivacious sportswomen do not confine, their purchases to these commodities. # The kilt is gradually coming into favour as suitable wear for sporting ladies. The fashion journals declaro that a kilted lady looks "chic —a statement, whatever it means, which the writer is not prepared to deny ; but the practice offends the instincts of tho true Highlander, who, ungallantly perhaps, regards it as nothing less than desecration. These epochs m the history of the kilt have a deterrent effect on its use by northerners, without whose support the dress must eventually become obsoIt would be unfortunate if the kilt were to be entirely discarded by its hereditary users. Tt is endeared to all Highlanders, at Home and abroad.