The Plain FAQS

"...those things over there are not giants, but windmills."

-- Miguel Cervantes

Greetings and felicitations,
"Who are you?" -- I hear you asking,
"What is this?" -- I hear you call.
The answer is quite simple,
And not too strange at all...

Not too long ago, Lord Alton came up with the idea of having a column in the Saga where people could come and ask questions about history and historical stuff. After thinking really hard about it, I decided to give it a shot, and so sent a note off to Lord Marrock. Even though he was just swamped with submissions, he kindly offered to give me some space for this column.

First, I'm sorry, but I am NOT a historian. I won't be telling tales on myself to admit that I can barely remember the two "most important dates in history" -- 1066 and 1492 (according to 1066 and all that), but what I *can* do is look things up and explain them to other people. I don't want to answer questions about SCA politics or that authenticity thing, but I promise that I WILL answer all questions that you give me, to the best of my ability.

Questions may be given to Lord Marrock to send to me, or if you have e-mail, my account is:

"Berengaria@hotmail.com".

So PLEASE, PLEASE do not disappoint Lords Alton and Marrock, and do send me lots of questions.

The first question in the bag, I put there:

"Berengaria, what does the title "Plain Faqs" mean?" -- Berengaria Ravencroft

I just got started and people are already starting to ask the wrong questions -- this has NOTHING to do with history. Oh well. The title of the column is supposed to look like other columns that are like it, and so should of a similar nature, and telling you, the reading audience, that I'm a "just the facts" kind of girl. The word FAQ, which I hear is pronounced "fack", or F-A-Q, is Internet jargon for "Frequently Asked Questions", which is what this column is all about. Cute, huh?

"Milady, I've got a question for you. I keep getting told first one thing and then another about kilts. What's the deal? What's the history of the kilt? And did Irish men wear kilts?" -- Ld. Marrock Wild Hair

Two of the thorniest ones right off the top. Well, I knew the job was going to be ugly. The truth about kilts is that they look great on men, and should be made mandatory by law. Ok, so that's not what you were asking. The facts as they can be documented (which is the only "truth" that historians are really willing to bother with) are that there are two kinds of kilt: the Breacan-an-fheilidh (or BRAY-kan FI-leh) "Kilted plaid" or Feileadh Mor (FI-leh MOR) "Great Kilt", and the Feiladh Beag (FI-leh BAYG) "Short Kilt". The Short Kilt (worn properly with the flat parts in front and the pleats in back) is pretty modern. It is said to have been invented in the 1720s by an English industrialist. Thomas Rawlinson, who didn't want his Scottish workers to get their clothes caught in the ironworks. Whether this actually is true or not is a matter of debate, but we do know that the Short Kilt doesn't show up in paintings or anything before that time. Just a note, the Short Kilt should be worn with short pants called Trewes (not to be confused with the OTHER trewes, which are longer).

The Great Kilt shows up in the paintings and descriptions definitely by the earlier 1600s and MAYBE the 1580s. Paintings from before that time show the Scots in either the "saffron" Leine (LI-neh), or shirt that their Irish ancestors wore, or the same things that their English cousins were wearing. That is where the documentation for kilts ends. Before that point is a big swamp of educated guesses, speculation and interpretation. Most historians seem to prefer to prefer to stick to the safe-zone and say that "kilts did not exist before that".

My research staff, who have dug through this really well, tell me that the modern Irish Kilt came out of the Folk Revival with Irish people wanting to have a distinct ethnic costume of their own. They picked kilts based on some old stone carvings and the translations of Eugene O'Curry, the mid-Victorian Irish scholar, passed down from one misquoted textbook to the next. Basically, the old stone carving shows (and not very clearly -- even before acid rain) men working with what could be either long kilts or the tops of their Leines pulled off their shoulders and draped down, and all held up only by their belts. The Leine, the big yellow shirt or tunic worn by the ancient Irish and Scots, had a neck opening big enough to drive a Chevy through, so this was not impossible. O'Curry, usually a careful scholar, decided that a particular passage in one of the old stories didn't really mean Leine, but actually meant "Leinidh" (LI-nih), "petticoat or kilt". Most modern scholars seem to agree that while no one knows for sure, they are pretty sure that O'Curry, patron saint of the Celtic Revival of the late 19th century, dropped the ball on this one.

If you are interested in reading about this on your own, take a look at the following books (at the Public Library):

So You're Going To Wear The Kilt by J. C. "Scotty" Thompson
Old Irish and Highland Dress by H. F. McClintock.