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A couple of popular myths about
Celtic costuming that trip up reenactors:Myth: The Kilt was worn by the Ancient Celts
Actually, the kilt, in the form of the breacan
feile, or belted plaid, seems to have come along
around 1550 to 1600 AD. Previously, the Gaels of
Scotland, like the Irish, wore a linen or wool tunic
(leine) and a large cloak (brat). For more information on
the development of the kilt, see Scottish
Clothing, ca. 1100 - 1600 AD.
The modern kilt seems to have been invented around
1745 or so. There are several stories as to who invented
it. One is that a blacksmith had his tailor cut off the
'top' part of the breacan feile, and stitch the
pleats into the kilt, as a way to make a less cumbersome
garment; the other is that a factory owner wanted a less
cumbersome or voluminous garment for his workers, and
asked a tailor to make up a smaller kilt. Personally, I
prefer the former. Moreover, McClintock says that some
nobles had the pleats sewn into their belted plaids, for
greater ease in putting them on every day; it is a simple
step to cutting off the cloth above the waist and using
the remainder as the feileadh beag (small kilt).
There are several 'reconstructions' of a man's garment
based on a piece of cloth from about 750 BC that
supposedly consists of a piece of cloth wrapped and tied
around the waist, and attached with straps over the
shoulders; however, the piece of cloth this is based on
is actually too small to substantiate this
reconstruction. So, there is no early sarong-style
Irish 'kilt'.
Myth: The word 'Kilt' comes from
'Celt'
The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word
kilt comes from Middle English, and is probably of
Scandinavian origin, probably from the Danish word kilte,
meaning 'to tuck up.' The term kilt is a Scots
term (Scots is an English dialect), not the Gaelic term
for the belted plaid. The Gaelic term for a kilt is breacan
feile for the belted plaid, or feileadh beag
for the modern kilt. (Breacan means 'the tartan
cloth'; feileadh means 'wrap', and beag
means small. McClintock, p. 37.)
Myth: The term 'Tartan' comes from
'Tartar', and tartan cloth was introduced by trade with
the Tartars / The ancient Celts didn't have Tartan.
The word 'tartan' comes from the French word tiretaine,
which probably refers to linsey-woolsey cloth. This is
the word that English writers used to refer to the
Scottish cloth. The Gaelic word for tartan is breacan
(variegated).
The Celts have worn many-colored and checked fabrics
from time immemorial (as did some of the surrounding
cultures). Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni, is described as
having worn a gown of many colors, and checkered cloth
has been found in the Salzburg salt mines (which the
Celts mined for salt).
Myth: Everybody in Ancient Times wore drab
colors
Actually, the very poor often did wear clothes dyed in
colors that were easy to obtain and easy to keep clean;
but natural sources for colorful dyes were readily
available for the taking. Colors were very popular and
widely used. See Dyes for more
information. A note of caution, though: one of the
worst things I've seen was a leine in a very
bright canary-yellow cotton. The color is all wrong; only
an aniline dye can make a yellow so obviously unnatural.
For a better idea of what shades are available using
natural dyes, check out a book on the subject in your
local public library. Lastly, the Romans noted the
Celts' fondness for brightly colored clothing.
Myth: The medieval Irish leine's
sleeve had to have been pleated or gathered to accomodate
the huge amout of fabric used.
The historical costuming list has had a lot of
discussion over the years about the construction of the
late-period Irish leine. The general consensus is
that the sleeve is neither pleated nor has a drawstring
along the top -- it's shaped more like the long sleeve of
a Japanese kimono, but more rounded at the lower
end. The practice of either sewing in pleats or a
drawstring comes from an attempt a few decades ago to
figure out how to incorporate 6 or more yards of material
into the leine. However, given that the material
used was probably only about 30 inches wide -- well, that
makes a big difference in construction. You could
easily use two yards of 30" wide fabric in each
sleeve, and another three to four yards in the body of
the garment, and not have an overwhelmingly large
garment. Moreover, only the very wealthy would have
been able to afford lots and lots of extra fabric in
their leine. See the last illustration on this page for a good look at the
sleeve of a poor man's leine -- it clearly isn't as full
as some of the other sleeves on this page, and is shoved
up a bit at the elbow.
Other Tips:
DON'T use buttons if your persona is prior to
about 1300. They weren't introduced into England prior to
that; and I'm still tracking down a date for their
introduction into Ireland. DO use brooches,
toggles, ties and lacing to close garments and attach
items. (It's easier than stitching buttonholes, anyway.)
DON'T use polyester/synthetic materials,
especially if you're going to be out in hot weather
and/or near any kind of flame, even if it's just a
candle. DO use natural fibers like wool, linen and
cotton. Natural fibers 'breathe' better in hot weather,
and they don't stick to your skin if you accidentally
catch your garb on fire (polyester does stick to the
skin, and can result in much worse burns). Real wool
doesn't burn as quickly as linen or cotton; it smoulders
first, which gives you time to notice that something's
amiss and remedy the situation. A wool/poly blend may be
ok, since the wool content might retard the burning
tendencies of the polyester, but burn a swatch to see
what it does if you're unsure.
Cotton wasn't introduced to Europe until the Middle
Ages, and even so was horrendously expensive until the
invention of the Cotton Gin in the 19th century made the
cotton fiber process cheaper, so it isn't quite 'period'
for early Celtic, but it has the advantage of being
inexpensive, so you can work out the details of your
costume before making a final version in more expensive
wool and linen. You can also find cotton/linen blends,
which will pass for linen (well, they drape slightly
differently) but cost less.
Real linen is expensive, but worth it if you've got a
pattern that works well for you, since it wears a lot
better over the long term than cotton does, and gets more
comfortable the more you wear it. A cotton garment will
wear out in just a few seasons of moderate use.
Other Pet Peeves:
It's 'Keltic,' not 'Seltic', dammit! The Celtics (with
an 's' sound at the front) are a basketball team. The
Celts (with a 'k' sound at the front) would have
pronounced it as a hard 'c'.
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