Why Scottish Men Wear Kilts
Have you ever wondered why Scottish men, who are undoubtedly subjected to inclement weather, choose to wear a cute short skirt as their mode of dress? This enduring fashion has lasted centuries, but it makes no sense unless you understand the true origins of the kilt.
Historians will attempt to date the kilt back to the 1500s, claiming kilts were traditional garments worn in the Scottish Highlands. The claim is based upon what historians have found in the writings and illustrations they studied. But logic suggests the assertion itself is counter-intuitive. First of all, there was no significant change in the weather conditions in the Scottish Highlands that would have prompted the men to adorn short skirts when they could have protected their more precious parts by wearing trousers that were around since as far back as ancient Greece and Persia and were prevalent throughout Medieval Europe. So why would these hearty, outdoorsy men opt for a short skirt on a frigid day?
The answer lies in the practice Scots adopted from ancient Greek warriors and explorers. What in the world do Scottish kilts have to do with ancient Greece? After all, Scotland was a world away from Greece back then.
In about 325 BC, an explorer named Pytheas of Massalia was asked by his city to explore the origins of the many trade goods that arrived in their port. However, he was not the first to attempt the exploration of northern Europe. The natural phenomenon known as the Midnight Sun and the periods of perpetual snow and darkness that the north European countries experienced were already known. Pytheas would have known these strange facts because he wasn’t born in Greece.
He was born in Massalia, which has evolved to become known as Marseilles, on the southern coast of modern France. At the time, though, it was still a Greek colony.
The writings of Pytheas have been lost, but others cited his discoveries in later works. For example, Pytheas described a place he called Thule, which was later determined to be Norway. This also lends credence to his exploration of the British Isles, as Norway is less than 200 miles from the northernmost British Isle. Pytheas is credited with the first use of the name Britannia. Historians argue over manuscripts that vary between a “B” and a “P” as in Pretoria, attempting to credit the Romans as the first users of Britannia. But what they fail to mention in their battles over minutiae is something that every Greek already knows. There is no “b” in the Greek alphabet. The “b” sound is the merging of the Greek letters μ (mu), which sounds like the English ‘m’ and π (pi), which sounds like the English ‘p’ (μπ). Together, the two letters are pronounced “b”. Mystery solved!
But how do we know that Pytheas even stopped in Scotland? The academics claim that the name Scotland derives from the original Scottish Gaelic language. However, the original Scottish Gaelic term used to describe Scotland was Alba — not an easy word to associate with the word Scotland.
Try this on for size…
Since Pytheas had heard about these lands in perpetual darkness, it is not a stretch for him to land at this strange place and describe it. As he got off the boat, he looked around and confirmed — Scotiá (σκοτιά) — the Greek word for darkness. Another mystery was solved. I suppose Pytheas might have traveled far beyond the British Isles if we consider another place called Nova Scotia. Anyway, there are many indications of ancient Greek influence on the place now known as Scotland. But you say that still doesn’t say anything about the kilt.
Consider the chiton, a garment as far back as the 5th century BC. The chiton was a knee-length tunic worn by Greek soldiers. There were even two styles of chiton- the Doric and the Ionic- which would suggest that the use of the chiton extended beyond mainland Greece to Asia Minor and other Greek colonies. Soldiers probably wore the chiton because the different form of dress worn by the Greeks and the Etruscans (and later adopted by the Romans), the full-length toga, was not conducive to active pursuits such as war or naval expeditions.
So Pytheas and his crew landed at a place they named Scotiá and perhaps showed the natives that they could better hunt deer and kill enemies by wearing a chiton. Alternatively, since Pytheas was there to study the sources of goods and trade and had little or no interest in the outfits of warriors, it is possible that the Scots adopted the kilt from the Romans who showed up on the British Isles in the 1st century CE. While the Romans conquered the Isles, they didn’t have much success with the Scots, who simply refused to be conquered. It is possible that the Scots, seeing the advantages of the Roman war machine, adopted the kilt from the Roman centurion uniform. But even if that was the case, we know where the Romans got it.
In Greece, the chiton eventually became known as the fustanella (φουστανέλλα) and was adopted by the military as a uniform. Today, the fustanella is a ceremonial military uniform worn by Greek palace guards and little boys who attend their church’s annual festival. This is not unusual behavior. You’ve seen dictators and generals of 3rd world countries adorn ridiculous ceremonial uniforms, which suggest that they have been conquering enemies since they dropped from their mother’s womb.
The Scots have maintained a tradition that contradicts logic and personal comfort. Perhaps their contrarian posture enabled them to prevail over the overwhelming dominance of the Roman legions that sought to conquer them.
