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Only limited information is available on the popularity of the kilt in certain historical periods, especially before Queen Victorian popularized it as a child's costume in the 1840s by dressing the princes in kilts. One largely unanswered question was just how commonly worn the kilt was in Scotland by the average boy.
With the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Highland clans at Culloden in 1745, the English proscribed the kilt. I'm not sure, however, just what boys wore in Scotland either before or after the proscribition. One unintended inpact was the introduction of the kilt to the wider world. Not only did Scottsmen emigrate to America, but the British Army raised Higland units which were allowed to wear the kilt. Soon kilt uniformed units were deployed by Britain in Europe and in its growing colonial empire.
The proscription on the kilt was lifted in the 1770s. However I am not sure what this meant in terms of what Scottish boys wore.
The kilt clad Scottish regiments performed brilliantly in the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). The Scotts before the Napoleonic War had a still very negatibe image among the Englidsh, as a backward, uncooth if not traterous people. This image changedc radically durung the War. and by the 1810s the Scottish Revival was well underway.
Until the 1820s the kilt was a Scottish garment. King George IV in 1822 traveled to Scotland and wore the kilt. I'm not sure about the Stuarts, but none of the images I noted, including those of the children show them wearing kilts. George IV was the first British monarch I know of to have worn the kilt. It was a political statement to make the monarch more popular in Scotland. A painting of the event show a kilted boy at St. Giles. I am not sure, however, how common it was for boys to wear the kilt in the 1820s. The boys placement and dress suggest he was from a wealthy family. Certainly he was dressed especially for the occasion. I'm not sure what he and other Scottish boys normally wore. Wealso notice kilts and tartan dresses as well as tartan trimmed tunics being used as a school uniform in Robert Owen's New Lanark school.
Until the reign of William IV and his famous visit to Edinburgh, no self respectful city dwelling Scot would refer to a kilt as part of his national dress. The kilt belonged to the 'wild Irish' as both the English, and majority of Scots, described both Irishmen outside The Pale and 'Scottish' Highlanders. [Freemantle]
Queen Victoria was noted for the fashions chosen for the princes. The clothing chosen for the royal children had a huge impact on children's fashions in England and other countries. The Queen in the 1840s began dressing the princes in Highland kilts. The kilts worn by Prince Albert Edward (future Edward VIII) in particular had a huge fashion impact. This helped identify the kilt as a suitable garment for boys. All of Victoria's and Albert's children wore kilts, both for formal state occassins and for casual wear when vacatiining at Balmoral.
The Prince of Wales' two boys were born in 1864 and 1865. The eldest son was Prince Eddy. We know that both Pribce Eddy and Prince George wore kilts as boys. We are not sure when they began wearing kilts. Queen Victoria would have insisted on it, especially when they visited Balmoral. I'm not sure what the Princess oif Wales thought about the kilt. Our earliest photograph of Eddy and George wearing kilts dates from the 1870s when the boys were 12-13 years old.
The kilts popularized by Queen Victoria continued to be a popular style for boys. It was most popular in Britain, but fashion magazines show that it was also worn in France. The style reached America in the 1840s, but it was not until the 1870s that large numbers of American boys--most with no or only the most tenous conection to Scotland--were outfitted in kilts. It seemed an ideal choice for mother who were not yet ready to breech their
sons. The kilt was the height of fashion for boys in England and France. It also crossed the Atlantic. It was not the Highland kilt, however that proved popular in America, but rather the kilt suit that had virtually no relationship with a true kilt, other than both were skirted garments.
Girls for the first time are seen wearing kilts in the 1890s, although it remained primatily a male garment. HBC has noted quite a few British images of boys wearing kilts. We have little information about these images. We believe them to be Scottish, but it some English boys also wore them. A British contributor reports that boys from Scottish families dpmiciled south of the border were often dressed in kilts. HBC wonders if this was just for formal occasions. We also wonder if some English boys might have also been dressed in kilts. We note, for example, that English illustrator Ernest Sheppard, of Winnie the Poo fame, had a confrontation with another boy at a party. The other boy was dressed in a kilt and took exception to Ernest's Little Lord Fauntleroy suit. Ernest judged that a boy in a kilt had no right to take exception with is Fauntleroy suit. A terrible rowe ensued. The punch bowl was upset and Ernest was sent home in disgrace. Now the other boy may have been Scottish, as the incident occurred in London, more likely thevbnoy was English. Unlike America boys who commonly wore kiltsuits, British boys more commonly wore actual kilts with Highland regalia.
Most of the images we have of Scottish boys wearing kilts during the 1890s are formal portraits. Many of these images showboys wearing black military-styled jackets with Eton collars. A good example of a Scottish boy wearing a formal kilt outfit is Geoffrey Keen although he dos not have an Eton collar. We are not sure, however, to what extent boys in Scotland wore kilts for school or informally after school and what they wore with the kilt for these more informal occassions. Prince George's two oldest children were born in 1894 and 1895. As younger children the boys wore dresses and sailor suits after breaching. We are not sure when the boys began wearing kilts, but we do not have any photographs of them in kils until after the turn of the century. We notice girls in the 1890s wearing kilt-like skirts.
Prince George took a personal interest in the children's clothing. We continue to note portraits from Britain of the young princes dressed in kilts during the 1900s. We note many portraits of other boys wearing kilt as well. Most of the images we have are formal portraits. We have little information at this time as to what extent Scottish boys wore kilts for school or informal play after school. Unfortunately many are unidentified. We assume most are Scottish boys, but as mentioned above some boys may have also worn them south of the border, especially by boys of Scottish ancestry. The sons of George V are often pictured in kilts. He considered the kilt and sailor suit as the only suitable clothing for children. We do not know to what extent some English boys may have been dressed in kilts. They would have been likely to have been boys from aristocratic or wealthy families. The kilt was adopted by the new Scout movement in Scotland. Scottish Scouts wore kilts rather than short trousers.
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We notice Scottish boys continue to dress up in formal kilt outfits during the 1910s. The scene here seems rather posed because the boy is so formally dressed for an outdoor scene (figure 1). We also notice formal potraits. An example here is the Lennox family who lived in Glasgow. We are less sure as to how ordinary Scottish boys dressed for casual wear or for school. The Cub movement was established in 1916. Many Scottish cubs wore kilts, but short trousers were more common. There are many photographs of King George V's children wearing kilts.
Prince Charlesand his brothers wore kilts. Charles is often pictured in kilts on his trips to Balmoral. Aristocratic British boys are still seen in kilts during the 1950s. The kilt is still worn in many Scottish schools, especially schools outside the major cities.
Fewer Scottish boys wear kilts to school. Increasingly it becomes a dressup uniform, mostly for boys at private Scottish schools.
The latest generation of British royals did not like kilts at all. I'm not sure they never wore them, but cearly they did not want to wear them and were not pictured in them, even on trips to Balmoral. Scottish boys no longer commonly wore kilts. Most boys wearing kilts wear them as apart of a Scout uniform or a school uniform. Others are worn for special events such as a wedding or for competive dancing. Small boys might wear a kit to serve as a ring bearer or an older boy as an usher. But adults wear them as well. They are also worn by pipe band members.
The situation was little changed in the 1990s. The younger royals continue to avoid wearing a kilt. HBC notes no change to the situation reported in the 1980s with Scottish boys no longer commonly wearing kilts. Most boys wearing kilts wear them as apart of a Scout uniform or a school uniform. Others are worn for special events such as a wedding or for competive dancing. Small boys might wear a kit to serve as a ring bearer or an older boy as an usher. But adults wear them as well. They are also worn by pipe band members.
HBC has noted no significant change in Scotland as to the wearing of kilts in the 2000s. They are still commonly worn for dress uniforms at private schools. Scouts continue to swear them. They are still worn at formal weddings, by ring bearers, ushers, bridegromes, and some guests. Highland dancing and pipe bands still use kilts. This appears to have an important element of scocial class. Boys going to private school or even in the Scouts tend to be of either affluent or at least middle class families as is the case for people having formal weddings.
Freemantle, Clive. E-mail message, November 11, 2003.
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