Macedonian - Scottish historical lineage

[Mikail]

....... a bit of trivia for you regarding the Gajda. Apparently, Metaxas out lawed the Gajda under his regime with an excuse "it was peasantry".........

Actually it was considered an enemy of the state. The gajda was a thread to Greeces assimilation policies.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Interesting discussion, good topic Bratot.

[Serdarot]

/offtopic on

...
I met this lovely old fellow in Ohrid playing his Gajda on top of Samuil Fortress, I am sure many travelers have met him and know who i am talking about. ...

i΄ve met that cute grandpa, but unfortunately, he΄s dead, someone told me last year...

/offtopic off

ontopic:

if we are somehow connected (i don΄t suspect we are), there must be more than just one music instrument kept in the scotish tradition, that is related with some other Macedonian Folk Instruments.

we need scotish ethnolog / folklourist

[Onur]

if we are somehow connected (i don΄t suspect we are), there must be more than just one music instrument kept in the scotish tradition, that is related with some other Macedonian Folk Instruments.

You should consider that both Scots and Irish people are heavily assimilated by British centuries ago. AFAIK, there are very few left in these countries who learns their own languages as a mothertongue. Most of them speaks english anymore. I think Scots have been assimilated more than Irish people.

Also they lived through a cultural transformation when they have been converted into christianity. You know in medieval era, if certain society have been converted into christianity, they were also required to erase nearly everything related with their former culture like pagan symbols, runic writings and sometimes their language too. Especially runic writings were represented as elements related with Satanism, witchcraft or dark magic in the medieval christian literature.

[lavce pelagonski]

I was searching online to see when the gajda came to Scottland many are saying that the gajda was introduced by the Roman arym

http://www.bagpipehistory.info/ireland.shtml

Ireland

Published winter issue 2006/7
�Bulletin�
Military Historical Society
London

Some thoughts on Irish Piping

By Frank Timoney

It is generally accepted today, that the Roman army introduced their bagpipe, the Tibia Utricularis, to the British Isles and other countries such as France, Spain, the Balkans etc. In England, it really caught on and several English variants of the Roman instrument came into being.

As far as is known, the Irish never took to the instrument, although it is felt today, that Rome invaded and conquered the country, the pipe never caught on. We know that in Britain, the Irish lived amongst the Roman army as victualers and that some lived with the Celtic tribes in England. Some actually invaded both camps. Still, the instrument seems to have been avoided, although it seems to have been worshiped by the tribes in England, who began to place depictions of the tibia on statues of Roman gods, such as the second century altar to the god Atys, unearthed in Gloucester.

The earliest Irish mention of the bagpipe is in 1206, approximately thirty years after the Anglo-Norman invasion. Obviously the instrument began to catch on in Ireland but as to whether it was the English or French variant, is anyone�s guess. It certainly was not the Scottish Great Highland pipe, the Piob Mor, because that instrument had yet to work it�s way up from England. Both England and France used the bagpipe in processions, church services, and festivities. The first pictorial representation of the native Irish mouth blown pipe is in 1578 and it shows a two-drone pipe much like both the English and French instruments.

The instrument fell out of use by the Irish after the O�Neill war ca. 1590. The Irish now became an indoor society where the use of a loud instrument was no longer needed. It is felt that the Irish piping tradition was never very strong because of the ease with which the Irish gave it up. At any rate, they were now introduced to the English Northumbrian or pastoral pipe, which they managed, by the nineteenth century, to modify into their own bellows fed Uilleann Pipe.

Around 1880, a new Gaelic awareness began to hit Ireland. A Celtic twilight instituted mainly by Anglo Irish residents. The country began to look for ties to other Celtic countries, and Scotland seemed to hold the greatest appeal. The Irish began to reason, that since they had settled the north of Scotland, the Scottish traditions were actually theirs! Onto the great stage of myth stepped the Royal Tyrone Fusiliers, a militia Bn. Of the 27th Royal Inniskilling Fusaliers, and one William O�Duane of Belfast. O�Duane invented a weird pipe he called the Dungannon. Most people today feel he hated pipes, because the instrument was utter junk! The Royal Tyrone Fusiliers felt the time had come for a pipe band in their regiment. Many �experts� in the regiment convinced the young Anglo Irish officers that it was only right for an Irish regiment to adopt the pipe, since Scotland really adopted Irish culture and traditions. So the old flute band was thrown over, and the flautists informed they would shortly become �pipers�.

There was no thought given to the art of Scottish piping, which is produced by the middle joints of the fingers. When the flautists began �playing�, they did so with the tips of the fingers, which prohibited the execution of Scottish finger movements. Every note was played with an equal duration of the proceeding note, which produced a very un-Scotish, un-crisp, round sound. But this was of little concern, going on to plague Irish piping until the 1980�s. What was of the greatest concern, was what uniform would be worn! So it was decided to adopt the Scottish kilt, which remember, the new experts felt to be rightly theirs. But what colour would it be?

Well, the conclusion was reached that tartan was out of the question. So experts of the Tyrone's searched the books only to find that the ancient Irish used �saffron�to stain their garments. But this produced a very yellow colour, exactly the same as was represented by the Fenian segment of the population. So brown was added to the dyestuff, the Royal Tyrone's called it saffron and Bob�s your uncle, the Irish had their first pipe band and the army it�s first Irish pipe band.

At this time, we must step back into the ancient world. Saffron, taken from the stigma of the autumn crocus, is not indigenous to the British Isles. It had to be imported at a very great expense, and no one in Ireland could afford it anyway. Around 1581, one Vincentio Galileo (Galilei�s father) did a report for the Venetian Doge. He was somewhat like the Doge�s man in Havana, Ireland being part of his assignment. He reported back to Venice all he noted about the Irish, including their mode of dress, the colour of which, he called saffron. At the time, the only person in Europe who could probably afford saffron was a Venetian. To Vencentio Galileo, the Irish colour looked like that obtained from saffron. English writers and soldiers soon picked up the term, so that a new piece of mis-information was added to Ireland�s supposed dress tradition.

Around 1900, a most ingenious businessman entered the stage and began to create his own Irish myth. Mr. Henry Starck, a London manufacturer of musical instruments and of Jewish persuasion, saw a brilliant business opportunity. His ancestors had come over to England with Handel to produce woodwind instruments. Henry was in partnership with one William Ross, Queen Victoria�s piper. Ross was a big figure in the Scottish piping world, supplying all her majesty�s Scottish regiments with pipes, etc. Around 1900, he passed away and his partner Stark took over the business. Starck was no fool. He saw a new market and in 1902, took out a patent with O�Duane for a new Irish chanter that allowed a full chromatic scale with four keys! Starck�s next step in 1908 was the publishing of a tutor for the new Brien Boru pipe. He took a step further, going to all the Irish infantry regiments, convincing the young Anglo Irish officers that by �tradition�, they needed a pipe band. He, by dint of good fortune, had all the �ancient � measurements of the �ancient� Irish mouth blown bagpipe, as well as the �ancient� details of �correct� Irish dress.

The young Anglo Irish officers fell for it, no questions asked. However, there was a great cry of disapproval from the older Irish officers who missed the auld flute bands and lovely Irish tunes. �Aping the Scot� was their unheard cry because the English CO was totally enamoured with the Celtic �revival� going on, and felt his regiment needed a little more gregarious panache, as much the same as the Scots regiments had. By now, one of the first things the newly formed regiment of guards did was to form a pipe band. Some said the new regiment should even be kilited! What everyone overlooked, was the fact that their was no native Irish music specifically composed for the mouth blown pipe, so that new keyed chanter fit the bill quite well. Starck�s son A.H went on to become �instructor� to the London Irish Rifles pipe band.

So there we have the �ancient� tradition of Irish mouth blown piping. All that was now needed was the printed word to make it all puncture proof. Up to the wicket stepped Dr. W.H. Gratton Flood who, in 1911 published a totally false �Story of the Bagpipe�. It had became necessary to refute Scottish Highland piping culture, in order to give the new, �ancient�, Irish �piping� effort an older and greater history. Ireland became Scotland�s teacher! This Flood successfully accomplished and his book of fantasy is eagerly sought after today in Ireland, America and Australia. Archibald Campbell, in his additions to The Notices of Pipers, reminds us that, in an attempt to give piping in Ireland some kind of pedigree which it never had, Flood invented a whole history for the instrument and presented his entire package with a marked prejudice against the Scottish Highland Pipe. The Royal Irish Fusiliers fell for it, hook, line and sinker. In 1924, their regimental newspaper, �The� Faug A Ballagh�, contained articles from the sergeant�s mess and pointed out a new fiction, that Irish piping was headed for great things, until the 1366 Statutes of Kilkenny put the Caedbosh on it, and that caused the Irish to �forget� their piping tradition. By now, the newly invented Irish �piping� had come under the scrutiny of Scottish piping circles, but sadly went on.

Today, however things are much brighter for Irish regimental piping thanks to the efforts of the Army School of Piping and the Piobaireachd Society. The old Brien Boru pipes and the keyed chanter have been chucked out (hopefully, burned at the stake). Three droned pipes have been issued or purchased for all Irish regiments and Irish regimental pipers now play with more expression, using Scottish finger movements. Thankfully, some have even begun to play Piobaireachd, the great classical music of the bagpipe.

By the way, no one in Ireland or Scotland ever referred to the mouth blown bagpipe (the Piob Mor) as a �war pipe�. It was sixteenth and seventeenth century English writers who first used the expression and with such continued persistence as to lead one to speculate that the instrument possibly was known in England, in earlier times, as a war pipe. But this is still a complicated subject, inclined to bring some to tears and some to their fists!

References:

The Piping Times
The Traditional and national Music of Scotland by Francis Collinson
The Bagpipe by Francis Collinson
Irish Archaeology Society
Journal of the Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, volume 48, 1918
Irish Music, A Fascinating Hobby by Captain Francis O�Neill ca. 1911
Irish Regiments by RG Harris
Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, #82, 1942
History of Highland Dress by JT Dunbar
The Piobaireachd Society

Interviews by the author during late 1950�s with many ex-army Irish regimental pipers from the 1914 period and prior. Much to their credit, these old boys (contemptibles) never went back to the flute after their military service. They continued with the pipe and were much the backbone of the Irish piping scene. Their good natured humour made them a great pleasure to be with. To a man however, they continue to play with the tips of their fingers and with a minimum of graces notes some forty years after their introduction to the instrument.

[fyrOM]

We know that in Britain, the Irish lived amongst the Roman army as victualers and that some lived with the Celtic tribes in England. Some actually invaded both camps. Still, the instrument seems to have been avoided,

The earliest Irish mention of the bagpipe is in 1206, approximately thirty years after the Anglo-Norman invasion.



The instrument fell out of use by the Irish after the O�Neill war ca. 1590. It is felt that the Irish piping tradition was never very strong because of the ease with which the Irish gave it up.

Around 1880,...The Irish began to reason, that since they had settled the north of Scotland, the Scottish traditions were actually theirs! Onto the great stage of myth stepped....Many �experts� in the regiment convinced the young Anglo Irish officers that it was only right for an Irish regiment to adopt the pipe, since Scotland really adopted Irish culture and traditions. So the old flute band was thrown over, and the flautists informed they would shortly become �pipers�.

What was of the greatest concern, was what uniform would be worn! So it was decided to adopt the Scottish kilt, which remember, the new experts felt to be rightly theirs. But what colour would it be?

English writers and soldiers soon picked up the term, so that a new piece of mis-information was added to Ireland�s supposed dress tradition.



What everyone overlooked, was the fact that their was no native Irish music specifically composed for the mouth blown pipe, so that new keyed chanter fit the bill quite well.


So there we have the �ancient� tradition of Irish mouth blown piping. ...Dr. W.H. Gratton Flood who, in 1911 published a totally false �Story of the Bagpipe�. It had became necessary to refute Scottish Highland piping culture, in order to give the new, �ancient�, Irish �piping� effort an older and greater history. Ireland became Scotland�s teacher! This Flood successfully accomplished and his book of fantasy is eagerly sought after today in Ireland, America and Australia. Archibald Campbell, in his additions to The Notices of Pipers, reminds us that, in an attempt to give piping in Ireland some kind of pedigree which it never had, Flood invented a whole history for the instrument and presented his entire package with a marked prejudice against the Scottish Highland Pipe.

Sounds very Greek to me.

[George S.]

Does anyone know who invented the bagpipes wecan't just assume they just happened to be in scotland or rome.I know for a fact that tthe gajda existed in alexanders time & was played in the army.Also the Celts used the bagbipes as well when the passed through macedonia.

[julie]

George, who were the Celts?
And am amazed the bagpipes were around at the time of Alexander

[George S.]

Bronze and Iron Age - The emergence of the Celts across Europe
400BC Celts had settled in many European countries including Austria, Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Western Germany, Northern Spain, Turkey and Hungary

400 BC Celtic tribes invade Italy and under the leadership of Brennus sack Rome
335 BC Treaty between Celtic tribes and Alexander the Great
323 BC Death of Alexander - Celtic tribes invade Greece
280 BC Celtic tribes sack many Greek cities
275 BC Celtic tribes establish the state of Galatia in Turkey
280 BC Celtic tribes sack many Greek cities
230 BC Celtic tribes defeated in battle by Greek troops in Turkey
224 BC The Romans had begun to extend their empire into Gallia ( Gaul) the region of Europe occupied by Celtic tribes

224 BC 224 - 220 BC - Rome conquers the Celts
191 BC Gaul is taken by the Romans
58-51 BC Julius Caesar leads the Romans in the Gallic Wars. In 55BC he invades Britain
0 Birth of Jesus Christ

33 AD Crucifixion of Jesus in the Roman province of Jerusalem and starts the spread of Christianity
39 Caratacus leads the British celts
43 Emperor Claudius subdues the Celts in Britain
45 Vercingetorix the leader of the Celtic Tribes is paraded through Rome and executed
60 Boudicca leads a failed rebellion against Rome. The Celtic culture starts to become assimilated with Roman culture

476 The Roman Empire collapses and in the Dark and Middle Ages various different cultures emerge in the lands of the Celts and the history of each country changed accordingly.
At the present time, every aspect of Celtic culture is a very visible part of a multicultural world. Everyone whose family roots lie in central, western and northwestern Europe has a Celtic connection of some sort. Celtic culture is very ancient. It goes back over 2,700 years, yet it is still a living force in the modern world, through Celtic art, Celtic music, Celtic writing, and Celtic spirituality. This is because the civilization of the Celts has continued without break over the centuries. This unbroken tradition can be experienced in the oldest literature from Northern Europe, that is in the Welsh and Irish languages. The earliest Welsh and Irish writings preserve the ancient Celtic world-view that is nature venerating and poetic,where the spiritual and the material worlds come together to enrich one another.

Throughout history, the Celtic tradition and belief has not remained static, but has continuously developed and progressed in keeping with the times. In ancient days, the early beliefs of the Celts were taken over and reformed by the Druids, who in turn were influenced by Roman religion. In time, this was transformed by Crhistianity in the form of the Celtic Church, that was not a break with tradition, but a continuation of the Celtic essence in a new form.

Because what we call Celtic culture has existed for more than 2,700 years, and has ranged across much of central and northwestern Europe, it is not easy to define in simple terms. People who need clear definitions of everything find that the Celts are a difficult case. Read on for more history


"The peoples known as the Celts are thought to have originated in central Europe, to the east of the Rhine in the areas now part of southern Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. From around 3,400 years ago, these proto-Celtic peoples expanded across the Continent, and eventually inhabited a large portion of central, western, and northwestern Europe. During the Classical periosd of Greece and Rome, Celtic culture was predominiant to the north of the Alps. Even today, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, Cumbria and Brittany are basically Celtic in character. Despite the changes that time has brought, the influence of Celtic traditionis still fundamental."

From "The Sacred World of the Celts" by Nigel Pennick



"The Celts were a southern European people of Indo-Aryan origin who first surfaced in Bohemia and travelled west in search of the home of the sun. Science has recently established their basic blood group as 'O', in keeping with their modern descendants, which designates them as a seperate race from the aboriginals of the sourthern Indian subcontinent, where the 'B' blood group perdominates.

History tells us that there were two main Celtic groups, one of which is referred to as the 'lowland Celts' who hailed from the region of the Danube. These people left their native pastures around 1200 BC and slowly made their way across Europe, founding the lake dwellings in Switzerland, the Danube valley and Ireland. They were skilled in the use of metals and worked in gold, tin and bronze. Unlike the more familiar Celtic strain these people were an agriculturally oriented race, being herdsmen, tillers and artificers who burned rather than buried their dead. They blended peacefully with the megalithic people among whom they settled, contributing powerfully to the religion, art, and customs they encountered as they slowly spread westwards. Their religious beliefs also differed from the next group, being predominately matriarchal.

The second group, often referred to as the 'true' Celts, followed closely behind their lowland cousins, making their first appearance on the left bank of the Rhine at the commencement of the sixth century BC. These people, who came from the mountainous regions of the Balkans and Carpathians, were a military aristocracy. Reputed to love fighting for the sake of it they were frequently to be found among the mercenaries of the great armies of those early times. They had a distinct class system, the observance of which constituted one of their major racial features. These were the warlike Celts of ancient history who sacked Rome and Delphi, eventually marching victoriously across much of Europe and the British Isles.

But in spite of their martial inclinations they were also known for their qualities of chivalry, courage and dauntless bravery, their more aggressive tendencies being balanced out by a great sensitivity to music, poetry and philosophy. Unlike the lowland Celts these people buried their dead, and their elaborate religious rituals held in honour of Lugh are well recounted in the pages of the recorded past."

~From "Practical Celtic Magic" by Murry Hope

Back to the Top

[julie]

Thank you , I thought perhaps the Scots are descendants

[Onur]

Thank you , I thought perhaps the Scots are descendants

Yes they are, Julie. Most(if not all) of the descendants of the Celts assimilated in British culture. There are descendants of Celts among Irish, Scottish, British and then Australia&USA. Probably only 5% of Celts today, speaks their original language(Various Irish and Scottish dialects), they speak English instead.

[George S.]

Last year I even asked the scots whether we the macedonians are related to them because there are similar things.They said it's the celtic influence which spread throughout europe.THe word
scotsni means in macedonian to jump.Also the playing of boules with astick is macedonian.Also the use of bagpipes.But unless we have real historical ties ,provable ones we are not really related.

[lavce pelagonski]

History of the Kilt

Kilts

First of all, there are no ancient Irish kilts. For that matter, there are no ancient Scottish kilts either. The present Scottish national costume is a modern invention of the English and Scottish nobility of the 19th century. Neither the ancient Scots nor Irish wore them as we see them today.



Allow me a brief digression. The word “Scot” derives from the word “Scottus” in Latin and means “Irishman” or “raider”. The Romans in Britain knew the Highlanders and Irish to be one people and referred to them as the “Scotti” in their writings.



Even up to the time of Elizabeth I, the “Irish problem” refers to the Irish and the Highlanders as one people/problem. However, from this point, I will refer to the Irish as those Celts occupying Ireland and the Scots as those Celts occupying Scotland as they are known today.



The ancient Celts migrated out of the Middle East thousands of years ago. They moved through the Balkans and into Europe. They invaded Rome and settled all over southern Europe. They crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain).



The migration to Ireland (700 BCE) was from Iberia and not from Gaul (modern France). From Ireland, the Celts migrated to the Highlands of Scotland (375 CE). They were more-or-less one people with one language and culture at this time.



The ancient writers of both Greece and Rome described the dress of the Celts as striped. However, striped clothing was not unique to the Celts. It was not the complicated style of cloth we call “tartan” or “plaid” today.



The ancient Irish and Scots wore a tunic (leine, Gaelic, “shirt”) made of linen and/or silk falling to the knees for men. This garment evolved over time from a simple long sleeveless smock to an elaborate 7 yd. garment with gathered waist and billowing sleeves dyed a saffron color. In some depictions it looks like a short kilt, but it was never made of wool.



Early leine with brat



Over this tunic they wore a type of striped woolen cape (brat, Gaelic, “blanket”) held with a brooch at the shoulder. This cape was described in varying lengths depending on social rank. Also, the more variegated the colors of the cape, the higher the rank of the wearer. In later times, trewes were sometimes worn underneath and a short jacket on top.



16th Century leine with jacket

In 1537, Henry VIII of England banned the wearing of this tunic and the traditional Irish dress in Ireland. He wished to have the Irish dress like the rest of his subjects in England reasoning that it would help assimilate them.



Traditional dress disappeared in Ireland and went through a modification in Scotland. The tunic went out of use, perhaps because the sources in Ireland were no longer making them. The mantle was now worn alone with it pleated and wrapped around the waist and folds of it gathered at the shoulders.



It was first described in “The Life of Hugh O’Donnell”, in 1594.

This garment was the progenitor of the kilt, i.e., the belted-plaid (breacan filleadh, Gaelic, “striped wrap”).





This garment was made from 4 or 5 yards of material about thirty inches wide with two pieces sewn together lengthwise. It was made in many different colors according to the taste and ability of local weavers. One could spot a weave typical of an area and this may have been the beginning of the misconception of ancient clan tartans.



However, many times they were of colors of the bracken and heather to allow better concealment. This garment was clothing, rucksack and sleeping bag all rolled into one. As such, it offered a great advantage when fighting in the Highlands in the Scottish way.



In time, the Scots would have two forms of this garment, the great kilt (filleadh mhor, Gaelic, “great wrap”) and the small kilt (filleadh beag, Gaelic, “little wrap”). When the two pieces of cloth were not sewn together, one pleated half of it and wrapped it around the waist as the filleadh beag and secured it with a belt. The other half was carried pleated over the shoulder, i.e., the plaide (Gaelic, “pleated blanket”). These two sections were not joined together as in the filleadh mhor.



The filleadh beag



In time, the pleats were sewn in place. However, and contrary to popular myth, Rawlinson, an English iron-works owner, did not invent the modern kilt. Evidence shows it existed before he sewed the pleats of the filleadh beag of his workers.



After the fall of the Jacobite army in 1745, the English banned the wearing of kilts, pipes and many other ethnic aspects of the lives of the Scots. The hope was that this would destroy Scottish nationalism and allow assimilation of the Scots into England. It nearly succeeded before the repeal of the ban in 1783.



Two major factors conspired to keep the kilt and pipes and other aspects of this culture alive: the Regiments and the English Queen Victoria!



The Scottish Regiments existed before the revolt of 1745. They wore, and continued to wear, the kilt after the ban on them elsewhere in Scotland. The first regimental tartan was created for the Black Watch in 1740 and it is the first tartan given a name and a full pedigree. The other Scottish regiments followed suit.







French Print of Highland Soldiers after the Battle of Waterloo (1815)

















19th Century Scottish Regiment in France



The stunning performance of the Scottish regiments in the India and Napoleonic Wars created a certain romantic view of these soldiers. The papers and novels of the day told of their virtues and exploits.



Queen Victoria had Scottish blood (Stewart). She read the writings of Sir Walter Scott and became enamored with all things Scottish. When Victoria and Albert went to Edinburgh on holiday a ball was held at the castle. The invitations instructed each guest to dress in the tartan of his clan in Highland attire. There was just one small problem: there were no official clan tartans at this time.



Another small digression: “tartan” is not a Gaelic word. It is a French word (tiretaine) introduced to Scotland in the 16th century. It means a fabric of woven wool with linen or silk. The word has come to mean the patterns on the cloth or “plaid” in modern English. The original Gaelic is breacan.



It became clear that the myth of ancient clan tartans needed to be satisfied. Many of the nobles ran through their castles to check the paintings of their ancestors. Many paintings showed one man with more than one tartan in the same painting!



At this point the many business-minded weavers and the many ersatz experts started to codify the clan, family and district tartans of Scotland. The myth was being satisfied and every one was happy.









Although the tartans had been worn at least as far back as 1440 CE and maybe earlier (remember the striped garments of the early Celts?), the modern system of clan, family and district tartans appear to be an invention of the 19th century. In 1948, the Lord Lyon King of Arms stated the development of tartans for names from ancient sources was “humbug” at a meeting in Edinburgh.



Today, a tartan may be registered with the “Scottish Tartans Society”. Family, clan, district, county, national, industrial, military and commemorative tartans have been given a name and pedigree in this library. In this way, the tartan as a kilt, or other garment, may be worn by more than just those of Scottish descent.



Regarding the use of the kilt by the Irish, this can all be dated to the days before the Easter Rebellion in 1916. Seeking a national costume, leaders of the Irish nationalist movement asked revolutionary and historian, Padraic Pearse, (later to be executed in retaliation for the Easter Rising) what they should choose.



Pearse said, "I would rather we adopt the kilt of our Scottish cousins than wear what is in the Royal Museum for fear that people would think we had forgotten to change our pyjamas."



He was referring to the Killery Costume in the now National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. It is a suit of clothes consisting of checked wool trews and a long jacket that to a man of his era would appear to be "long johns" and not proper clothing.





Royal Irish Rangers Irish Republic Air Force Band



Even before the Easter Rebellion. The Irish Regiments wore kilts dyed a saffron color. Many male Irish dancers dress in kilts today. And I cannot recall a pipe band, from the venerable NYPD Emerald Society Pipe Band to the novice San Diego FD Emerald Society Pipe Band that is not marching in kilts with a tartan of their own choosing.



Irish Regimental Kilt








Irish Regimental kilt

NYC Police Emerald Society Pipe Band





NYPD REGIMENTAL PIPE BAND

A few years ago, I was in NYC for St. Patrick’s Day and was doing some “research” in a pub. In walked 20 young men from Ireland in rugby jerseys and a kilt in the Irish national tartan. They assured me they dressed this way for the fun of it and were no less Irish for doing so. It was the first time I was not in my own kilt on St. Patrick’s Day and was sad that I had not been.



Irish National Tartan

Irish National Tartan





Last year, I went to an Irish function with some lads in kilts. I met a retired USMC colonel dressed in a kilt in the official USMC “Leatherneck” tartan. He said he liked the look and felt no less Irish for wearing one.





USMC “Leatherneck” Tartan



“Leatherneck” Pipe Band



Although no one will arrest you for wearing a tartan of your choosing, there may be social consequences for doing so. I would recommend selecting one based on some family, clan, national or military association you have. You can buy a kilt, a tie, a scarf, or a sash for your lady in the tartan of your choice. There are hundreds of none clothing items that tartan has been applied to as well.



In summary, the kilt is a modern garment with an ancient pedigree. There is no litmus test of nationality or affiliation that one must pass to wear it. A well made kilt will last generations, so choose your tartan(s) wisely. Refer to Thompson’s book (bibliography) for how to wear it properly.



Modern Kilt Daywear

Bibliography:





Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish Saved Civilization. New York: Doubleday, 1995.



McClintock, H.F. Old Irish and Highland Dress. Original publication, 1943. Edinburgh: Scotdisc CD-ROM #609, 2003.



McGann, Kass. Reconstructing History. http://www. reconstructinghistory.com/.

July, 1995.



McGann, Kass. Personal email. 7/08/2005.



Newsome, Matthew A. C. The Early History of the Kilt. http://albanach.org/kilt.html. July, 2005.



Thompson, J. Charles. So You’re Going to Wear the Kilt. 3rd ed. Arlington, VA: Heraldic Art, 1989.



Web page. History of the Kilt in Scotland. http://www.majestictech . com/the-celtic-net/kilthistory.html. July, 2005.

http://www.largicus.com/History-of-the-Kilt.html

[Bill77]

Here is something interesting i just found out.

The Romans called Scotland "Caledonia"

Now what i find interesting and uncertain about, is this word "CALEDONIA".
Its close sounding to "MACEDONIA"
Its probably nothing more than a coincidence, or did "EDONIA" or "DONIA" mean something?

What is also fascinating, the first syllable of the name "CALEdonia (Cale) or "KALE".

Doesn't "KALE" mean Castle or Fortress or Wall in Macedonian?

This is what iv'e just read regarding the word "CALED"
According to Moffat (2005) Allegedly, the name derives from "caled", the P-Celtic word for "hard". This suggests the original meaning may have been "the hard (or rocky) land"

But according to Keay and Keay (1994) state that the word is "apparently pre-Celtic"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonia#cite_note-K-3

Regarding the Macedonia word "KALE" if its true that its meaning is "Wall", or "Fortress", i read this, which is acording to WIKI,

Location
The exact location of what the Romans called Caledonia in the early stages of Britannia is uncertain, and the boundaries are unlikely to have been fixed until the building of Hadrian's Wall. From then onwards Caledonia stood to the north of the wall, and to the south was the Roman province of Britannia......

could the Romans have used a Macedonian word "KALE" (Thanks to Alexander the Great) on this occasion.
They borrowed Macedonian symbols, why not words.


I am probably way off, but its Just some food for thought.

[George S.]

Bill you could be onto something there.How about the word Macedonia means mothers domain.
Kaledonia means castle domain or castle land or land of the castle.
How about the word Skotsni means to jump skotsnia.Skotland ???You are right about all the symballs being macedonian lions etc they are all associated with heraldry.I looked at the gaelic language it has got a lot of macedonian words in it.I think there is a link there somewhere of macedonian & scottish people.