European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 14, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 18 the stars and stripes saturday september 14, 1985 the kill a Symbol of scoff he Pride evoked the Romance of the Highlands comeback of the Kilt by Marcus Eliason associated press t he Kilt having All but died out As a everyday garment is making a quiet comeback As a Symbol of scottish s not the sort of attire an average Scot would Wear to the office or the Friday night poker game. But it is popping up with increasing frequency at ceremonial occasions. Its resurrection is being helped by a wave of roots mania in the scottish Diaspora and even the fashion world is toying with tartan. The number o scottish men who still Wear the Kilt As an everyday garment Are believed to number Only a Tew Hundred. It s not Good for sitting behind a desk or driving a car says Bernard Lawson who manages his family Kilt making business in Edinburgh the scottish capital. But it s Fine for walking and dancing he said in an interview. Men often tet me they prefer the Kut to a Tuxedo. They say tuxedos make them look like it s a Way of saying i know who i am and i know where i came from says Jamas Adam vice chairman of the scottish International gathering Trust which organizes mass reunions of scottish people scattered around the world. To Many foreigner the Kilt evokes either Highland Romance or tired old jokes about what scotsmen Wear underneath. In its original form the Kilt swaddled the Highlander s entire body until 1746 and Bonnie Prince Charlie s ill fated rebellion the English decided that the Best Way to keep the troublesome scots in their place was to put them in breeches but in 1782 the ban on Kilts was lifted and highlanders were encouraged to join the British army and Wear their tartan with Pride. A whole system developed of clan identification through tartan pattern and color. Even today when the clan system survives in Little More than name the average Scot Only has to consult one of the numerous reference books on tartan to know which Kilt to buy. The trouble with the Kilt is that you can t just slip it on and blend into the flow. Worn a couple of inches too High or Low at the knee it May. As Adams politely puts it cause John Stephen Orr a scottish islander and Well known portrait photographer says he has t worn trousers Lor 50 years. The kill is colourful warm in Winter and Cool in summer he said in my business i m my own Boss so i can Wear what i like though i Don t know whether an office manager would look too favourably on his employees dashing about in a Orr carries a Skea Dhu a tiny Dagger in his sock explaining with a wintry smile that if any Sass Enach englishman gives me trouble i can Cut his Lawson says he produces 2,500 wits a year. He Sells about 5 percent of them to women whose use them for everyday Wear rather than for formal occasions. Until a decade ago 85 percent went to american and Canadian buyers he says but now the Trade splits 5o-50 Between a sign and local customers. Some scots say they Wear the Kilt when abroad to distance themselves from the English especially this summer when anti English resentment in Europe has been stoked by the behaviour of English soccer hooligans. Adam says the revival is because of the Boom in scots descended american tourism to Scotland. People Here Are meeting More and More overseas scots who Are bringing Back into their consciousness an awareness of tradition As for that irksome question the answer according to Kilt maker Lawson is Ordinary underpants. But until this Century it was considered unmanly to Wear anything beneath the Kilt. Adam 77, regards the Kilt pin supposedly introduced by Queen Victoria to preserve decorum among her scottish guards As superfluous. It spoils the hang of the he says. It s a Pansy effeminate approach to the wearing of a masculine garment and i say away with ill today s crossword by Eugene Sheffer across 1 Spanish Silver 6 Singer Vaughan 1 1 Sty Boatman 12 Martin garnishes 14 Kn-pink15 Eskimo ixint16 numerical prefix talk1 9 actress Macgraw to chatter Box of Yore 22 actress Cit a 23 hung24 Coupon fabric26 the merry men e.g.28 teaching org.30 Paulo 31 random bits 35 Chal Lenges 39 emanation 40 Crane ami42 Jacob s son43 Sis s Sib 44 sea Birds 46 corral47 Scad 49 Tea typos tie 52 poets53 feeds Hie kitty54 chess finales down1 of sound 2 less diligent 3"exodus" hero 4 great Weril Tel 5 fishbowl a Homans 7 sleep like 8 Bonier 9 Hoar avg. Solution time 27 rain 10 doctor 11 Brilliant strokes 13 misses 18 actress Gardner 21 ringworm 23 Sandbank 28 chess pieces 27 boor 29 resets31 verboten 32 Dawn goddess 33 actor charles34 fart of a sep 36 rent37 important happen Ings 38 warbles 41 Flower 44 heredity it 45 scotch Miner 48 Tennis call50 drunk Colloq. V Taw. To yesterday s Piulle 9-14 Hubert of Pef Cre Coupe Lim step to four coaapiaikit9 a Oak a
