The Great Kilt Conspiracy Debunked

Lord Dacre, esteemed authenticator of the Hitler Diaries, debunks Scottish Myths in his book The Invention of Scotland: Myth and History to be published five years after his death. Sounds like a policy paper for an English Nationalist party.

“In Scotland, it seems to me, myth has played a far more important part in history than it has in England.

“Indeed, I believe the whole history of Scotland has been coloured by myth; and that myth, in Scotland, is never driven out by reality, or by reason, but lingers on until another myth has been discovered to replace it.”

He claims that the “myth” of the ancient Highland dress was perpetuated by historians to provide a symbol by which Scots could be universally identified, as well as to support the country’s textile industry.

The traditional dress of the Highlanders was in fact a long Irish shirt and a cloak or plaid, he states, and only the higher classes had woven in stripes and colours creating tartan.

How will Alex and the boys be able to perpetuate the myth of the Scottish Nation after this mean spirited nibbling stinging indictment of Scottish Kitsch Origins. Will all the tourist ask for their money back? Is this another nasty trick by the English Establishment to undermine Scottish claims to independence, neuter Scottish nationalism, silence the Tartan Army and the like.

In reality most of the myths in Scotland are conjured in the pub after about 10 beers.