Quakers in History
"Many a Scotsman thinks his forebears in the Middle Ages strode around in tartan philibeg (kilt)
just as so many do today. In fact, the kilt did not appear until some time between 1726 and 1746.
It was invented by an English Quaker, Thomas Rawlinson, who believed that the belted plaid
-- a sort of cloak, usually russet or brown -- worn by most Highlanders was unsuitable for
his workmen" (The Economist, December 21, 1996).
"Their traditional clothes, fine for skipping through the heather, got in the way when the
men were cutting trees and tending the iron furnace he had built at Invergarry, near Loch
Ness. So he designed a shortened version of the plaid -- and incidentally became the first
man to wear it" (The Economist, December 21, 1996).
Interests 