Though it may come as a surprise, when you don a kilt, you are actually channeling powerful, masculine warriors of the past. Men used to wear kilts to go to war. Today, the kilt is seen as an item of traditional Scottish Highland dress, though it was still commonly worn up to the 19th century.

The Glenlivet and the kilt share more than just Scottish origins – both were once against the law! Under England’s King George IV, the 1746 Dress Act banned all items of Highland dress. The same monarch imposed excise laws banning all production of whisky in 1781. Despite this, when King George IV visited Scotland in 1822, he himself insisted he would drink no other whisky than the “illegal” The Glenlivet. On this same trip, the king and his retinue also donned tartan outfits, reinstating both Scotch whisky and the tartan in the same visit.

Kilt is a Scottish word that means “to tuck up the clothes around the body.” The word derives from the Old Norse kjilt, which means “pleated.” A 1746 description of the versatile garment states: “The garb is certainly very loose, and fits men inured to it to go through great fatigues, to make very quick marches, to bear out against the inclemency of the weather, to wade through rivers and shelter in huts, woods and rocks upon occasion; which men dressed in the low country garb could not possibly endure.” Today, the kilt is generally regarded as formal dress and can be seen at wedding and black tie occasions.


President Woodrow Wilson, the son of a Scottish Presbyterian minister, once said, “Every line in America’s history is a line colored by Scottish blood.” Indeed, there are over 20 million people who claim Scottish descent in the United States who take pride in their transatlantic connection. These are the people and the accomplishments that are honored on America’s National Tartan Day, April 6th.

Tartan Day was officially recognized by the US Senate in 1998 to celebrate the contributions made by generations of Scot-Americans to the character and prosperity of the United States. In addition to golf and Scotch, America’s own constitution was helped shaped by ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment of 1320, such as common sense philosophy, the belief that any man is as good as his master, and the notion that the people must reign supreme. The anniversary of the signing of the Abroath Declaration is the date on which Tartan Day is observed.