Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1700-1795, 1875-1884
[1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
†KELT, n.2 Also kealt, kilt. A kind of homespun cloth, gen. of black wool, or black and white wool mixed, used for making outer garments; fig. the fleece of a sheep. Also attrib.Sc. 1700 Edb. Gazette (29 March — 1 April):
He wears a Blew-Bonnet, a Kelk [sic] -Coat, plaiding Hose and laigh Shoes.Sc. 1707 Chrons. Atholl & Tullibardine Families II. 85:
I am to send to our trew Friend E[arl of] Selkirk next week a Kelt goun.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 4:
Ye [a sheep]'ve a very raggit kelt on.Sc. 1746 Lyon in Mourning (S.H.S.) I. 97:
He was then bare-footed, had an old black kilt coat on, a plaid, philabeg and waistcoat.Rs. 1757 W. MacGill Old Ross-shire (1909) 141:
Kelt large coat . . . short coat of kelt.Kcb. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 IX. 325:
The men wore kelt coats, made of a mixture of black and white wool, as it came off the sheep, in its natural state.Sc. 1875 W. A. Smith Lewsiana 51:
"Waulking" a new-made strip of blanketing, or so-called "kilt," as they name the home-made cloth of any or no colour.Rs. 1884 Crofters' Comm. Evid. I. 843, II. 1002:
A good many of the women in this island get employment in knitting and in spinning cloth? — Yes, kelt making. . . . What sort of material do you weave? — Blankets, and kealt, and coverlets.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Kelt n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/kelt_n2>
