Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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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
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†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.
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"Kelt n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 3 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/kelt_n2>
