Spot o' Plumbin'

The British War Office last week grimly waited for the arrival of a delegation of determined Scots. The Highland Association was rallying Scottish members of Parliament to protest a recent War Office order: "No more kilts will be issued until the war is over." For almost two centuries Scotsmen have struggled against what they regard as repeated efforts by the War Office to abolish their national dress, worn by the Argyll and Sutherland, Gordon, Cameron and Sea forth Highlanders and the redoubtable Black Watch.* Scots now have to admit the War Office's contention that the kilt is poor protection against poison gas; that its pleats harbor cooties; that when wet it galls the knees, when icy cuts them, making the "Ladies from Hell" roll their stockings high, like U. S. college girls. But they deny the War Office contention that kilts take too much wool, and they insist that the kilt is more healthful for Scots than trousers because they are accustomed to a warm wrapping for the abdomen.

A compromise suggested last week by James Henderson Stewart, M. P.: let the Scots wear their kilts until actual fighting begins, then change to the battle dress (like ski suits) which all other British troops wear. Said Scot Stewart: "If a mon does a spot o' plumbin' he p'ts on a plumber's garb, but when it's over, he disnae hae to keep on bein' a plumber."

* After the Scottish uprising of 1745, wearing of the Highland dress was prohibited by Royal Decree; this ban was, however, lifted in 1782.

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