Sir Billy Connolly lends kilt to Tartan exhibition in Dundee

The kilt, worn by Sir Billy in 2019 when he led a procession of 3000 people through New York for the annual Tartan Day parade will go on display from today (Friday 13 October) until 14 January as part of V&A Dundee’s blockbuster Tartan exhibition.

Labelled in the exhibition as, “The Big Yin’s Grand Marshal kilt”, it’s the latest object to be added to thePeople’s Tartan, a collection of objects displayed throughout the Tartan exhibition following a public appeal asking people to donate their tartan treasures to represent the personal stories of people from Scotland and beyond.

The kilt designed and made for Sir Billy by Edinburgh-based kilt-maker, Howie Nicolsby is made with the McLean of Duart tartan - which was Sir Billy’s mother’s tartan – with a contrasting Smoking Skulls lining.

Sir Billy Connolly said, “I like to wear my mother’s tartan. It is McLean of Duart and I love this pinky, weathered one.

“For the occasion when I led the Tartan Parade in New York, a Scottish kilt-maker called Howie Nicolsby made me a fantastic kilt. He’s at the head of the movement to make the kilt a Windswept and Interesting alternative to trousers all over the world. I love that!

“When I was a boy in Glasgow, people who wore kilts were thought of as weird. When we saw someone in a kilt we used to follow them, singing: “Kilty, kilty cold bum!” But when the Boy Scouts started to wear kilts the idea of kilt wearing took a leap forward as far as we were concerned.

“Over the years it has become very popular, so now it’s the done thing to wear a kilt at your wedding. On the other hand, when I got married to Pamela it was in Fiji and I had a Fijian sarong painted like a tartan kilt…well, in that heat a woollen one would have been nightmarish!

“There’s more nonsense talked about the kilt than anything else in Scotland. People say, you can’t wear your mother’s tartan, and you can’t do this or wear that tartan. They’re just speaking out of a hole in their head. I love the way the kilt is going. I love the new styles of the jackets and the plaids and so on. Leather kilts and all sorts of fabrics.”

James Wylie, curator at V&A Dundee (pictured) said, “Billy is arguably the most famous Scot around today, so to include his kilt in the exhibition along with his thoughts on tartan is a rare chance. His identity starts as a Scot but it really doesn’t end there, and I think that parallels where we find tartan today - now it really is a global textile.”

Here’s a look inside the Tartan exhibition.