Skip to content

Site Navigation

  • The Atlantic
  • PopularLatestNewsletters

    Sections

    • Politics
    • Ideas
    • Fiction
    • Technology
    • Science
    • Photo
    • Business
    • Culture
    • Planet
    • Global
    • Books
    • Podcasts
    • Health
    • Education
    • Projects
    • Features
    • Family
    • Events
    • Shadowland
    • Progress
    • Newsletters
    • Explore The Atlantic Archive
    • Play The Atlantic crossword

    The Print Edition

    Latest IssuePast Issues
    Give a Gift
  • Quick Links
    • Dear Therapist
      Dear Therapist
    • Crossword Puzzle
      Crossword Puzzle
    • Magazine Archive
      Magazine Archive
    • Your Subscription
      Your Subscription
  • Popular
  • Latest
  • Newsletters
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
January 1985 Issue
January 1985 Cover
This magazine has been fully digitized as a part of The Atlantic's archive. Each article originally printed in this magazine is available here, complete and unedited from the historical print. Read more from this magazine, or explore the full archive.
  • Destiny
    Louise Erdrich
  • Postscript to the Name of the Rose
    Phoebe-Lou Adams
  • George Segal
    Phoebe-Lou Adams
  • Murder at the Big Store
    Phoebe-Lou Adams
  • The Conquest of the Sahara
    Phoebe-Lou Adams
  • Ivy
    Phoebe-Lou Adams

Scotland: The Origin of the Kilt

It is not a vestige of the ancient clans but an invention of enterprising merchants

By Alexander Cockburn
January 1985 Issue
Saved Stories