may have their origins in inventive attempts to "establish or legiti- mize .. .status or relations of authority."

Hugh Trevor-Roper
Today, whenever Scotsmen gather together to celebrate their national identity, they wear the kilt, woven in a tartan whose colors and pattern indicate their clan. This apparel, to which they ascribe great antiquity, is, in fact, of fairly recent ori- gin. Indeed, the whole concept of a distinct Highland culture and tradition is a retrospective invention.
Before th...