Sc. and north. dial. [Of obscure origin. Ir. and Gael. cealt cloth, clothing, may be from Eng. or Sc. Cf. KELTER1.] A kind of homespun cloth or frieze, usually of black and white wool mixed, formerly used for outer garments by country people in Scotland and N. England. Also attrib.
1583. Leg. Bp. St. Androis, 573, in Satir. Poems Reform., xlv. Ane hamelie hat; a cott of kelt Weill beltit in ane lethrone belt.
1611. Rates (Jam. s.v. Kendilling), Kelt or kendall freese.
1791. Statist. Acc. Scotl., I. 356. They [farmers c. 1750] were clothed in a homespun suit of freezed cloth, called Kelt.
a. 1833. Anderson, Cumbld. Ball. (1840), 123, note. An oaken staff, a pair of clogs, and a kelt surtout.
b. fig. Applied to a sheep’s fleece.
1722–8. Ramsay, Ram & Buck, 38. Ye’ve a very ragged kelt on.
