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Sir Billy Connolly’s Tartan Day kilt on display at V&A Dundee

Sir Billy wore the kilt when he led the procession at 2019's Tartan Day Parade in New York

Sir Billy Connolly has loaned a kilt he wore to the Tartan Day parade in New York to an exhibition in Dundee.

V&A Dundee is displaying the kilt as part of its People's Tartan collection.

It was worn by the much-loved Scottish comedian when he led the annual Tartan Day parade through Manhattan, accompanied by his family, in 2019.

The kilt is described as The Big Yin's Grand Marshal kilt and it will be displayed at the museum until 14 January.

It is the largest object to be added to the exhibition, which has been running since April.

Jane Barlow/PA Billy Connolly kiltJane Barlow/PA
The kilt will be displayed at V&A Dundee until January

Sir Billy said: "I like to wear my mother's tartan. It is MacLean 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 Nicholsby 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."

The 80-year-old, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's 10 years ago, said that when he was a boy, people who wore kilts were thought of as "weird".

He said: "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."

PA Media Kilt in museumPA Media

Sir Billy said there was "more nonsense talked about the kilt than anything else in Scotland."

He said: "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."

Sir Billy's kilt will be displayed in an exhibition which also includes a tartan suit designed by Vivienne Westwood, and a portrait of the late Doddie Weir..

National Galleries of Scotland Doddie WeirNational Galleries of Scotland
Gerard M. Burns' portrait of the late Doddie Weir, which was loaned to National Galleries of Scotland by the Weir family in 2019, is also on display at the show

James Wylie, curator at V&A Dundee 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."