The Welsh hat worn by women as part of Welsh national costume is a tall stovepipe-style hat. It is still worn by women, and particularly schoolgirls, in Wales on St David's Day, but rarely on other occasions. It is a legacy of 18th century dress. The hat is normally worn with a lace cap underneath, showing under the brim, or may have lace attached to the brim. The covering is usually of black felt.

Legend has it that the women's hats were a deciding factor in terminating the attempted invasion of Britain by Napoleonic forces in 1797. The French soldiers are said to have mistaken the women, seen at a distance in their red shawls and Welsh hats, for a detatchment of British "redcoats", whose uniform included tall black hats.

There is an "alternative" women's hat for those who consider the traditional Welsh hat unflattering, in the form of a "cocklewoman's hat", a flat straw hat tied with ribbons.

A derived meaning of Welsh hat is an ancillary stack, usually black in colour and slightly conical, attached to the funnel of a ship to ensure cleaner disposal of exhaust from the engines. This arrangement was used in several passenger liners by the Orient Line in the 1950s.

 

The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_hat     6/4/05