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By M. E. Riley |
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It is hard to emphasize enough the lack of information about clothing in the Scottish Highlands until the middle of the 1600s, but around the late 1500s to early 1600s, Scottish Highland clothing became more distinct from Irish clothing of the same period. Whereas the Irish began to wear clothing that more closely resembles that of the common English peasantry, the Scottish Highlanders adopted and kept several forms of clothing such as the bonnet and plaid, both of which were originally worn in the Lowlands and then migrated into the Highlands, where they developed their own distinct forms. Moreover, checkered cloth, which was worn to some extent in Celtic cultures throughout history (usually as simple checks and two-color patterns), becomes highly developed, and a multitude of patterns can be found in the portraits of Highland chiefs and their followers dating from the middle of the 1600s onward. These highly-developed tartans may have existed well before this period, but it's hard to know, as no remains have been found. (The mummies of Urumchi were not Celts! They were Tocharians, another branch of Indo-Europeans, so they don't count here. See my discussion of this subject on the 'Myths and Tips' page.) This is not to say that clothing in the Scottish Highlands was completely unique and separate from that worn in the Lowlands or in England -- you can certainly see that elements of clothing common throughout Europe made their way into the Highlands too, particularly in the styles of men's jackets. However, some items that were used throughout Europe (for instance, the ballock knife and the sporran, which is basically a medieval belt-pouch like that found in 16th century paintings by Breughel and others) had a much longer lifespan in this remote area of the British Isles. Basic elements of men's Scottish costume still include the Leine (a shirt like that worn in the rest of Europe at this time, which did NOT lace up the front in fantasy pirate shirt fashion), the Plaid (previously might have been called a 'brat', or cloak; this word has changed in modern Gaelic to mean a rug or carpet), Trews, a jacket, and shoes. They also wore knee-breeches like the ones worn in the Lowlands or in England. Women are not well-portrayed in Scottish art until the end of the 1700s, but it should be assumed based on what little evidence there is that they were wearing what most country women were wearing in the British Isles: a shift (also called a 'sark' -- the term 'chemise' isn't used for this basic undergarment until the 1800s) similar in cut and construction to those worn in the rest of the British Isles, several petticoats (skirts), the arisaid (woman's form of the plaid), stays, and a jacket or bedgown, as well as a head-covering known as a kertch if she were married. The Plaid:Note: the term plaid (pronounced 'playd') here means a blanket or cloak, not the pattern of the material; it can refer to cloth that is white or striped as well as the usual checked cloth. Tartan is the term used for the checked pattern itself. The plaid is described as being 12 to 18 feet long by about 5 feet wide, being made of two strips of cloth about 30" wide sewn together lengthwise. (McClintock, Old Highland Dress, p. 19) For modern purposes, this means that you only need to get 4 to 6 yards of 60" wide material -- I recommend not more than 4 yards unless you are very tall, as more than that tends to be too bulky/weighty to conveniently carry around at events. Those who could afford to do so wore colorful tartans, whereas the poorer folk wore browns and so on, the better to blend with the vegetation. (This is not, however, due to a lack of access to colorful dyes, which were, and are, quite plentiful and readily available throughout Scotland.) White, striped and single-color plaids were also common. In earlier periods, sheep and goat skins seem also to have been worn as mantles, both with and without the hair still attached. Clan tartans are a relatively recent innovation, due to renewed interest in Scottish heritage in the early 1800s, when the laws against the wearing of kilts and tartans were lifted. People most likely wore a pattern of tartan common to the district they lived in (weavers had their favorite patterns in different areas), and could therefore be identified as being from that area if they travelled outside their district. Some very complex tartans are shown in the portraits of Scottish lords that date from the 1600s. Often the portraits show that the clothing was not all made up of the same tartan -- various pieces of clothing were woven with different 'setts' (tartan patterns), with an effect that looks to the modern eye rather like a bad golfing outfit. There is a description of Scottish soldiers from the Hebrides in Ireland (fighting for Red Hugh O'Donnell in 1594) that makes clear that they had sufficiently different appearance from the Irish soldiers that an observer could tell them apart. They are described as wearing their belts over their mantles, which sounds to me like a description of the belted plaid -- the first kilt:
There isn't any credible documentation of a kilt any earlier than this, however. The belted plaid may have been in use for some time in the Highlands before this mention, but it is a rather unique garment and certainly would have been remarked on by outside observers if it were common and widespread. The plaid (usually unbelted) was also worn with trews, and can be seen in portraits worn wrapped over one shoulder and under the opposite arm. Note: The bottom part of the belted plaid should NOT cover the knees; when properly worn, it should hang just long enough to graze the back of the calf when the wearer is kneeling. Plaids are generally pinned at the shoulder with an iron pin or bodkin, not a penannular brooch, which fell out of use about 600 years prior to this period. Also see: Wearing the Great Kilt Women's Plaids or Arisaids deserve special mention, since they could be a little different from men's plaids. They were about the same size, but sometimes were plain white or striped rather than tartan. (To get the striped fabric, they most likely used the same warp as was used to make the tartans, but used one color for the weft.) Women wore the plaid like a shawl, with large silver brooches fastening them at the breast. At some point, women also started belting their plaids around themselves, very much as men did, pinning both upper ends of the plaid on their breast. Women's plaids, whether belted or unbelted, however, were called arisaids, as distinct from the breacan feile (the Gaelic name for the kilt). Women's plaids are described as "much finer, the colours more
lively, and the squares larger than the men's" (Governer
Sacheverell, in McClintock's Old Highland Dress, p. 25) They were generally fastened at the breast with a ring brooch, which
is a brass or silver round ring, decorated with engraving or other
ornamentation, Martin Martin remarked on Highland womens' ring brooches.
The penannular brooch is NOT worn in this period -- none have been
found that date later than
(I have discovered that the belted plaid arrangement, when both ends are pinned on the breast, makes a rather large pouch/pocket around the waist, which is rather handy for carrying one's lunch, extra wool, a drop spindle, etc... but if you stick too much stuff in there, it does look funny.) Two Victorian-era illustrations of women wearing arisaids (from McIan, 19th c.), which are probably fairly accurate (excepting the small boy in the second illustration.
Trews and Breeches: Jackets/Coats: Women in Scotland, as in England, seem to be wearing either a jacket like a feminized version of the man's jacket, or (by the mid-1700s) what is called a 'bedgown' -- a more shapeless, mid-hip to knee-length gown. It's possible that women also sometimes wore a sort of waistcoat (over their stays), with sleeves that tied on, like men's waistcoats. However, they did NOT wear these waistcoats as outer garments. Currently circulating in the 18th century reenactment community are two bodices called the 'French Bodice' and the 'English Bodice', which women sometimes wear alone without stays or a coat as their sole upper garment apart from the chemise. The cut of these bodices is loosely based on 18th century jumps and waistcoats, but is generally not accurate, and they certainly should not be worn alone, without stays. You'll never see anything like either of them in period illustrations. Stays: Country women did not consider their stays to be intimate garments -- in other words, they were not embarassed to be seen working in their stays. It's unlikely that they would have gone to church, or to the town fair, in their stays, any more than a man of the period would have been seen in only his waistcoat, but there are depictions of peasant women working in their stays and shift-sleeves. (See article on stays cited in bibliography) Links: Bonnets: Links: Directions for Knitting a Scots Bonnet Shoes: It's hard to know exactly what they were wearing, apart from a few references. Here are a few possibilites, from Marc Carlson's Historic Footwear web site: Ballyhagan
shoe (the 'gathered' type of pampootie) General Costuming Links:\ Timeline of Celtic Clothing 10) Gordon of Straloch. 1594 (Date of period described).
11) Lughaid O'Cleirigh. 1594.
12) John Taylor. 1618.
13) Daniel Defoe. Writing in 1720, but (according to McClintock) working from authentic materials, describing the Highland part of the Scottish Army which invaded England in 1639.
14) German Woodcut of Four Scottish Soldiers. 1641.
15) Heading in Blaeu's Map. 1643.
16) William Cleland. 1678.
17) Governer Sacheverel. 1688.
18) Rev. James Brome. 1700. (McClintock, Old Highland Dress, p. 25)
19) Martin Martin. 1703.
20) London Observator, 1708.
21) Mareshal Keith. 1715.
Below: 18th c. French engraving showing the belted plaid:
22) John Macky. 1723.
And now for the famous Flora Macdonald...
Most of the pictures showing Scottish costume in the 18th century date from the 1770s onward:
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Some Lowlanders at the end of the 18th century:
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Other links on Scottish costume: Clothing of the Ancient
Celts, now at Reconstructinghistory.com
Copyright Notice: The Author of this work retains full copyright for the written material on this page. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Copyright 2003, M. E. Riley The Evolution of the Kilt -- From Ancient Times to 1600Léine and Brat
The Highland Scots emigrated from Ireland around 375 ce. They displaced the native Picts and made the Highlands their own. From their native land, they brought Irish dress. This consisted of a léine [LAY-na] and a brat. Léine is the modern Irish word for shirt. In antiquity, the léine was similar to a linen undertunic, although silk is occasionally mentioned. It was usually white or unbleached, often decorated with red or gold embroidery at the neck and cuffs, and sometimes hooded as well. A woman wore it long; a man's léine ended at his knees. In the earliest times, the léine probably had no shape at all. However, in the Norman era, it gained definition in the waist and by the Elizabethan age, it had become a full pleated smock made from at least 7 yards of fabric. It was always made of linen and its colour was invariably yellow. The English referred to it as the "saffron shirt" and in 1537 Henry VIII banned its use in Ireland (saffron was, and still is, a very expensive spice; its use as a dye was a luxury reserved for nobility, not the common Irish). By this time, the léine had also developed long, training sleeves. It has been pictured as long and flowing, the length hitched up over a belt. Other depictions, particularly in Ulster and the islands nearest Scotland, portray it to reach only to mid-thigh, with wide sleeves and an elaborately pleated skirt like a short kilt. However, it was never made of wool or plaid material. Sometimes trews were worn underneath and a short jacket on top.
At this point, it would help to define a few terms in their original usage. The word plaid does not mean in Gaelic what it does is English. Plaide in Gaelic means a blanket. In some Middle English quotations, plaid is used as a verb, meaning "to pleat". Therefore, a plaid refers to a blanket or something that is pleated, not the striped material associated with the Highland Scots. The Gaelic word for plaid as we know it is breacán. This can mean speckled, dappled, striped and spotted as well as plaid. The second word we must define is tartan. This also does not refer in any way to a colour or pattern. Tartan, from the French tiretaine, indicates a kind of cloth irrespective of its colour and it is taken to mean a type of light wool. Tartan also referred to a silk/wool blend. To distinguish between the old uses of these words and the modern uses, these words will appear in italics when the old use is intended. The Léine ChangesScottish literature does not make much mention of Scottish Highland dress before 1600. The most common statement is that they were "dressed in the Irish style": probably in a léine and brat. The lack of any reference to differences between Scottish and Irish dress implies that there were none. H. F. McClintock, in his great source work Old Irish and Highland Dress, lists a number of quotes in which Highland clothes are mentioned. The earliest reference is from Magnus Berfaet's Saga in 1093. This quote mentions that men wore short tunics with an upper garment and went barelegged. This can be taken to be the same shirt and mantle (léine and brat) combination mentioned above. Later quotes further elucidate this. However, the léine seems to be quite different from the contourless tunic we saw earlier. In the sixteenth century, the léine is in variably dyed with saffron and made from no less than 7 yards of linen. For further information, see "Man's Léine". John Major's History of Greater Scotland (1521) describes the "Wild Scots" (Highland Scots) as "from the middle of the thigh to the foot they have no covering for the leg, clothing themselves with a mantle instead of an upper garment and a shirt dyed with saffron." Sound familiar? The Lord High Treasurer's account of materials for a Highland dress made for King James V in 1538 lists a vari-coloured velvet short jacket with green lining, a pair of tartan trews, two or more long shirts sewn with silk and ornamented with ribbons to the wrists. There is no mention made of any kind of plaid as we know it. Jean de Beagué (1556) in L'histoire de la Guerre d'Écosse (The History of the Scottish War) says of certain Highlanders present at the French siege of Haddington in 1549: "They wear no clothes except their dyed shirts and a sort of light woolen rug of several colours." Lindsay of Pitscottie in 1573 wrote: "They be clothed with ane mantle, with ane schirt saffroned after the Irish manner, going barelegged to the knee." An illustration by Lucas de Heere, circa 1577, raises some curious questions about pre-17th century Highland Dress. The original watercolour print has been lost, but a reprint of it resides in the Library of Ghent University and in the British Museum. Unfortunately, the reprint is in black and white and the original colour information is not know.
I contend that this horizontal line is exactly that, and nothing more. From the black and white photo we can discern the texture of the back of the legs. That above the "line" greatly resembles that below. Therefore, the line was drawn in later. The shading on the back of the thighs more closely resembles the back of bare thighs than the back of woolen shorts. Shorts would have been baggy, not skin-tight. De Heere, with his attention to detail, would have certainly included wrinkles had the figure been wearing "short trews." Why would someone tamper with a historical drawing? The Victorians, in particular, had no porblem with amending archeological evidence to suit their purposes. In many cases, "shirts" have been drawn on pictures of topless aboriginal women and "skirts" have been placed over the loins of naked men. In this case, it is the latter. In Rome, Bishop Lesley published a treatise on things Scottish in 1578. He says: "All, both nobles and common people, wore mantles of one sort (except that the nobles preferred those of several colours). These were long and flowing, but capable of being neatly gathered up at pleasure into folds. I am inclined to believe that they were the same as those to which the ancients gave the name of bracchæ. Wrapped up in these for their only covering, they would sleep comfortably. They had also shaggy rugs, such as the Irish use at the present day, some fitted for a journey, others to be placed on a bed. The rest of their garments consisted of a short woollen jacket, with the sleeves open below for the convenience of throwing their darts, and a covering for the thighs of the simplest kind, more for decency that for show or defence against cold. They made also of linen very large shirts, with numerous folds and wide sleeves, which flowed abroad loosely to their knees. These the rich coloured with saffron and others smeared with some grease to preserve them longer clean among the toils and exercises of a camp, which they held it of the highest consequence to practice continually. In the manufacture of these, ornament and a certain attention to taste were not altogether neglected, and they joined the different parts of their shirts very neatly with silk thread, chiefly or a red or green colour." 
Early Scots hunting in the Mountains of Scotland. From Holinshed's Chronicle, 1577.In James Aikman's 1827 translation of George Buchanan's 1581 History of Scotland: "They delight in variegated garments, especially stripes, and their favourite colours are purple and blue. Their ancestors wore plaids of many colours, and numbers still retain this custom but the majority now in their dress prefer a dark brown, imitating nearly the leaves of the heather, that when lying upon the heath in the day, they may not be discovered by the appearance of their clothes; in these wrapped rather than covered, they brave the severest storms in the open air, and sometimes lay themselves down to sleep even in the midst of snow." Nicolay D'Arfeville, the cosmographer to the King of France, published a volume in 1583 called The Islands and Kingdom of Scotland. "[The "wild" (Scots)] wear like the Irish a large and full shirt, coloured with saffron, and over this a garment hanging to the knee, of coarse wool, after the fashion of a cassock, they go bareheaded, and let their hair grow very long, and wear neither hose nor shoes, except some who have boots made in an old-fashioned way, which come as high as their knees." Therefore, Irish and Scottish dress would be nearly indistinguishable before 1600. Regional differences may have existed, but no documentation attests to what they were. In fact, many writers and painters mistakenly labeled their subjects "Irish" when they were really Highland Scots, and vice versa. Buy authentic patterns for léinte, ionar, brat and trews here.ReferencesDunbar, J. Telfer. History of Highland Dress. Philadelphia: Dufour Editions, 1964. © 1997, 2002, 2003 Kass McGann. All Rights Reserved. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. The Evolution of the Kilt -- 1600 to 1725 - The Belted PlaidDocumented from the 15th century, and probably appearing much earlier, the saffron shirt was the signature garment of the Highland Scots, not the kilt or any of its precursors. In other words, Rob Roy got it right; Braveheart missed the mark. Around 1600, the saffron shirt went out of use and never returned. This was probably due to the Elizabethan conquest of Ireland, the birthplace of the saffron shirt. The plaid became the universal dress of the Highland Scots. The belted plaid (breacán filleadh), the progenitor of the kilt, came into being around this time. The belted plaid's earliest documented appearance is in Irish Gaelic in The Life of Red Hugh O'Donnell in a description of a corps of Hebrideans who had come to The O?Donnell's assistance in 1594: "They were recognised among the Irish soldiers by the distinction of their arms and clothing, their habits and language, for their exterior dress was mottled cloaks of many colours with a fringe to their shins and calves, their belts were over their loins outside their cloaks." This is an important distinction. Up to this time, the plaid or cloak was pinned or wrapped or folded. Although belts are mentioned as girdles for both Scots and Irish dress earlier, this is the first instance in which the outer garment, and not just the shirt, is belted. It was apparently so important a difference that the Irish saw fit to mention that "their belts were over their loins outside their cloaks." 
German Woodcut from 1631 (probably MacKay's Regiment serving under Gustavus Adolphus)Like twins separated at birth, the brat "grew up" differently in Ireland and Scotland. By the 17th century, the Irish brat had become shaped in the shoulders for easier wear. The long "hair" of the frieze wool was pulled and curled to make a warm interior. The Scottish version was still made out of tartan (light wool) and therefore continued to be wrapped as the thickened Irish version could not. In the early 17th century, the belted plaid began to be worn with fabric stockings, shoes, and blue bonnets similar to tam o'shanters. From John Taylor?s account of a visit to Braemar in 1618: "Their habit is shoes with but one sole apiece; stockings (which they call short hose) made of a warm stuff of divers colours which they call tartane. As for breeches many of them, nor their forefathers, never wore any, but a jerkin of the same stuff that their hose is of, their garters being bands of wreathes of hay or straw, with a plaid about their shoulders, which is a mantle of divers colours, much finer and lighter stuffe than their hose, with blue caps on their heads, a handkerchief knit with two knots about their neck; and thus they are attired." Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, recounts from the Highland part of the Scottish army at the beginning of the Great Civil War in 1639: "Their dress was as antique as the rest; a cap on their heads, called by them a bonnet, long hanging sleeves behind, and their doublet, breeches and stockings, of a stuff they call plaid, striped across red and yellow, with short cloaks of the same." It is obvious that the word "plaid" has begun to take on its modern meaning. William Sacheverell, Governor of the Isle of Man, in 1688 writes: "The usual outward habit of both sexes is the pladd; the women's much finer, the colours more lovely, and the squares larger than the men's and put me in mind of the ancient Picts. This serves them for a veil and covers both head and body. The men wear theirs after another manner, especially when designed for ornament: it is loose and flowing, like the mantles our painters give their heroes. Their thighs are bare, with brawny muscles. Nature has drawn all her stroaks bold and masterly; what is covered is only adapted to necessity -- a thin brogue on the foot, a short buskin of various colours on the legg, tied above the calf with a striped pair of garters. What should be concealed is hid with a large shot-pouch, on each side of which hangs a pistol and a dagger. A round target on their backs, a blew bonnet on their heads, and in one hand a broad sword and a musquet in the other." In Martin Martin's A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland in 1703: "The first Habit wore by Persons of Distinction in the Islands was the leni-croich, from the Irish word leni, which signifies a Shirt, and croch, Saffron because their shirt was dyed with that herb: the ordinary number of Ells [yards] used to make this Robe was twenty-four: it was the upper Garb, reaching below the knees, and was tied with a Belt round the middle; but the Islanders have laid it aside about a hundred years ago. "They now generally use the Coat, Wastcoat, and Breeches, as elsewhere; and on their heads, they wear Bonnets made of thick Cloth, some blew, some black, and some gray. "Many of the People wear Trowis, some of them very fine Woven, like Stockings of those made of Cloath; some are coloured, and others striped; the latter are as well shap'd as the former, lying close to the Body from the middle downwards, and tied round with a Belt above the Haunches. There is a square piece of Cloth which hangs down before. The measure for shaping the trowis is a Stick of Wood, whose length is a cubit, and that divided into the length of a finger, and half a finger, so that it requires more skill to make it, than the ordinary habit. "But Persons of Distinction wear the Garb in fashion in the South of Scotland." Martin's description goes on to describe plaids and how they are made. He states that "every isle differs form each other in their fancy of making plaids, as to the Stripes in Breadth and Colours. This Humour is as different thro' the main Land of the Highlands in so far that they who have seen those Places is able, at the first view of a Man's Plaid, to guess the place of his residence." This may be the precursor to "clan tartans." However, it has been established by many sources that the concept of clan tartans emerged after the Jacobite Rising of 1745 to foster nationalism through establishment of a national costume. It was for this same reason that the Act of 1746 banned all forms of Highland Dress. ReferencesDunbar, J. Telfer. History of Highland Dress. Philadelphia: Dufour Editions, 1964. © 1997, 2002, 2003 Kass McGann. All Rights Reserved. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. The Evolution of the Kilt -- The 18th Century and the Kilt
What we think of as "the kilt" today was purportedly invented in 1725 by an Englishman. Thomas Rawlinson, owner of an iron works in Glengarie and Lochaber. This gentleman had a number of Highlanders in his employ and came to fancy the Highland way of dressing. However, the machinery and fires of the iron works posed a danger because of the Highlanders' voluminous plaids. Rawlinson abbreviated the belted plaid, cutting off all material above the waist and further tailoring that below. What resulted is the skirt-like garment we know as the kilt today. In Gaelic, it is known as the feileadh beag (little wrap) to distinguish it from the feileadh mór (big wrap), the belted plaid. Ivan Baillie of Aberiachan, Esq. attests to this story in a 1768 letter published in Edinburgh Magazine in March 1785: "And I certify from my own knowledge, that till I returned from Edinburgh to reside in this Country in the year 1725, after serving seven or eight years with writers to the signet, I never saw the felie-beg used, nor heard any mention of such a piece of dress, not (even) from my father, who was very intelligent and well-known to Highlanders, and lived to the age of 83 years, and died in the year 1738, born in May, 1655." Sir John Sinclair, renowned Highland Dress researcher, wrote in 1830 "...it is well known that the phillibeg [feileadh beag] was invented by an Englishman in Lochaber about sixty years ago." After the Rising of 1745, both the belted plaid and the kilt were worn by the Highland regiments. Originally, the kilt was worn in undress order only, but soon the belted plaid was deemed too cumbersome for combat and abandoned altogether. Recent scholarship has, to the great delight of Highlanders everywhere, disproven that Rawlinson "invented" the feileadh beag. The Armorial Bearings of the Chief of the Skenes (1692) clearly shows a man wearing a feileadh beag. There are other depictions showing the feileadh beag prior to Rawlinson. Peter MacDonald, textile and costume adviser to United Artists for Rob Roy and advisor to the National Trust for Scotland and the Royal Scottish Museum writes: "To begin with, and this is perhaps the central point which has always been missed, the feileadh mor was formed from two pieces of cloth joined length ways. It is therefore not beyond the wit of man not to join them and this seems to have come into fashion in the latter part of the 17th century as socio-agricultural practices, and perhaps also the nature of warfare, changed." The ProscriptionThe Act of 1746 made the wearing of any form of Highland Dress illegal for all but soldiers in Highland regiments (it was their uniform). There were several reasons for this. The first and most predominant reason was to break up and absorb the Highlanders. As long as they identified themselves as a nation unto themselves, they were dangerous to English rule. Forcing them to take on English garb was expected to "subdue" them and decrease their identification with the Highlands. This same reason was used by Henry VIII in the 1537 prohibition on saffron shirts and mantles in Ireland. The second reason for the prohibition on Highland Dress was the unique functionality of the plaid. It was claimed that the plaid enabled men to better conceal themselves in the heather and therefore better surprise their robbery and murder victims. The plaid also allowed men the freedom to, at a moment's notice, join a rebellion. Since the plaid was their blanket and bed as well as their clothing, they didn't have to go home and pack. The third reason was more puritanical than the other two. The English claimed that the plaid encouraged idle living because one could lie around in it all day. Indeed, they professed that "now the labourers have put off the long clothing, the tardy pace, the lethargic look of their fathers, for the short doublet, the linen trousers, the quick pace of men who are labouring for their own behoof..." (Robertson's Agriculture of Perthshire 1790) The repeal of 1782 re-instated Highland Dress and it soon became all the rage with all classes of society. Indeed, even the Lowlanders began to wear tartans and kilts. In a painting from 1795, Military Promenade by John Kay, the Misses Maxwell, leaders of fashion in Edinburgh, wear ankle length skirts imitating kilts. This was a time of great national pride over the success of the Highland regiments in the Napoleonic Wars. Everything military was fashionable. Women often wore feminine versions of the uniforms of their fathers, husbands, and brothers much like 13th century crusaders' wives wore heraldic tabards.
Scott's romantic writings about the people of the Highlands affected a wave of sentimental Jacobitism. In the royal visit of 1822, both the Lord Mayor of London and King George the Fourth wore Highland Dress. This year marks the birth of Highland costume as the Scottish National Dress. 
Engravings by Van Der Gucht of the Black Watch in 1743ReferencesDunbar, J. Telfer. History of Highland Dress. Philadelphia: Dufour Editions, 1964. © 1997, 2002, 2003 Kass McGann. All Rights Reserved. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. The Evolution of the Kilt -- The Question of Clan TartansC.C.P. Lawson in History of the Uniforms of the British Army puts forth an important idea regarding the use of clan tartans: "Remembering the continuous clan feuds and the consequent state of more or less perpetual hostilities, a recognizable clan plaid would have been a positive danger to the wearer outside his own territory." Lord Lyon King of Arms, Sir Francis J. Grant, at a meeting of the Celtic Union in Edinburgh, 6 December 1948 "described the development of [tartan] for many names as 'humbug'. Records establish that tartans had been worn in Scotland as far back as 1440. But present-day tartans were not old. They only went back to the reign of George IV. Tartans worn before 1745 were quite different." That dates present-day tartans to the early 19th century. Major I. H. Mackay Scobie, past Curator of the Scottish United Services Museum, was convinced that clan tartans were not known before the second half of the 18th century. In a June 1942 article in Chamber's Journal entitled "Tartan and Clan Tartans," he concludes, "'clan' tartans -- as defined and known at the present day cannot be shown to have existed as such prior to the 1745 period, and, indeed, are even later." If tartans did enable people to distinguish their clan members from outsiders, one would expect to find reference to such recognition in contemporary battle accounts. However. the opposite occurs. From James Ray's Compleat History of The Rebellion, published in 1749, regarding the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745: "In the flight I came up with a pretty young Highlander, who called out to me: 'hold your hand -- I'm a Campbell.' On which asked him: 'Where is your bonnet?' He replied 'Somebody hath snatched it off my head.' I only mention this to shew how we distinguished out loyal clans from the rebels, they being dress'd and equipp'd all in one way, except the bonnet, -- ours having a Red or Yellow Cross or Ribbon, theirs a white Cockade. He having neither of these distinctions, I desired him, if he was a Campbell, to follow me, which he promised; but on the first opportunity he gave me the slip." Had he been wearing a Clan Campbell Tartan, surely the writer would have mentioned it in this account. In A Jounal of the Expedition of Prince Charles Edward in 1745, by a Highland Officer: "We M'Donalds were much preplex'd, in the event of ane ingagement, how to distinguish ourselves from our bretheren and nighbours the M'Donalds of Sky, seeing we were both Highlanders and both wore heather in our bonnets, only our white cockades made some distinction." In eighteenth century portraits of the MacDonalds, they wear a variety of tartans. This further supports the idea that "clan tartans" are a late invention. In 1956, The Historical Association published a book called Common Errors in Scottish History. In this book, Haswell Miller writes: "But the 'Scottish clan tartans' as we know them from numerous books, post cards and other productions were never systematised before the appearance of such publications in the nineteenth century... "Authentic documentation of the tartan previous to the 19th century is limited to a comparatively small number of contemporary portraits, and is negative so far as it provides any suggestion of heraldic significance or 'clan badge' intention. In a range of Grant portraits at Castle Grant, no tartan repeats and none has any relationship with the tartan known as Grant to-day. MacDonald portraits of the 1740s to the 1760s show the same person at different ages, wearing in one picture no less than three varying 'red' tartans and in the other a 'green' tartan, none of them bearing any relationship to the 'Tartan Book' patterns." 
"The Battle of Culloden" by David Morier circa 1745He used Highland prisoners as models yet none of the tartans shown correspond to modern "clan tartans." ReferencesDunbar, J. Telfer. History of Highland Dress. Philadelphia: Dufour Editions, 1964. © 1997, 2002, 2003 Kass McGann. All Rights Reserved. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
The Evolution of the Kilt -- What the Highlanders Never WorePeople's love of the kilt has led to many misperceptions throughout history. Unfortunately, those misperceptions are often much better know than the facts. This page is intended to clear up those misperceptions with proof of historical fact. One source of much misdocumentation is R. R. McIan's famous work, The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, published first in 1845. The book lists each clan's history, name derivation, tartan, arms, armorial insignia, badge, and war-cry. James Logan, an author of some reknown and McIan's contemporary, provides the text. Although there is much useful information in the book, the pictures should not be taken for historical fact. Like his contemporaries, McIan and Logan believed the kilt to be of ancient origins, evolving from the animal skin loincloths that the "cavemen" must have worn. We know today that the kilt developed from the brat or mantle that the Gael wore around their shoulders, and not from any lower body garment.
Logan fails to realize that he has greatly contradicted himself. In the same paragraph, he tells us that the "Lein-croich" is a shirt and then he tells us it is a belted plaid. Surely, it cannot be both at the same time. Furthermore, both the belted plaid and the saffron shirt are late-period garments (16th and 17th centuries, respectively). There is no documentation that the Celts ever wore either and therefore, the statement that this is "one of the oldest garments peculiar to the Celts" is entirely flawed. Please see "Man's Léine" and "The Evolution of the Kilt" and "Letter to Chivalry Sports" for a further discussion. McIan seems to do no better with his drawing than Logan did with his words. Although it cannot be stated that the Highlanders did not wear mustard-coloured belted plaids, they most certainly were not made of linen which would provide none of the weather protection for which the (woolen) plaid was worn. Indeed, "plaide" is the Gaelic word for blanket or rug. And in the damp and cold Highlands, why would one have a blanket or rug of linen? You will notice that I keep calling the garment in the picture "mustard-coloured" rather than "saffron-coloured." My alternate choice of spice name is for the sake of accuracy. It has been substantiated by Henry Foster McClintock in his great sourcework, Old Irish and Highland Dress, among others, that the spice saffron does not dye linen a yellowish brown, but rather a pure yellow colour. The léinte depicted in colour by Lucas de Heere are all pure yellow. Therefore, the modern "saffron" kilts worn by Irish pipers have no basis in history. Indeed, the Irish never wore the belted plaid or any garment resembling a kilt (for a discussion on the lack of an "Irish kilt" see "Letter to Tir na nOg"). Thus, the illustration Logan describes as a "saffron shirt" is neither saffron nor a shirt. It makes one wonder if he was describing the same page we see. McIan's picture appears to be drawn after 16th century illustrations of the saffron shirt by Lucas de Heere and others. The warrior wears a short, elaborately decorated jacket with a pleated pelplum not unlike an ionar. His shirt is finely pleated and has the long yet narrow sleeves of de Heere's léinte. Yet it is white instead of saffron-coloured. We read in contemporary sources that, though saffron was the most preferred colour (it is thought to be a sign of nobility), white and unbleached léinte were also worn. However, the triangular shape of the sleeves contradicts the rounded bag-sleeves of de Heere's léinte. The figure is barelegged and barefooted, also like de Heere's pictures of Irish kern. The only major incongruity is that, instead of his léine pouched over his belt, he wears a mustard-coloured belted plaid. It is understandable that an illustrator who did not understand the drape of a léine would draw it such. But this should not be taken for proof that the "Lein-croich" was a type of belted plaid. But what those red things on his forearms are is anyone's guess.
Again we see triangular sleeves, but these seem to be attached somehow to the belted plaid. I am at a loss to discern how this is possible. The shirt underneath is red and tight-sleeved. This is an impossibility for a number of reasons. Primarily, shirts were made of linen, cotton being a tropical fibre not yet available in any Northern clime. Linen does not take dye well. Therefore, a shirt would not be red, but rather white, off-white or "saffron." Additionally red was made with an expensive dye. No one would choose to dye a shirt with so costly a substance only to have it shortly fade away. Also, the sleeves of undershirts were always full. Tight sleeves would be quite incumbering for a warrior. Another word on the use of saffron as a dye. Saffron is an expensive spice that does not grow in either Scotland or Ireland. However, a similar colour dye can be made from Sticta crocata or Solorina crocea, lichens common in both lands. The frequent statement by contemporary writers that the saffron shirt was the garb of "persons of distinction" has never been substantiated by native sources. However, in that the head of every household in Gaelic culture is deemed a King (Rígh), every person in these cultures is either the son, daughter, or cousin of a King and therefore noble...and therefore entitled to wear saffron. Perhaps the foreign writers did not realize that ALL Gaels are "persons of distinction."
Logan goes on to say that "The Highlanders retained the practice of stripping off their plaids when hotly engaged (fighting)...and, had the belted plaid been the garment then worn, they must have stood 'pugnare in nudo corpore,' at least with the exception of the shirt..." Yet there are many contemporary accounts stating that the Highlanders were "naked but for their shirts" in battle (See Jean de Beagué and Lindsay of Pitscottie's accounts in "From Ancient Times to 1600 -- léine and brat" for quotes). Logan's 19th century sensibilities may not have allowed him to fathom such a thing. Indeed, we know that the ancient Celts of Gaul and Briton fought naked against the Romans. Why would their descendents not continue this custom, even though sixteen centuries later? Even if they did not fight naked, we know their shirts to have been made from 25-40 yards of linen. That is certainly enough to cover oneself. Furthermore, remember again that the "plaid" is a cloak, not a lower-body garment. After all, who fights in his cloak? It is easier to throw it off. This simple fact should stand as further substantial proof of the origins of the kilt.
I don't pretend to know anything about modern clan tartans except this: they didn't exist before the Georgians invented them. This fact is substantiated by many Scottish researchers and a summary of their findings can be found in "The Question of Clan Tartans." In Braveheart I have noticed that fathers and sons (The Bruce and his father, Sheamis and his...) often wear the same tartan. I do not know if these tartans are the modern-day clan tartans of the families depicted. Nonetheless, certain colours or arrangement of stripes were not family-specific historically and Braveheart should not be taken as proof that they were. A Highland Scotsman of Wallace's time would have been attired much more similarly to the Irish mercenaries in Braveheart (woolen tunics and mantles), though that is obviously too unexciting for Hollywood's taste. In addition, the women's costumes, though of a more probable cut, date from the 14th century at the earliest. The clothing of 1280 was much less fitted. Buttons down the back of the sleeves point to about 1340. Additionally, the Princess and her lady-in-waiting's gowns seem to be invariably of polyester crushed velvet in the most improbable colours (pink, coral...). And as the Renaissance would not begin for another century, the gold brocades worn by the Prince of Wales simply wouldn't exist, even if they weren't polyester. And what is that coif that The Bruce is wearing made out of? And the plates on his pants that make him look like he should be in the next Star Wars sequel? And the "ring mail" on the guards? In Xena maybe. Sheesh. ReferencesDunbar, J. Telfer. History of Highland Dress. Philadelphia: Dufour Editions, 1964. © 1997, 2002, 2003 Kass McGann. All Rights Reserved. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Here is what a man should liik like in a modern kilt.
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The brat is a rectangular piece of cloth thrown around the body and fastened on the breast or shoulder by a brooch. Both men and women wore them. The brat could be wrapped around the shoulders or looped under the sword arm for better maneuverability. Brats were worn in varying lengths depending upon the occasion and the rank of the wearer. Some tales speak of the Queen's brat dragging on the ground behind her chariot. They were also worn in a good many colours, variegated and many-coloured being mentioned in the ancient tales. Because the number of colours one could wear was restricted by one's rank, a many-coloured brat was a sure sign of nobility. In the Táin Bo Culaigne, King Conor Mac Nessa of Ulster's costume is described: "He wore a crimson, deep-bordered, five-folding tunic; a gold pin in the tunic over his bosom; and a brilliant white shirt, interwoven with thread of red gold, next to his white skin." "Five-folding" has also been rendered as "wrapped five times". The Irish word used here, filleadh is also used in the word for kilt, filleadh beag.
In this picture, we see the Highlander wearing his brat in the usual manner. However, his léine appears to be missing. On his upper body, he wears a checked or cross-hatched jacket, not unlike the woolen or leather ionar we have seen on léine wearers. The most puzzling part is a horizontal line that appears to cross the Higlander's thighs. This has often been interpreted as "short trews" or "a covering for the thighs of the simplest kind" (see Bishop Lesley's writing, below). Lucas de Heere is known for the descriptive quality of his pictures. Yet these "shorts" seem to be one simple line rather than the detailed illustrations we have come to expect.
The victory at Waterloo and subsequent occupation of Paris lead to some wonderful records of Highland Dress in 1815. Of this time period, Sir Walter Scott wrote: "The singular dress of our Highlanders makes them particular objects of attention to the French." An account of the occupation of Paris recounts that the Emperor of Russia requested a sergeant, a piper, and a private of each of the Highland regiments to parade before him in the Elysée Palace. He was particularly interested in Sergeant Thomas Campbell's hose, gaiters and legs. After pinching the sergeant's skin, 'thinking I wore something under my kilt,' Campbell lifted his kilt 'so that he might not be deceived.'" Ah, the wit of the Scots. 
This is a picture is by McIan. It depicts the Fergusons. Unlike most tartans, it is not in the usual modern plaid format, being instead a mustard colour. This is usually descibed as "saffron," and indeed the text goes on and on about the "Lein-croich" at length. Logan states, "[this] figure is introduced clad in one of the oldest garments peculiar to the Celts. This was called the Lein-croich, or saffron-coloured shirt, which was dyed of a yellow colour from that plant. This vestment resembled a very ample belted plaid of saffron-coloured linen, being fastened round the middle..." 
Here's an interesting mixture -- another illustration of McIan's. This is the page that appears under "Mac Arthur." Logan quotes from Martin's A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland describing Angus, the son of Lauchlan Mackintosh "...clothed in a yellow war-coate, which among them is the badge of chieftains or heads of clans..." However, this figure does not wear a "war-coate" but, like the former, wears a mustard-coloured belted plaid (see "
This picture appears to show a leather "ionar" like those depicted by Derricke in his Images of Ireland in 1581. If that is the case, then this picture is inaccurate. The lower-body garment depicted is a filleadh beag or little kilt, which was invented in the 18th century. At the time of Derricke, the filleadh mór has not yet been devised, much less the little kilt. If the leather jacket is simply a jacket of indeterminate origins, the picture is reasonable for the 18th century and later. Logan's text, however, makes reference to Derricke for this illustration. Therefore, it is inaccurate for the period it strives to portray. 
Another depiction of McIan's that, if not misdated by Logan, might have been accurate. The subject appears in a modern kilt. Yet Logan states that he is fighting one of Cromwell's soldiers. This dates the picture to the middle to late 17th century. Furthermore, he says of the kilt, "This part of the dress has been called a late improvement, and introduced by an Englishman! We are prepared to maintain its antiquity." I assure the reader that I would be the last person to ascribe to the English that which is not theirs. However, even Scottish-born scholars today are of the opinion that the kilt was invented by the Englishman to which I credited it in "
Ah Braveheart. So noble a story. So inaccurate a display of historical clothing. This should teach us once and for all never to trust Hollywood for our history lessons. This movie won every Academy Award it was nominated for, except one: Costume Design. I don't doubt it was because Restoration, with all its seventeenth century grandeur, was released the same year and not for any reason of lack historical accuracy. Nonetheless, it made me glad. The story takes place in the late thirteenth century. The belted plaid was not worn in Scotland until the very end of the sixteenth. But that is not the great problem with Braveheart. If you study the movie carefully, you will see that the costume the Scots are wearing is not a belted plaid at all. 
Instead, the fabric, which only appears to be a yard or less wide, is wrapped from right front, around the back of the body, and thrown over the left shoulder. It is then belted so that the shoulder sash stays in place. The end of the fabric reaches the waist in back (please see "
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