Before the kilt

[Andrews Son]

Out of curiosity what did the scots wear before the kilt I'm aware of the fieliedhmor (not sure how to spell it) what era was the great kilt worn in and what was before it? Was it more of kin to the irish mantle, Leine and brat?
I look forward to.all of your replies

[figheadair]

In short, yes. The leine was commonly wore across Britain in the Middle Ages.

[OC Richard]

As best I can surmise- keep in mind there's not much actual evidence- the traditional leine-and-brat costume might have been common at one time to both Ireland and the Highlands.

Just why the Highlanders took to belting the brat around the waist, who can say?

The "missing link" as it seems to me is the old depiction of a Highlander who has a breacan-an-fheilidh the borders of which are trimmed in fur. In Ireland the brat is usually depicted with fur around the top edge at least, creating something of a collar.

For wear at the local Renaissance Faire many years ago I made myself just this sort of missing-link costume, a leine which could be worn to the ankle or worn at the knee, and a brat of rough heavy plaid wool trimmed all round with long sheep fur. The brat could be worn as a mantle or belted round the waist.

If you want to read up on this topic I suggest

Old Irish & Highland Dress

by H. F. McClintock

W. Tempest
Dundalgan Press
Dundalk

which examines all the various evidences known at the time of writing: costumes found in bogs, written accounts, artistic depictions, clothing in museums, etc.

Therein is quoted Martin Martin, 1703:

"The first habit worn by persons of distinction in the Islands was the 'leni-croich' ("saffron-dyed shirt") ... the ordinary number of ells 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 100 years ago."

McClintock sites various sources which all agree, more or less, on this.

Gordon of Straloch described in 1594 the wearing of a "loose cloke of several ells, striped and parti-color'd" and a short linen shirt.

[neloon]

Many early descriptions of Highland dress were fairly scurrilous as the Highlanders were regarded as savages by the authors. It seems to me that the most honest summary, written around 1550, comes from Bishop Lesley, a native Highlander with a Highland Bishopric. Faced with a rapidly expanding world, the Catholic Church had asked each bishop to write a report of the habits and customs of his diocese and so Lesley gave us the following (in Latin, of course).

"... Being mainly for warlike purposes, their garments were useful rather than ornamental. Nobles and commoners all wore the same kind of mantles (except that, for the nobility, many colours were used). these were long and flowing, but nevertheless able to be gathered up at the waist if they wished. ...
They could sleep comfortably with these as their sole covering. They had also shaggy rugs like the Irish use either for travel or to be used as bedding. The rest of their clothing consisted of a short woollen jacket with loose sleeves for ease of throwing spears and simple shorts for decency rather than for show or to combat cold. They also made loose-fitting shirts of linen with many folds and wide sleeves flowing loosely to the knee. Those for the well-to-do were saffron but they could also be covered with grease when on a campaign..."

Why he writes in the past tense, I do not know but this seems to tie in with the portrait of a Highland mercenary soldier painted by Lucas de Heere in 1573. The claidheamh mor ("claymore" = "big cleaver") that he carries was, by this time, peculiar to the Highlands. Probably quite soon after this, the feileadh was removed from the shoulders and tucked through a waist belt for convenience and so we have the original "feileadh mor" .

http://www.joinville-mariedeguise.fr.../p010_1_11.png


Alan

[OC Richard]

"Nobles and commoners all wore the same kind of mantles (except that, for the nobility, many colours were used). These were long and flowing, but nevertheless able to be gathered up at the waist if they wished. They could sleep comfortably with these as their sole covering."

This sounds exactly like the old Irish brat or Highland breacan an fheilidh and points to a time when buckling it around the waist in the Highlands wasn't yet universal practice.

"a short woollen jacket with loose sleeves... loose-fitting shirts of linen with many folds and wide sleeves flowing loosely to the knee. Those for the well-to-do were saffron..."

This seems to be fairly clearly describing the ionar and leine as worn in Ireland at the time.

BTW an interesting aside to this once-shared Gaelic dress which got split into two streams, the Irish one being exterminated, is that two of the ancient clothing items still exist on the Aran Islands, the crios and the pamputa or "pampootie".

[Father Bill]

Richard, do you have a picture of the leine belted or no & of the leine / brat combination? I ask because your picture collection is one I admire for its extensive variety.

[neloon]

"breacan an fheilidh " does, of course, specifically refer to a tartan blanket whereas the portrait that I referenced above shows a plain feileadh.

I think we need to remember in discussions of early Highland dress that there would have been much less uniformity than we might expect today. We have no definition as to what geographical area constitutes "the Highlands" and therefore of who "Highlanders" were/are. Obviously not the Northern Isles, Caithness or Sutherland; probably not the Outer Hebrides which were a law unto themselves. And, of course, the southern "fringe" (which was constantly receding northwards) would have been particularly diverse owing to Lowland influences. Social class would also have encouraged variability so that the rich horse-owner would have been a triubhas-wearer but might also have sported the latest in Sassenach jackets and bonnets. It is hard to believe that the men of upper Deeside would have favoured exactly the same garmenting as those of Mull even though they shared a common language. Yes, as the centuries passed, uniformity increased but most of our perceptions are simplistically filtered through Stewart of Garth and similar revivalists.
Alan

[OC Richard]

Here is a man wearing the leine (linen shirt dyed with saffron) and ionar (short jacket). In the background you can see a man wearing the "shaggy mantle" so many early writers refer to, the brat with fringe or fur edging. Note how full the leine is made; if un-belted it would reach the ankles.



Here's a quite accurate modern reproduction of this costume



Here's a guy at our local Renaissance Faire in the Highland version of that Irish costume, with the plaid wrapped round the body.



Un-belt the plaid and throw it over the shoulders and you have the Irish brat

[Father Bill]

Thank you, Richard. We use these terms, but not all of us know what they mean. You always come through.

[The Q]

As a matter of interest this site has information on what the Saxons were wearing and therefore ever increasingly influencing Celtic dress.
http://Www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.or...on-clothes-men