18th Century Great Kilt

[Luke MacGillie]

Of an Ebay BlackWatchish plaid, very light weight, like 10oz. Nice for the hot weather, but it does not pleat that well, or stay in place.

[Luke MacGillie]

[JohntheBiker]

Looks pretty good, though.

[grizzbass]

it's a great looking outfit. one of my favorite eras

[Blupiper]

Great impression. I like the look of that Murdoch pistol. Firing or non-?

JMB

[OC Richard]

That's a great uniform!

Does your bonnet have a tuft of bear fur? I've read about that somewhere, but I don't recall what it was about.

So nice to see everything done well, with authentic 18th century shoes, hose, garters, sporran, and all.

The hose look to be the correct ones cut from woven yardage and sewn. I made a pair years ago using the pattern in Sketchbook 76 and they came out great.

I've always liked those shoes, with the real functional buckles, better than the 19th century Victorian Highland shoes with nonfunctional buckles.

Well done!

EDIT: I just noticed the dirk, how cool, that old style with the knife and fork side-by-side.

[Luke MacGillie]

Yes, that is a bearskin tuft on the bonnet,(which is knit large, then shrunk/fulled) a practice adopted by the 2d Bn of the 42nd while here in North America at the very end of the French and Indian War, and later also used by the 84th Royal Highland Emigrants during the Revolutionary War.

"Camp at Watsons Ferry 28th August, 1761.

As a great many of the Tifts(tufts) in the mens bonnets are brown and not made according to the pattern which was shown at Montreal, they are therefore also to complete themselves immediately with proper tifts, made of the blackest bearskin that can be procured and not to exceed 5 inches in length which are to be fixed inclining towards the crown of the bonnets."

The cockade button is pretty neat, of a Gas back style, made by Glen McClain, engraving is copied from a 1680's era Scottish pistol trigger and pricker



The Hose are cut cloth, made without the black line.

Dirk is "****", Its OK, but not great, but yes, side by side knife and fork, a very early feature. I need to get another McClain made dirk, but they are expensive even with getting a bit of a discount since he has known me my whole life.

[Luke MacGillie]

Great impression. I like the look of that Murdoch pistol. Firing or non-?

JMB

It's non firing, just to keep things easy.

So funny story. Back in 1995 my reenactment group, McLeod's Company, 78th Regiment of Foot made the trek to Fortress Louisburg in Nova Scotia. I was in the Army at the time, in Panama. I was the defacto Historian of the Republic of Panama St Andrews Society, sponsored by the British Embassy. I had to do paperwork to be able to bring my Pistol into Canada, and with that paperwork, I included a letter of Support from the British Ambassador.

My Paperwork that was supposed to just be approval to bring a flintlock pistol into Canada for a historic reenactment, came back as a Concealed Carry Permit for a flintlock pistol!

[OC Richard]

a Concealed Carry Permit for a flintlock pistol

Maybe one of the rarest permits ever issued...

[Orvis]

Nice uniform and plaid! No lace on the uniform coat and 1768 cuffs (from what I could see), so it looks like a post-1759 F&I 42nd uniform. I like your dirk, too - very authentic looking - but now that you have a McClain dirk en route, that will upgrade your appearance! Love the sporran - looks like a real 1750s piece! From what I can see of your sword, it appears to be an authentic mid-18th c. ammunition-quality backsword. Only two firms made those - The Mad Piper (no longer in operation) and G.Gedney Godwin. As to the hose, there was some debate as to whether the 42nd used red/white diced hose with the black line edging the red, or whether they just used red/white cloth for their hose. Regardless, your hose look great! As to the black bearskin tuft on the bonnet, it was ordered in the summer of 1759 to replace black cloth cockades while the 42nd was on the campaign against Fort Carillon and Crown Point. The 77th (Montgomery's Highlanders) was also on that expedition, but we couldn't prove whether the order for bearskin cockades applied to them, too. Anyway, very nice turnout!