The Highlanders of Scotland

[OC Richard]

Here are some of the lads:



John Grant and John Fraser
Here are what I call "buckle loafers", and the typical brown ghillies. Note the contrasting turnover cuffs, more like modern breek socks. A waistbelt is worn under the jacket but over the waistcoat. Mr Grant is unusually well equiped, having a pair of pistols, a powder horn, and a sgian.



Kenneth MacKenzie and Thomas MacKenzie
Here are more typical figures, showing the wearing of long hair sporrans with quite plain day jackets. Once more we have a waistbelt worn over the waistcoat supporting a dirk. Note that the bottom waistcoat button is buttoned even when one or more of the higher buttons are open. Note the common lack of flashes. Kenneth is wearing a very interesting style of shoe, halfway between ghillies and mary janes. Those socks with the knit deerhead motif are fantastic.



John MacLachlan, Hugh Graham, James MacFarlane, and Angus Colquhoun
More long hair sporrans with plain jackets. Ghillies of odd greyish tan leather. An antique 18th century sporran, or perhaps a replica of same. Fish jacket closures. No flashes.




Robert MacNab and Donald MacNaghton
The only tartan jacket to be seen. Interesting hose, neither diced nor tartan, but with lines only. Sleeve braid not unlike that of many American Civil War jackets.





John Robertson and John Stewart
An example of just how plainly some of the men are dressed. No badges, buckles, weaponry, or indeed any metalwork at all, and the plainest possible jackets. These men represent the counterargument that The Highlanders of Scotland is portraying only men in absurd high Victorian finery- nothing could be further from the case. Highland dress couldn't be more plain, save for the sporrans: evidently our modern "day" sporrans didn't exist at that time.



Neil MacLeod and Murdoch MacNeill
More "buckle loafers". Diced hose with plain turnover cuffs. One of the very few kilt pins to be seen, apparently simply a second cap badge. Interesting badger sporran with two long tails, not the short tails more commonly seen on animal mask sporrans. The "celtic" style jacket, which is worn both open showing waistcoat and buttoned up, is nicely seen (with a bit of the red waistcoat peeking out). Again we see quite plain dress on display in the case of Mr MacNeill.



Farquhar MacDonald and Lachlan MacDonald
More "celtic" jackets, this time worn open showing waistcoat. Waistbelts were commonly worn either over or under the jacket. Interesting that al their leatherwork is tan, including the sporran cantles and dirk sheaths. Interesting dirks with knife and fork side by side. More tan ghillies- only one pair of the 11 are black. Interesing small balmorals. (Only 7 of the 22 plain balmorals are shaped like today's, the remainder are somewhat smaller, some approaching the look of a pillbox hat.)