Outlander tartans: Questions

[MacKenzie]

This thread certainly has lead to some interesting readings. One of which was (again) Matt Newsome's, The Early History of the Kilt.

http://www.albanach.org/articles.html

Two excerpts from the article (the bold is mine):

Another document from this period that is very often cited as describing a kilt is George Buchanan’s history of Scotland published in 1581. He describes the Highland dress this way:

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.

This document attests to the rugged constitution of the Highlander, and the fact that the plaids were used as protection from the elements and a form of camouflage as well as a mode of dress.

By the 16th century, when we begin to see the earliest type of kilted garment (the belted plaid), tartan had become characteristic of Highland Dress. Gaelic speaking Highlanders wore tartan of bright and flashy shades to show off wealth and status. They also favoured darker, natural tones that would emulate the shades of the bracken and the heather so that they might wrap themselves in their plaids and be hidden. But the colors chosen had more to do with what dyes were available to them (either locally or that they could afford to import) and personal taste than any clan affiliation.

One has to wonder if these darker, natural, earthy tones persisted through the mid-18th century and beyond. And, even though the brighter colors were available, were preferred/favored by some just as the reproduction/weathered tartans are today.

[figheadair]

One has to wonder if these darker, natural, earthy tones persisted through the mid-18th century and beyond. And, even though the brighter colors were available, were preferred/favored by some just as the reproduction/weathered tartans are today.

Simple answer is we just don't know but one has to bear in mind the context in which such comments were written. The quote from the bishop could be read as being disparaging of the nasty Highlander who was always up to no good and could not be trusted.

[DWFII]

FWIW, one of my particular friends (who also happens to be one of the foremost shoe historians in the world and the head of the shoemaking faculty at Colonial Williamsburg) is fond of pointing out that without concrete fragmentary evidence or incontrovertible references in the literature and the fine arts, it's not history. It's just speculation, guessing, and/or fantasy, and more appropriate for a Ren Faire than a reenactment or even historical fiction...if it aspires to accuracy, at all.

[freep]

<snip>

One has to wonder if these darker, natural, earthy tones persisted through the mid-18th century and beyond. And, even though the brighter colors were available, were preferred/favored by some just as the reproduction/weathered tartans are today.

Two considerations come to mind:

There would have been a difference between clothing the Laird and his family wore and that of the clansmen.

Given some of the activities in which the clans were engaged in the first half of the 18th century, camouflage would seem a good idea.