Interesting Article

[KFCarter]

This is my daily "...a day never goes by without learning something interesting on X Marks" post!

[O'Callaghan]

No great surprise. The leine croich was brought from Ireland by the Gaels, and the kilt eventually developped from the tartan cloaks they also wore, but with the pleats of the leine. They didn't wear any cloaks in battle, which would be why there is no mention of tartan in the accounts. This didn't cause any problem in identifying friend/foe, as they wore plant badges in their bonnets for that purpose. Most clan tartans were only established centuries later.

The colour of the leine croich would have been some shade of yellow, as linen absorbs dye poorly, and saffron was used because unlike other vegetable dyes it will impart a colour to linen, as opposed to doing nothing much atall. How bright it would have been I'm not sure. Someone should do an experiment with some saffron and some old linen tea towels! OTOH, the same substance turns other, more absorbent, fabrics an orange/brown hue.

[JolyStNicholas]

This is my daily "...a day never goes by without learning something interesting on X Marks" post!

Ken ya beat me to it. That's one of the things that makes this such a great site!
The other is all the wonderful people!

[tulloch]

This is my daily "...a day never goes by without learning something interesting on X Marks" post!

Hear hear! This has been most enlightening. Thanks for the input.

[Dall_Piobaire]

Now, as I recall, the Picts fought completely naked, were often heavily tattood, as well as painted blue in the entirety, and were ferocious warriors. I wonder what influence the Roman soldiers had on their lifestyle, the Roman uniform was, unless I am mistaken, very kiltlike!

I also found the enthusiasm for headhunting interesting, so many similarities to tribes of the S.Pacific. Has there ever been a connection or link found between the symbology used, and that used by other tribes in other parts of the world.

The Braveheart thing...Hmmm, rightly or wrongly it brought great attention. But, in fact,a documovie could have been much more interesting as so many things were really going on. The Burce and the Baliels, The real Wallace etc. Does the movie do more a disservice?

[Woodsheal]

The "nakedness" attributed to the Picts and other Celtic foes of the Romans should really be interpreted as "without armor" or perhaps "bare chested." Odd, since the Celts developed and used chain-mail!

As for medieval Scots: tartan kilts or belted plaids ("great kilts') - NO! Tartan cloaks or mantles - YES!

In Blind Harry's chronicle of William Wallace, Wallace is mocked by some Englishmen for wearing an "Irish" cloak, "Irish" being the sassanach term for all things Gaelic. Other period sources mention the colorful striped and checked (tartan!) mantles of the Irish and Highland Gaels of those times....