Tartan on the Bias?

[figheadair]

Can't recall the date, but if you check the painting of the battle of Culloden, where Highlands are in close quaters with English soliders, you'll note some of the Highlanders wearing jackets and vest, cut on the bias - pretty sure these were painted earlier than 1812 ...

I agree that Morier's portrait appears to show jackets on the bias, as does the c1746 portrait of Sir Stuart Threipland but both original portraits are small and I think are artistic attempts to show the hang of the clothing in action so to speak.

Look at the Culloden portrait carefully and you'll see that in each case the jacket is open and hanging at an angle which has the effect of making the tartan look like it's on the bias. The same is true of the Threipland portrait. Compare this with every individual portrait of the period were the jackets are clearly cut straight as are the only two (yes, there's anothor one) surviving coats of the period.

Isn't the story behind this painting that the Jacobites in it were suppose to have been modeled on prisoners the government was holding after Culloden?

That's the story. I've also read that the individuals were members of the Athole Brigade although I'm not sure how someone writing some 200 years after the event would be able to tell or know.