Truibhs – Friend Or Foe ?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I'm not trying to make a joke, nor am I being facetious. Sorry, internet posts sometimes come across in a different 'tone' than I mean them to.

I'm really just trying to get down to the crux of what the lore is on trews. Some folks say that they were only used when riding, while I tend to think they were fashionable on their own, even for fellows who didn't plan on riding a horse. Leggings were popular throughout Europe, and there was plenty of European influence in Scotland that could have made tartan trews a distinctly Scottish form of this manner of dress.

And yes, I am well aware of what a riding crop is. I own several horses and do a lot of riding. And I can say as an avid horseman that I would never consider using a walking stick as a crop. It's too heavy and unbalanced for that. Crops are very light and very small diameter, meant to be used as a tactile aid. Trying to keep a large diameter stick in your hand while handling the reins (and I'm assuming the Scots rode English-style with both hands on the reins instead of one-handed 'cowboy style' like we do here) would be clumsy and uncouth for a gentleman.

I'll add the disclaimer that I'm not professing to be an expert on Scottish horsemanship by any means. But I do find the idea of using a walking stick as a riding crop to be very unlikely, especially considering the history and conventions of English (and pretty much all European) riding styles.

All that is to say that I would guess the fellow in the portrait is probably just on foot and choosing to wear trews instead of a kilt.

As Sandford has already said, trews were (and still are) almost exclusively worn by the Highland aristocracy. At the time depicted in the McIan picture, trews were a more costly garment than the kilt because they required tailoring which, in and of itself, required going to the tailor (possibly in Glasgow, where the Irish Chieftain "Red Hugh" O'Donnell had his "suits of diverse colours" made). They were also practical, as they allowed for the easy mounting and dismounting of the Highland Pony which stood about 13-14 hands. This, by the way, was usually accomplished with the use of a mounting staff and a ghillie. Unlike their European counterparts, the Highland aristocracy did not see themselves as an equestrian class-- the terrain of the Highlands tends to mitigate against this-- and so their horses were led by retainers who considered it an honour to act as groom to their chief. I believe this may be covered in Andrew Fraser's book "The Native Horses of Scotland".

When the Highland aristocracy began to take an active part in military adventures in Scotland (and elsewhere), they rode as did everyone else: long legs (tongs over the fence) and neck reigned their horses (just like cow punchers); reigns in one hand, sword in the other. You can learn more about this (and the development of the flat or "English" saddle) by reading "A History of Horsemanship" by Charles Chenevix-Trench (hope I've got the first part of his double-barrelled name right).

So, if you want to know why Mr. Colquhoun is striding out in trews, armed with a stick, it is likely that he is on his way to mount his pony and be led by faithful retainers down the mountains and into the nearest town.

[Bugbear]

Well... if mostly the aristocracy wore trews, what else was being worn at this time other than the kilt, and by the other scottish folk?

[HarborSpringsPiper]

From Highland Clansman 1689-1746 by Stuart Reid and Angus McBride

This picture shows the actual clothing three unfortunuate individuals were wearing at the time of their deaths in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, recovered from three different peat bogs in Scotland.

The mannequin in the middle represents a young individual who was supposedly a victim of murder and apparently dumped in the bog. He has neither breeches nor plaid and apparently was considered "not well off" due to the patched and ragged condition of his clothing. I think we could only speculate whether he represented someone who was poorer and would have only had a frock shirt and the other items he was found with or perhaps his breeches or plaid were "lifted" from him before his body was tossed. It is my understanding that the bog conditions preserved these materials very well, so it is unlikely that some piece clothing disintegrated without trace.

I realize this is from a century prior to the earlier print from the RR McIan 1845 series, but paints an accurate picture that not everyone was wearing belted plaids, the kilt or trews in the Highlands when these would have been commonly worn.
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Some additional info related to these finds and descriptions of their clothing and other artifacts found with them.

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsd...55_213_221.pdf

http://shetlopedia.com/Gunnister_Man

http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsd...06_172_182.pdf

[Bugbear]

Oops, I forgot it's just for the Highlands. Never mind.

[Nick the DSM]

It would probably be like the Romans and Greeks, with simpler clothes as the status goes down.