Item in the first for ij elnis ane quarter elne of variant cullorit
velvet to be the Kingis Grace ane schort Heland coit price of the elne
vj^{lib} summa xiij^{lib} x^s.
Item for iij elnis quarter elne of grene taffatyis to lyne the said
coit with, price of the elne x^s summa xxxij^s vj^d.
Item for iij elnis of Heland tertane to be hoiss to the Kingis Grace,
price of the elne iiij^s iiij^d summa xiij^s.
Item for xv elnis of holland claith to be syde Heland sarkis to the
Kingis Grace, price of the elne viij^s summa vj^{lib}.
Item for sewing and making of the said thre sarkis ix^s.
Item for twa vnce of silk to sew thame x^s.
Item for iiij elnis of rubeins to the handis of thame[14] ij^s.
The costume thus consisted of a short “variant cullorit” Highland coat,
tartan hose—that is, trews and stockings combined—and three “syde” or
low-hanging Highland shirts (each of which, it would appear, contained
five ells), with ties of ribbons at the cuffs. The trews, described in
the extract as “hoiss,” extended from the waist to the foot, and were
tied with a garter below the knee.
Doubts have been cast, indeed, on the possibility of existence in the
rigours of a northern winter with the scanty raiment attributed to
the poorer classes, but these are dispelled by the evidence on the
point. Preserved in the British Museum is a remarkable letter written
in 1542 or 1543 by John Elder, clerk, a “Reddshancke,” to Henry VIII.,
proposing the union of Scotland with England. The following excerpt
affords positive testimony of the hardihood of the people, and of the
title “Reddshanckes” conferred upon them by the Lowlanders:—
Moreover, wherfor they call us in Scotland Reddshanckes, and in
your Graces dominion of England roghefootide Scottis, Pleas it your
Maiestie to understande, that we of all people can tolleratt, suffir,
and away best with colde, for boithe somer and wyntir, (excepte
whene the froest is mooste vehement,) goynge alwaies bair leggide
and bair footide, our delite and pleasure is not onely in huntynge
of redd deir, wolfes, foxes, and graies, wherof we abounde, and have
greate plentie, but also in rynninge, leapinge, swymynge, shootynge,
and thrawinge of dartis: therfor, in so moche as we use and delite
so to go alwaies, the tendir delicatt gentillmen of Scotland call
us Reddshanckes. And agayne in wyntir, whene the froest is mooste
vehement (as I have saide) which we can not suffir bair footide,
so weill as snow, whiche can never hurt us whene it cummes to our
girdills, we go a huntynge, and after that we have slayne redd deir,
we flaye of the skyne, bey and bey, and settinge of our bair foote
on the insyde therof, for neide of cunnynge shoemakers, by your
Graces pardon, we play the sutters; compasinge and mesuringe so moche
therof, as shall retche up to our ancklers, pryckynge the upper part
therof also with holis, that the water may repas wher it entris, and
stretchide up with a stronge thwange of the same, meitand above our
saide ancklers, so, and pleas your noble Grace, we make our schoois:
Therfor, we usinge suche maner of shoois, the roghe hairie syde
outwart, in your Graces dominion of England we be callit roghefootide
Scottis; which maner of schoois (and pleas your Highnes) in Latyne
be callid perones, wherof the poete Virgill makis mencioun, sayinge,
That the olde auncient Latyns in tyme of warrs uside suche maner of
schoos. And althoughe a greate sorte of us Reddshanckes go after this
maner in our countrethe, yeit never the les, and pleas your Grace,
whene we come to the courte (the Kinges grace our great master beinge
alyve) waitinge on our Lordes and maisters, who also, for velvettis
and silkis be right well araide, we have as good garmentis as some of
our fellowis whiche gyve attendaunce in the court every daye.[15]
That the clothing of the Highlanders at this period was parti-coloured,
or tartan, is evident from a foreign traveller’s record almost
contemporaneous with John Elder’s epistle. Jean de Beaugué, who
accompanied the expedition sent in 1548 by Henry II. of France under
Montalembert, Sieur d’Essé, to aid the Scots against the English,
wrote an account of his observations, printed in Paris in 1556. Of
the appearance of certain Islanders among the troops at the siege of
Haddington in the latter year he observes:—
Several Highlanders [or Wild Scots] followed them [the Scottish
army] and they were naked except their stained shirts, and a certain
light covering made of wool of various colours; carrying large
bows, and similar swords and bucklers to the others, _i.e._ to the
Lowlanders.[16]
Proof is thus supplied of the continued use of the Highland shirt,
generally saffron-dyed; and the “light covering” was doubtless the
mantle or breacan, the belted plaid, for this last is either identical
with or a development of the over-cloak of Magnus Barefoot’s time.
In 1552 the Scottish Privy Council passed an Act for the formation of
“tua ansaingyeis of fittmen,” to be raised in the Highland portion of
Lord Huntly’s lieutenancy, for service in France. The instructions laid
down for their equipment afford some idea of the dress of the Highland
soldier of the period, since the levy was to be drawn from the north
country. It is provided that the men are to be
Substantiouslie accomptirit with jack and plait, steilbonett, sword,
bucklair, new hois and new dowblett of cannvus at the lest, and slevis
of plait or splenttis, and ane speir of sax elnes lang or thairby.[17]
The trews (hois) and doublet are to be of canvas at least, presumably
as a precaution against any shortcoming of woollen stuff; while
the kilt or plaid appears to form no portion of the outfit on this
occasion.
Of the dress of the common people another description, written about
1573, is given by Lindsay of Pitscottie. It is once more obvious
that the belted plaid of latter days was then represented by a loose
garment, which was probably plaited round the body to some extent. The
chronicle sets forth:—
The other pairt [of Scotland] northerne, ar full of montaines, and
verie rud and homlie kynd of people doeth inhabite, which is called
the Reidschankis, or wyld Scottis. They be cloathed with ane mantle,
with ane schirt fachioned (or saffroned) after the Irisch maner, going
bair legged to the knie. Thair weapones ar bowis and dartes, with ane
verie broad sword and ane dagger scharp onlie at the on syd.[18]
But the most detailed notice of the dress worn by the inhabitants of
the Highlands and Islands in the sixteenth century is to be found in a
work by John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, the devoted adherent of Mary Queen
of Scots, originally published in Rome in 1578. From his conspicuous
position, alike as historian and as statesman, his notes on the apparel
of the men and women of his age are highly important. It appears that
the belted plaid had become the wear of both rich and poor, through the
extended manufacture of woollen fabrics and the increased prosperity of
the people. He writes:—
In weiris quhen thay yokit the aduersar, thay invadet athir with ane
arrow or a lance. Thay vsed ane twa edged sword lykwyse; the futmen a
lang sword, the horsmen a schort sword bot baith vset a verie braid
sword, with a scheiring sharpe edge that at the first straik, with
little force, it walde scheir a man in twa in the waste or midle. Thay
war harnest with Jacks al wouen throuch with yrne huikes, quhilkes
habbirgeounis thay cal: This vpon, or as we say, abone a lathir cote,
quhilke was na les stark than it was elegant, thay put on. Al thair
harnesse was lycht, that gif thay fel in ony danger, the lychtlier
thay mycht slip out of the handes of thair ennimies: for in swiftnes
of fute, in quhilke thay walde ouirrin the swoftest horse, quhither
the way war lang and plane, or gif it war cumirsum throuch hilis or
hopes, in sik swoftnes, I say, thay obteined gret prais, athir quhen
the ennimie flies to follow, or quhen the ennimie persues to flie,
and gif mister be to declyne from perrel.... Thair cleithing was til
necessitie, and nocht till decore, maist conuenient ay to the weiris;
for thay al vset mantilis of ane forme, baith the Nobilitie and the
commone people, excepte that the Nobilitie delyted mair in coloured
claith and sindrie hewis, and thir mantilis war baith wyd and lang,
notwithstandeng about the bosum, quhair thay walde decentlie losin. I
can weil think thir same to be the kynd of cleithing quhilke in ald
times in latin war called Brachæ. In thir only mantilis in the nyt
seasone, thay rowit thame selfes, and in thame sleipit sound: this
was thair maner, and this day the hilande men, and thay of Irland
weiris even siklyke, bot now thay use ruch couirings, ane sorte to
thair bed, another sorte to the Jornay conuenient. The rest of thair
claithis, was a schorte cote of woll, with wyde and apne sleiues
that the radier quhen thay walde thay myt schote or caste a darte, or
ane arrow, breickis thay had verie slichte, and indeid mair to hyd
thair memberis than for ony pompe or pryd, or to defend thame frome
the calde was meit. Of linnine lykwyse thay maid wyd sarkis, with
mony bosumis, and wide sleifes of negligence hinging doune evin to
thair knies. Thir sarkis the mair potent amang thame vset to smeir
with saffronne, bot vthiris with a certane fatnes, and this thay did
to keip thame cleine frome al filthines. Nathing thay thocht worthier
of counsel than to exercise thame selfes continuallie in the sueit of
the Barresse, or in siklyke ane exercise. In makeng thame, appeirit
na kair or trauel neglected athir in arte or decore: as with threid
of silke, cheiflie greine, or rid, al the partes of the sarke maist
artificiouslie thay sewit.
Bot the cleithing of the women with thame was maist decent. For thair
cotes war syd evin to the hanckleth, wyd mantilis abone, or playdes
all embroudiret artificiouslie; bracelets about thair armes, iewalis
about thair neck, broches hinging at thair halse, baith cumlie and
decent, and mekle to thair decore and outsett.[19]