[MR] medieval Scottish fighting garb

[Garth G. Groff]

Nancy,

We Scadians need to be reminded of this from time to time, but to those 
of us who are interested in Scottish history Cannan's claims are nothing 
new. This article, however, gives a false impression that everybody in 
Scotland ran round in linen shirts all the time. Scottish military 
clothing is much more complicated, and very hard to categorize by time 
or place, due to a serious lack of doumentation. However, what 
documentation that exists shows that the Scots were pretty much like 
other western Europeans of the the times when it came to arms and armor.

Lowland Scots (which I depict in the SCA), many of whom were 
Anglo-Norman or had adopted Anglo-Norman lifestyles, would have been 
dressed and equipped pretty much like their English counterparts during 
most of the late middle ages. Knights wore long padded coats, mail 
shirts, steel helmets. Common soldiers would probably not have had much 
mail beyond a coif, but would have been otherwise equipped with a padded 
coat and steel helmet, again matching their English contemporaries. By 
the 1400s or so most wealthy Lowlanders would have worn plate armor 
(often imported from England or the continent). Acts of the Scottish 
Parliament, which are available online, set down exactly how Scots were 
required to equip themselves. The earliest of these laws dates from the 
time of Robert the Bruce (shortly after Bannockburn), and the laws 
continued to be passed at least up to 1540.

Many Highlanders of wealth, including the chiefs or chieftans and their 
households, also wore gear like this, especially when called to the 
King's service against the English. There are plenty of carved grave 
slabs from the 1400s and later which bear this out. By the 1500s, the 
grave slabs show plate armor. The saffron shirt was indeed worn by many 
Highlanders, including some chiefs during local wars, until almost 1600. 
Also by the 1500s at least, Highlanders wore the plaide as a mantle, a 
large blanket-like garment which might be decorated with checks or 
stripes. This was apparently removed during battle to give them them 
freedom of movement. It was the plaide which became the great kilt, once 
it began to be belted around the waist and pleated. The earliest 
verifiable mention of the plaide as a kilt occurs in 1594.

I completely agree with Cannan on the inaccuracy of BRAVEHEART: no kilts 
(the costumes don't even look much like the great kilt), no two-handed 
claymores (they appeared about 1495), and certainly no painted faces 
(that's dark ages stuff). The statue on the Wallace monument in Scotland 
probably gets it right: aketon, bascinet, plus mail coat and coif.

Finally, Scadians who wear kilts should only wear the great kilt. The 
wee kilt, as seen today, was not invented until the late 1600s.

Enough pontificating.

Kind regards,


Mungo Napier, Archer of Mallard Lodge
(mka Garth G. Groff, a descendant of many Scots)







SNSpies at aol.com wrote:
> Folks might be disappointed to learn that the medieval Scots fought
> in  urine-dyed shirts and not tartans:
>
> _http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/scotland/5675615/Scots-
> fought-in-bright-yellow-war-shirts-not-Braveheart-kilts.html_ 
> (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/scotland/5675615/Scots-fought-in-brig
> ht-yellow-war-shirts-not-Braveheart-kilts.html) 
>  
> Nancy
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
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