From: Suze.Hammond@f56.n105.z1.therose.pdx.com (Suze Hammond)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Instructions for ancient kilt - feileadh mor
Date: 14 Aug 92 07:40:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: therose.713887374.F00005

RM>  From: rm4@st-andrews.ac.uk (Rosa Michaelson)
RM>  Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
RM>
RM>  wasn't the 'great plaid' just a large(say 15 foot?) length of nicely
RM>  felted, sorry - waulked, locally spun and woven woolen cloth? Must
RM>  have been fairly greasy, and not as wide as the modern loomed stuff..

Not completely feltlike. Otherwise, yup...

RM>  Also to be authentic it would NOT be tarten as we know it, but a
RM>  variageted
RM>  heathery toned stuff which had been dyed with crotal(?? is that not a
RM>  lichen

Well, if the stories are correct the colors were more muted, but not all 
*that* dull. The Celts loved color, and supposedly how many colors you got 
to use indicated your rank. One color for a trall/serf, two for a farmer, 
three for the next rank...up to six for a king and seven for a bard. No one 
knows how much the checks resembled the modern tartans, but I always go for 
the simpler patterns. They may have just used stripes, as well, although 
both styles were at least known to them.

RM>  remember reading that many pre-1700 scots wore trews too.

Yup, especially for riding...

RM>  highlanders NOT the lowlanders who were a much more up to date lot
RM>  who
RM>  wore mostly whatever the southerners and french wore.

True again. (I get a bit of flack from would-be authenticity types over my 
French court gown with tartan underdress...  ;-)

RM>  yer nether regions(like a sari I suspect) and then threw any
RM>  remaining
RM>  length over a usefull shoulder, fastening the load with one of those
RM>  big celtic pin and buckle thingies. A bit like a toga that slipped.

Close, but not exactly. Quite a bit of the fullness was taken up by pleating 
the back. You laid your (long!) belt on the ground/floor and pleated a 
goodly bit of the part that would be in the back, not putting the belt 
exactly in the middle, because the cloth wasn't as wide as now. You left a 
goodly length off to one side to wrap around your shoulders, as you might or 
might not be wearing a long shirt under it (and if you weren't, you needed 
the coverage). Lying down on this pleated area, you lapped the one end 
around your front (which is where the flat front of the modern kilt derived) 
and some of the leftovers on the other end on the other side of your front 
(giving a double front layer) belted yourself into it, stood up, and 
arranged the rest around your shoulders and back with the big pin. In 
period Highland men wore this fairly short, and with no attempt to cover 
what we would consider immodest (unless expecting to go to church/kirk, or 
to court, or around foreigners) as the general idea was that it was Ok to 
advertise a bit.  ;-> The sporran is probably OOP, but a dagger was worn 
in the same spot, with a rather suggestive design of handle, to reflect what 
was underneath. It was called a "bollocks dagger", bollocks being about the 
same slang meaning as it still has in Britain.

Not subtle, these lads!  :-)

Needless to say, some minor modification is required in the SCA, but the 
very fact that cloth is now wider is usually enough...

This is derived from a very similar linen garment used by the Irish. (And 
probably wool also.) Get a translation of the Brehon Laws of Ireland and it 
will give some clues. Remember that in period, Ireland and Scotland were 
much more similar than even a couple centuries later.

Moreach NicMaolain
trifid@agora.rain.com 
 
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca