page_title: Blue bonnet (hat)
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Blue bonnet (hat) / Construction
caption_attribution_description: "MacAulay". A plate illustrated by R. R. McIan, from James Logan's The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, published in 1845.
context_page_description: The blue bonnet was a type of soft woollen hat that for several hundred years was the customary working wear of Scottish labourers and farmers. Although a particularly broad and flat form was associated with the Scottish Lowlands, where it was sometimes called the "scone cap", the bonnet was also worn in parts of Northern England and became widely adopted in the Highlands.
  In later years it came to be associated with Highland dress, and in the 19th century gave rise to other types of largely military headgear such as the more elaborate Balmoral bonnet, the tam o' shanter, and the military feather bonnet.
context_section_description: The characteristic blue bonnet was knitted in one piece from a thick wool, dyed with woad, and felted to produce a water resistant finish. Strings were often sewn around the inner edge, allowing a close fit around the brow, whilst the top was worn pulled into a broad circle. The typical Lowland man's bonnet was large and worn flat, overhanging at the front and back and sometimes ornamented with a small tuft or red worsted "cherry", while in the Highlands the fashion was for a smaller, plain bonnet, sometimes peaked at the front.
  The bonnet's construction made it an extremely practical piece of clothing in Scotland's damp, cool climate. The flat shape formed an effective brim against the weather, could be pulled down ("scrugged") in various directions for additional cover, pulled over the ears for warmth, or folded and put in a pocket. It could also be removed and used as a pocket or bag in its own right. The felted wool helped protect the wearer against rain, and could be easily wrung dry.
caption: A blue bonnet, worn in a romanticised Victorian-era depiction, by McIan, of a MacAulay clansman
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