The purpose of this document is to help you understand the types
of clothing worn by the Scots and the Irish during the 16th Century. It
is also intended to help you understand a little of the history of the
"Celts" of the Bristish Isles. To understand the British "Celts" I will
give a brief synopsis of the history of the Celtic peoples. This
is not an in-depth, how-to discussion, but an overview to get you started.
There are a number of good sources on the internet today that you may visit
for patterns and more in-depth information on how to fashion the clothing.
One url is given below that you may use as a starting point.
The formative period for the Celts was from c.1300-750 BC. The emergence of the Celts as a people with a similar language and eventually similar material culture started in this period. The origin place of the Celtic language is believed to be the Rhine-Danube Valleys (linguistic and archaeological evidence lends credence to this belief). Following the formative period is the emergence of the early chiefdoms from c.750 to 450 BC. This period was followed by the La Tene Period from c.450 to 200 BC. This period is dominated by warrior societies and the art and material culture is considered to be the classically "Celt". From c.200 to 50 BC we start to see the fall of the Celtic identity throughout Europe as the Germanic Peoples and the Romans begin their expansion. This period is the late La Tene period. By 400 AD the Celtic Languages survived only in the far west Atlantic zone.
During the Celtic Period, there were three primary zones of Celtic Peoples: the Rhine-Danube zone (a route nexus -- i.e.trade), the Atlantic Zone (metal rich -- copper, tin, silver & gold) and the West Mediterranean zone. These three zones were established by the 1st millenia BC.
What we know of these early Celtic Peoples comes from the writings of the Romans and Greeks as well as through archaeological evidence. If not for the early writings all we would have are the material remains from burials and existing carvings. The writers from the 1st C. BC named these peoples the Keltoi (Greek) or Celtae (Latin). Caesar in his writings called them the Gauls.
There was no pan-Celtic language especially by the first millenium AD. From the Proto-Celtic Language of the Rhine-Danube four primary Celtic language familes developed. The most well known is the Goidelic line which by early in the 1st millenium AD had developed into Manx, Scots Gaelic and Old Irish. The next line was the Gallic Brithonic which before the end of the 1st Millenium BC had divided into Brithonic and Gallic. After the start of the new millenium AD Brithonic had divided into Welsh and Cornish and one branch of Gallic had developed into Breton.
For two and a half millenia people have been fascinated by the "Celts." However, by the height of the SCA period (700 AD) very little existed of these early Celts.
Dunbar gives a little information on the types of clothing worn by Scottish women. He talks about two contrasting illustrations in his book. He also notes that he does not give them much value. However, they are accounts from the period. The first is a picture from 1562 entitled 'La Sauvage d'Ecosse' printed in 'Recevil de la Diversite des Habits' in Paris. The picture shows a Scots woman wrapped in a large sheepskin cloak.
The second picture is by Lucas de Heere (1567-1577) entitled "Schotsche edelvrouwe en burgenvrouwe." The dress is not unlike Continental dress but long out of date.
One further source is the writing of Fynes Moryson (1598): "The inferior sort of Citizen wives, and the women of the Countrey, did weave cloaks made of a course stuffe, of two or three colours in checker worke, vulgarly called 'Ploden'."
For a brief discussion of the types of shoes worn by these people, you may go to my Early Irish & Scottish Shoes page.
The kilt... When did it arrise? How was it worn? And by whom?
First, it must be generally stated that the townspeople and aristocracy
of Scotland, and also of Ireland and Wales, followed the fashions of the
continent as did the English.
Most
people in the SCA believe that the kilt is the ancient traditional dress
of the Scots. However, this is not true. The traditional dress of the Scots
is very similar to that worn by the Irish. According to McClintock, up
to the year 1600 the Scots wore a saffron shirt (similar to a léine),
a mantle, at times tartan trews, and possibly a short woolen jacket. The
picture to the right shows Scots hunting. As you can see, the dress is
very similar to that of the Irish.
A number of extracts from period writings detail to some degree what the Highlanders wore. The following is a brief breakdown of some of them (McClintock, 1950 p. 12).
"They were recognized among the Irish Soldiers by the distinction of their arms and clothing, their habits and language, for their exterior dress was mottled clocks of many colors (breacbhrait ioldathacha) with a fringe to their shins and calves, their belts were over their loins outside their cloaks. many of them had swords with hafts of horn, large and warlike, over their shoulders. It was necessary for the soldier to grip the very haft of his sword with both hands when he would strike a blow with it. Others of them had bows of carved wood strong for use, with well seasoned strings of hemp, and arrows sharp-pointed whizzing in flight."This passage was taken from The Life of Aodh Ruadh O Domhnaill transcribed from the book of Lughaidh O'Cleiriigh. Irish Texts Society's publications, Vol XLII. Part I. Page 73.
The
earliest drawing we have of the belted plaid is from 1641. It is a German
woodcut of Scottish Soldiers. This woodcut may be found in the British
Museum in England. The four figures show four different styles of dress.
The first (on the left) wears a long coat to the knees that opens in the
front. It is made of a plaid cloth and has plain sleeves. It is belted
at the waist. The second wears plaid trews in the style worn on the continent.
The third wears what appears to be a belted plaid with the upper part pulled
up over the shoulders. The fourth wears a belted plaid with the plaid cast
off the left shoulder.
The plaid was a length of tartan cloth. Tartan is a style of plaid designs native to Scotland. However, it must me noted that the tartans used during this period are not the same as the clan tartans in use today. You should also be warned that it is considered highly improper to wear a modern clan tartan unless you are from that clan. The tartan cloth was about 5 feet wide (made of two strips 30 inches wide and sewn down the length) and some 12 to 18 feet long. The cloth would then be laid out on the ground and would be pleated longwise to a length of 4 or 5 feet. A couple of feet would be left unpleated at either end. The wearer would then lie down on the tartan with the middle of the knees equal with the lower edge of the tartan. The unpleated unds would be wrapped across the front of the wearer's body and then would be belted on at the waist. Pleating the tartan over your belt makes the process easier. After standing up the wearer would put on their jacket and then would arrange the top portion of the tartan on the shoulders (either over one shoulder or both).
The small kilt that many wear today is well outside the range of the SCA. So, if you want to portray a Highland Scot, you must be of the Elizabethan period to wear a belted plaid (great kilt), or you may wear standard Elizabethan dress, medeival dress if from an earlier period (similar to Scandinavian) or wear a léine and trews.
The poorer
Irish wore a standard outfit that would more than likely have been found
not only in the British Isles but also on the continent. This outfit consisted
of the Inar, Trius, Brat, and Léine.
Inar The Inar was a jacket. It was normally constructed of wool and like the later doublets had a skirt. The skirt of the Inar was heavily pleated.
Trius The trius or trews were a type of pants. They were normally fairly tight to the leg. Some existing bog examples have buttons up the back of the leg from the bottom to mid-calf. These were made of wool cut on the bias.
Brat The brat was a mantle or cloak made of a long rectangle of wool. It was edged with some sort of fringe. The longer the brat the more affluent the individual.
Léine The léine or shirt can be considered the mainstay of Irish and early Scottish clothing. It was worn from mid thigh to below the knee depending on if it was worn alone or with trews. Fashioned of linen, the léine was dyed a saffron color for those of better standing.
The more affluent Irish wore large léines. The English in the 16th C. went so far as to limit the number of yards of cloth that could be in one. The following picture to the right shows the standard dress.
We know
less about the clothing that women wore than the men. This may be attributed
to many of the details of men's clothing being reported about the military
Irish. What we do know is from some accounts and also some drawings by
period artists.
We do know more about townswomen than we do of the poorer rural dwelling women. In general a woman would wear an ankle length léine. Over this she would wear a dress. Over this she would wear a brat (shawl/cloak). The brat would be similar to that worn by a man.
One piece of dress that many women wear in the SCA that is considered to be period is the Celtic Overdress. These garments as far as I can tell were invented by Hollywood. To be authentic, you should wear a léine over which you will wear a sleeved dress. The picture to the right shows two example of women's dress.
You will also notice that the women are wearing hats. A number of different styles of hats were worn from simple caps to elaborate hats like the one pictured on the left.
The dresses according to Dunlevy were in three basic styles. The
first was a volumnous gown worn by women of means. These dresses
(gowns) were formal and a status symbol. The dress itself was made
of heavy worsted wool with thick tubular folds. Dunlevy indicates
they were influenced by the earlier houppelande. The neckline had
a V shape and the sleeves were very full with turned back cuffs.
The second type of dress have a low V shaped neck that was open down the
front of the bodice. The opening ended in a U shape at the stomach.
De Heere's illustration of this dress shows the distinct Irish half-sleeve
that is a strip of cloth that covers on ly the top of the arm. The
thrid type of dress has a high neck with a fitted bodice and full skirt.
The arms are buttoned from the cuff to the upper arm. This last type
of dress may be seen on the effigy carving of Johanna Purcell on her tomb.
H.F. McClintock Old Irish & Highland Dress
This book is considered one of the best for both Ireland and the Highlands. It was printed in 1950 and is hard to come by.
Mairead Dunlevy Dress in Ireland
This book is a wonderful resource on Irish dress. It covers from prehistoric times up to the present. This book is also out of print.
I finally found a copy of Scottish Costume by Dunbar. This is also a
wonderful resource. Another is a book called Scottish Pageant. For a good
overview of the Early/Ancient Celts I would suggest a book by Barry Cunliffe
named "The Ancient Celts."
This article was translated into Estonian by Karolin Lohmus and may be found at https://www.espertoautoricambi.it/science/2017/06/05/keldi-kleit-16-c/.
In real life the author has a Masters degree in Applied Cultural Anthropology
and has worked as a professional archaeologist.