cl-Scot-fem-art - 7/2/96
"Scottish women's clothing" by Effric neyn Kenyeoch Vc Ralte (Sharon L. Krossa).
NOTE: See also the files: cl-Scotland-msg, cl-Scot-male-art, Scotland-msg, cloaks-msg, textiles-msg, fd-Scotland-msg, cl-Ireland-msg.
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NOTICE -
This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium.
These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author.
While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at florilegium.org
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----- Scottish Women's Clothing ----- last changed 16 June 1996 ('net version)
This is a standard response I have written to the question "What
clothing did medieval Scottish women wear?" The purpose is not to tell you
exactly what clothing to make, but rather to outline the issues concerned,
and to indicate the known references that discuss Scottish women's
clothing. If anyone has any suggestions for improving this standard
response, please e-mail me at skrossa at svpal.org.
Firstly, it is unfortunately true that very little has been published (or
even researched) about Scottish women's clothing. All Scottish clothing and
costuming books of which I am aware are primarily concerned with what men
wore, and, in particular, with the development of the kilt and 'clan
tartans' (most of which developments are post medieval, but I won't go into
that here ;-). However, several of the better Scottish (men's) clothing
books do tell us a little about women's clothing. These books are
particularly useful because they do not simply give their opinions on what
people wore, but rather present the primary evidence (graphical as well as
textual) as well as their interpretations of that evidence, allowing you to
judge for yourself how convincing their opinions are. Here are the
references to these books:
Dunbar, John Telfer. The Costume of Scotland. London: B. T. Batsford
Ltd., 1981. 1 vols
Dunbar, John Telfer. History of Highland Dress. Edinburgh: Oliver &
Boyd, 1962. 1 vols
McClintock, H. F. Old Irish and Highland Dress, and that of the Isle of
Man. Second and Enlarged ed. Dundalk: Dundalgan Press (W. Tempest) Ltd,
1950. 1 vols
McClintock, H. F. Old Irish and Highland Dress, with Notes on that of the
Isle of Man. Dundalk: W. Tempest, Dundalgan Press, 1943. 1 vols
Although it does not address the question of clothing, for a good, single
volume history of Scotland, try:
Lynch, Michael. Scotland: A New History. London: Pimlico, 1992. ISBN =
0-7126-9893-0
If anyone has any further references, primary or secondary, including any
paintings that portray Scottish women, please e-mail me at
skrossa at svpal.org and I will include them in the next draft.
"What clothing did medieval Scottish women wear?" is not actually a
question to which there is a single answer, because what women wore changed
over the 1000 years of the middle ages in Scotland just as it did elsewhere
in Europe. And, just as elsewhere in Europe, what women wore depended on
what social class they belonged to. In addition, at no time in the medieval
period was there a single, unified culture covering the entire area of what
is now Scotland, and as a result, what women wore depended very much on
which culture the women in question belonged to.
This last point bears emphasizing and further discussion. Most people are
aware of a concept of Scotland being culturally divided into Highlands and
Lowlands, with the Highlands being populated with Gaelic speakers and the
Lowlands being populated with Scots speakers (Scots being a cousin language
of English). Although this picture is not wholly inaccurate, it is only
really applicable from about the 14th century at earliest. The further back
in Scottish history you go, the less relevant and useful a simple cultural
division into Gaelic speaking Highlands and Scots speaking Lowlands
becomes. When you get back to the very early middle ages, it is completely
irrelevant, as the area that became Scotland had at that time at least half
a dozen different kingdoms and cultures, none of which corresponded to the
Highland and Lowland division. It is therefore necessary to do some
research into basic Scottish history, particularly the history of the
specific time and area you want your persona to be from, in order to
determine what sort of cultural influences they had, and therefore what
sort of clothing your persona might have worn. Even in the very late middle
ages, you need to be aware that where the physical border between Highland
and Lowland cultures lay was not fixed and unmoving, but was constantly
shifting, and continued to shift for centuries after 1600. Especially, do
not assume that where that border lies today is anywhere near where it was
in the middle ages! To further complicate matters, not everyone who had
lands in the Gaelic speaking highlands was necessarily either a Gaelic
speaker or part of highland Gaelic culture.
So, before you can answer "What clothing should my Scottish persona wear?"
you must answer four questions:
1 - Exactly when does your persona live?
2 - Exactly where in Scotland does your persona live?
3 - To which Scottish culture does your persona belong?
4 - To what class does your persona belong?
Here are some *very* general observations about Scottish medieval women's
clothing, which most especially should not be taken as gospel truth, nor
should they be acted on without further investigations! These are only some
ideas to get you started, but you should read the books referenced above
and any other reliable sources you may come across before setting out to
clothe your persona! (And some general Scottish history books wouldn't
hurt, either ;-)
Women living in the burghs (towns) were not part of Gaelic culture, and
would not have dressed as Gaels. In general, their clothing, it seems, was
very similar to that worn by women of similar class in England, France, or
other northern European kingdoms. English influence would have been at it's
lowest during wars with England in the 14th and parts of the 15th
centuries. This observation should be tempered by the fact that as a
general rule, Scots were poorer than their English or continental
counterparts, and by the fact that it would take time for the latest
fashions to reach Scotland. There were very probably a number of
differences between these Scottish and other European fashions, at any
given period of time, but at the moment, I don't think anyone knows exactly
what they were. One exception to this is that, at least in the 16th
century, burgh women were known to wear long rectangular (tartan) plaids as
shawls, which are described in the books referenced above. [Please note
that the idea of 'clan tartans' is not only a 19th century concept, but
women in towns did not belong to clans.]
Noble women, in the later middle ages, with certain exceptions including
some noble women from Gaelic culture, would also, it seems, have dressed
very similarly to women of similar class in England, France, and other
northern European kingdoms, with the same provisos as for burgh women
(i.e., poorer, later, etc.). It is possible (but not known) that noble
women's clothing would have had fewer differences from their English and
continental counterparts than burgh women's would have, as they probably
had more contact with other kingdoms and certainly they often had more
money.
Women living in Gaelic culture, sometimes even noblewomen, it seems, for
most of the middle ages would have dressed very similarly to how Irish
women dressed. In the very late middle ages, however, it appears that, just
as Scottish Gaelic men's clothing diverged from that of the Irish, that
Scottish Gaelic women's clothing also may have diverged. Unfortunately
there seems to be very little evidence about Scottish Gaelic women's
clothing. What does seem to be known is that at least in the late middle
ages, Gaelic women wore an earasaid (modern Scottish Gaelic spelling),
though exactly how is not clear, and married women wore the bre\id (modern
Scottish Gaelic spelling), which is a type of kerchief, though exactly how
is again unclear (at least to me!). [Please note that the idea of 'clan
tartans' is a 19th century concept.]
In the sixteenth century, noble women from the highest and richest Highland
families probably started dressing more like their Lowland sisters,
depending on if they belonged to one of the rich and powerful Highland
families that began to abandon Gaelic culture in favor of the Lowland
culture of court. With some research, it should be possible to discover
which families were likely to have done this.
There is some possibility that Highland nobles of the 15th or 16th century
would have worn Highland fashion while at home, but Lowland fashion if they
visited court. I suggest reading the known evidence and deciding this for
yourself.
Please note that I have not even begun to address several Scottish cultures
and classes whose women may have dressed quite differently from those
discussed above!
This should be enough to get your started :-)
Again, any suggestions for improvement, please e-mail me at skrossa at svpal.org
{In particular, I would like to know of WWW and other electronic sources
that give practical instructions for making period Scottish women's
clothing, so that they can be mentioned in this article}
Gook Luck!
Effric neyn Kenyeoch Vc Ralte, attempting to avoid typing the same thing
over and over!
------
Copyright 1996 by Sharon L. Krossa, <skrossa at svpal.org>. Please get permission from me before redistributing!
If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in
the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also
appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being
reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.
<the end>