HIGHLANDS 



711 



the Highland and Agricultural Society ; HKHKIDKM and 

 articles on tin- several Highland counties and inland*; A. 

 <;.-iki.-'* .v, n, ,11 of Scotland (2d ed. 1887); l)r JanuH 

 MIOSN n. ''s /fistory ofttif HiijMandtandtheHiyhltind Clan* 

 (4 v.ls. 1838; re-edited by J. 8. Keltie, 2 voln. WO; tlu- 

 ^mile-books by Anderson, Black, Baddeloy, Murray; tlio 

 l>uke of Argyll's Scotland a* it vxu and at it it ( 1887 ). 



HIGHLAND COSTUME. There is little doubt 

 alxmt the antiquity of the 'garb of old Gaul,' 

 although several writers liave adopted the thi-ory 

 that the kilt was introduced by an Englishman 

 arly in the 18th century. The idea tliat the 

 kilt is modern seems to have originated with 

 a writer in the Scots Magazine in 1798. The 

 original dress of the Highlander was the Celtic 

 Fetle-breacan (or belted plaid). This was a piece 

 of tartan cloth, 2 yards broad and 4 long, 

 which was drawn round the waist in nicely 

 adjusted folds, and tightly buckled with a belt. 

 The lower part came down to the knees in much 

 the same manner as the modern kilt, while 

 the upper part was drawn up and adjusted to the 

 .left shoulder, so that the right arm might be 

 perfectly free. This upper part was the plaid, 

 which was used as a covering for the shoulders and 

 body in wet weather ; 'and when the use of both 

 arms was required it was fastened across the 

 breast with a brooch, often curiously enriched. A 

 brooch was also used to fasten the plaid on the 

 left shoulder. To attire himself in the belted 

 plaid required on the part of the Highlander no 

 small amount of dexterity. The usual way was to 

 lay it on the floor, and after carefully arranging 

 the folds, to lie down upon it, and then buckle it on. 

 The late J. F. Campbell of Islay, who had a kilt 

 and plaid in one made for a fancy-ball at Bucking- 

 ham Palace, had to adopt this plan lying down 

 on the outstretched cloth, gathering the folds up 

 and round his waist, and then securing them in 

 position by a belt. The lower end was fastened at 

 the right hip. The same arrangement may be 

 seen in a figure by George Jameson of the Earl of 

 Moray engraved in Lord Archibald Campbell's 

 Records of Argyll. 



The utility of such a dress in the Highlands is 

 obvious, for the plaid rendered the man indifferent 

 to storms, and prepared to pass a night in the open 

 Air in the most inclement weather, while the loose 

 undergarment enabled him to wade rivers or ascend 

 mountains with equal ease. It was thus peculiarly 

 adapted to the warrior, the hunter, and the 

 shepherd. If benighted, the Highlander of old 

 would dip his plaid in water, and then wrap it 

 round him, the woollen cloth swollen with moisture 

 being supposed to resist the wind, while the 

 exhalations from the body during sleep surrounded 

 him with a warm vapour. Heron's History of 

 Xi-ntlawl says that 'in Argyle and the Hebridie, 

 before the middle of the fifteenth century, tartan 

 Mas manufactured of one or two colours for the 

 poor; more varied for the rich.' The author of 

 < 'n-fiii/ne Matters concerning Scotland, who wrote 

 prior to 1597, said of the Highlanders that ' they 

 delight in marbled cloths especially that have 

 long stripes of sundrie colours ; they love chiefly 

 purple and blue.' The particular setts, or patterns 

 of tartans which distinguish each clan, must have 

 lieen fixed before 1645, probably before KKX). 

 Martin says that every tribe and every island 

 differed from the rest in the fancy of making 

 plaids, as to the stripes in breadth and colours. 

 Tartans may generally be divided into green and 

 red according as these colours predominate. The 

 word is held by Skeat to l>e derived from the 

 Fr. teretaine, a kind of linsey-woolsey cloth. 

 Lord Lome in 1889 discovered at Inveraray old 

 records of the clan Campbell which make frequent 

 mention of tartans ; and tartans worn at the battle 



of K iky th (1645)'have been Keen by living wit- 



The Feile-breacan is now abandoned for the Frile- 

 beay (philtilnf or lilileg) a- more convenient. Tin- 

 ilitl'erence in simply this, that, whereas formerly the 

 lower and up|H-r parts of the drew* were atta--h-il. 

 they are now separated. The lower part hax the 

 folds fixed by sewing, and i- known at* the kilt, 

 which is probably akin to the Danish / i/t, , to tuck 

 up,' though the Gaelic milt im-ann apparel in 

 general. The shoulder-plaid, however, is now worn 

 more for ornament than use. 



The original garb of the Highlander)*, then, was 

 the Feile-breacan, and both in it* materials and 

 arrangement it was peculiarly the invention of the 

 Gael. Other articles of the costume were Celtic, 

 and are now peculiar to Scotland, but were not 

 distinctively Highland. The truis or 'trews' were 

 worn by gentlemen when on horseback, and occa- 

 sionally by others, especially old men. They were 

 breeches and stockings in one piece, always of 

 tartan, and made to fit very close to the limbs. 

 General Stewart (1822) said that his grandfather 

 always wore the trews on horseback, and the kilt 

 at home. Then there was worn a waistcoat and 

 short-coat, each adorned with silver buttons, and, 

 in the case of gentlemen, with lace and embroidery. 

 A large purse of goats' or badgers' skin was sus- 

 pended from the belt, and answered the purpose 

 of a pocket. This was the sjwrran, usually 

 ornamented with silver or brass work and tassels. 

 Brogues and tartan stockings, fastened with 

 broad garters in rich colours ; a dirk, with a 

 knife and fork, and sometimes a spoon, stuck 

 in the side of the sheath, and a pair of pistols 

 completed the attire. That of the common people 

 differed only in the deficiency of colours and of 

 silver ornaments. The Highland garb was pro- 

 scribed in 1747, when it was enacted that any 

 person who should wear the plaid, filibeg, trews, 

 or shoulder-belts, tartans or parti-coloured stuffs, 

 should be imprisoned six months for the first 

 offence, and on second conviction be transported 

 for seven years. This harsh law was repealed in 

 1782 at the instance of the Duke of Montrose. In 

 this act occurs the first formal record of the ' kilt. ' 



Gentlemen, says Stewart, wore one or more 

 feathers in the bonnet, and the common people a 

 tuft of heather, pine, holly, or oak. All, however, 

 had the right to a solitary eagle's plume, whereas 

 only the son of a chief could wear two plumes, and 

 a chief of a clan, three. This was the old clan 

 rule. 



The plumed bonnet of the Highland regiments, 

 according to Lord Archibald Campbell, who headed 

 the successful opposition to its proposed addition 

 (1884), is an adaptation from the knights of medi- 

 eval Europe. On the island of Inishail, Loch Awe, 

 there is on a tombstone (of 16th century) a 

 figure, with long sweeping ostrich plumes such 

 as those worn by German knights in Burer's draw- 

 ings. Similar plumes were also worn by the Earl 

 of Moray in Charles II. 's time, and there are also 

 examples of it in The Black Book of Tuimtouth. 

 Logan says that the Highland soldiers wore short 

 plumes at the side of the Inmnet. The head-dress 

 of the first Highland infantry regiment raised was a 

 simple black cap, with a tuft of feathers added in 

 token of gentility and the right to bear arms. From 

 this the feather-bonnet seems to have gradually 

 developed, and is now one of the most cherished 

 distinctions of the Highland regiments. When in 

 1884 the War Office proposed to aliolish it there 

 was quite a storm of indignation aroused, and 

 testimony was produced in abundance that as a 

 military headgear it is light, cool, durable, more 

 serviceable, more economical, and more picturesque 

 than the ' bearskin ' of the Guards. 



