Ghillie brogues - why the dislike and resentment..?

[OC Richard]

I've noticed over the years that many people simply accept that Ghillie-type shoes of some sort have always been around, that they're "traditional" in the sense of continuous documented use to earliest times.

So...where do modern ideas of "ancient Highland dress" come from?

We know it well: the brawny Highlander, with skimpy pirate-ish shirt (or sometimes shirtless), Ghillie-moccasin footwear, or barefoot with calves covered by footless hose, targe on his back, brandishing a big sword.

Obviously this image doesn't come from actual 17th and 18th century portraits, because the dress seen in the actual sources doesn't look anything like that.

And for all their influence with Clan Chiefs and all their success at getting their newly-invented tartans accepted as genuine and ancient, not the Allen Brothers.

Because, in my opinion, the outfits they show in their 1845 book The Costume of the Clans were just too bizarre and absurd to be taken seriously.



As it turns out the Allen Brothers weren't the only Englishmen adopting Scottish aliases and impacting the course of the public's perception of Highland Dress.

Behold the London-raised actor, set background painter, and costume designer Robert Jones. In 1834 he joined the Gaelic Society of London, met the Allen Brothers, and restyled Robert Ranald McIan began painting and exhibiting works concerning Scottish mythology and folklore.

I believe that it's his illustrations for James Logan's 1845 book Clans of the Scottish Highlands which have had the greatest influence on how "ancient Highlanders" looked. (They've been cited more than once in this thread.)



Thing is, the first appearance of the things he shows is in this very book. Where did they come from? Possibly the Allen Brothers had some influence, but most of it probably comes from Jones' background in acting and designing costumes for the English stage. (Jones was famous for his stage "Highlander" character.)

[OC Richard]

Leap forward to the early 20th century and the first edition of The Scottish Tartans published by W & AK Johnston.

I have three copies, all having identical text, the internal evidence indicating a date between 1916 and 1921.

However the illustrations evidently showing modern current Highland Dress are rather out-of-date, showing the fully-laced doublets popular in the 1890s. (I haven't been able to identify the artist.)

More germane to this discussion are the illustrations apparently purporting to show "ancient" Highlanders. As we can see they're often wearing a mix of the then-current styles and imagined "ancient" styles seemingly derived from McIan.



The illustrations showing the current modern Highland Dress were already seriously out of date by WWI, so sometime in the interwar years new illustrations by William Semple were commissioned.

Up until after WWII these books didn't carry publishing dates, so it's impossible to know when the Semple illustrations were done. The illustrations showing current modern Highland Dress show the dress of the 1920s and 1930s though it appears the book's publishing was delayed until 1945.

Concerning us here are the illustrations purporting to show "ancient' Highlanders, which appear to show more McIan influence than the illustrations of the first edition.

This book, with these interwar illustrations, has gone through numerous editions and is probably still in print. I think it's these, and the McIan illustrations, which have had the greatest influence on the public imagination.

[figheadair]

Richard,

Have a look too at the drawings in Clanland published by the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company in 1928. Illustrations by D. W. Stewart, he of Old and Rare Scottish Tartans.

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[OC Richard]

Setting aside for a moment the fact that, at least in iconography, we can't trace Ghillie Brogues further back than the Allen Brothers and Robert Jones, let's just look at how often they're seen at one event, Oban.

Here are six images, the exact dates of some of them not known to me.

We're going from around 1930 up to fairly recently.

Note than in the interwar years Ghillies are fairly common, but began falling from favour in the post-WWII era.

Also notice how the fawn and oatmeal hose of the interwar years have given way to the Lovats in the 1950s which have been recently joined by darker and stronger colours.

Despite these details, the overall gestalt is that Traditional Highland Dress hasn't changed much over the last century.

[Jock Scot]

Setting aside for a moment the fact that, at least in iconography, we can't trace Ghillie Brogues further back than the Allen Brothers and Robert Jones, let's just look at how often they're seen at one event, Oban.

Here are six images, the exact dates of some of them not known to me.

We're going from around 1930 up to fairly recently.

Note than in the interwar years Ghillies are fairly common, but began falling from favour in the post-WWII era.

Also notice how the fawn and oatmeal hose of the interwar years have given way to the Lovats in the 1950s which have been recently joined by darker and stronger colours.

Despite these details, the overall gestalt is that Traditional Highland Dress hasn't changed much over the last century.

I think that you have the picture time line about right there OCR, perhaps the top left one might be a tad earlier, but not enough to matter. Going off topic a tad, it’s interesting and striking that the headwear is common in all the pictures. I see a “deer stalker” as an exception, in one of the pictures but generally the bonnet choice is a common choice for nearly all of those marching. These days I suspect the front rank of a similar march today would wear a bonnet and the following ranks, even in inclement weather would be mostly bare-headed.

[JPS]

I think that you have the picture time line about right there OCR, perhaps the top left one might be a tad earlier, but not enough to matter. Going off topic a tad, it’s interesting and striking that the headwear is common in all the pictures. I see a “deer stalker” as an exception, in one of the pictures but generally the bonnet choice is a common choice for nearly all of those marching. These days I suspect the front rank of a similar march today would wear a bonnet and the following ranks, even in inclement weather would be mostly bare-headed.

What's more, I'd wager that several of these are the exact same bonnets, photographed multiple times over many years. I recognize at least one of them, worn by the Duke of Argyll.

[OC Richard]

What's more, I'd wager that several of these are the exact same bonnets, photographed multiple times over many years. I recognize at least one of them, worn by the Duke of Argyll.

Right, it's the same event (Oban) and the same people can be traced from photo to photo in several cases.

There's quite a time leap from the 1930s to the 1950s to the 1990s and then more recent.

All told, nearly a century.

[OC Richard]

It’s interesting and striking that the headwear is common in all the pictures. I see a “deer stalker” as an exception in one of the pictures but generally the bonnet choice is a common choice for nearly all of those marching. These days I suspect the front rank of a similar march today would wear a bonnet and the following ranks, even in inclement weather would be mostly bare-headed.

About the bonnets, what I haven't posted are the photos from all those years of the crowd of competing solo pipers (as opposed to a Pipe Band) marching in, and those also exclusively show Balmoral bonnets up till around 1980 when a smattering of Glengarries start to appear.

Also the pipers, like the Stewards, are all in tweed jackets till one piper appears in a black Argyll around 1980.

It always strikes me as odd how few people in the piping community realise how recent the black Argyll + Glengarry + Ghillie kit is.

(I guess it shows how old I am, to regard the 1980s as 'recent'!)

[JPS]

About the bonnets, what I haven't posted are the photos from all those years of the crowd of competing solo pipers (as opposed to a Pipe Band) marching in, and those also exclusively show Balmoral bonnets up till around 1980 when a smattering of Glengarries start to appear.

Also the pipers, like the Stewards, are all in tweed jackets till one piper appears in a black Argyll around 1980.

It always strikes me as odd how few people in the piping community realise how recent the black Argyll + Glengarry + Ghillie kit is.

(I guess it shows how old I am, to regard the 1980s as 'recent'!)

Here's an old video of the Glenfinnan Piping Competition that illustrates this well. There's also a decent survey of footwear here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThNNSd3Xf5o