"Jacobite" garb

[madman79764]

...to continue:

According to J. Telfer Dunbar, the earliest definitive image of the "little kilt" is in a portrait of Alasdair Ruadh MacDonnell of Glengarry, dated to the early 1740's. In the painting, Glengarry himself is wearing a belted plaid, but his henchman to the rear has on a philabeg:



It's a bit hard to see, but those who have seen the original describe that kilt as being pleated in its entire circumference, common to the period. Now, that all-round neat pleating would be rather hard to achieve by throwing 4 yards of fabric out on the ground, hand-pleating it, and belting it on - the way modern reenactors don their "great kilts." A drawstring or pleats stitched into place seems more likely.

But, I'm just speculating (gasp!)....

I have a question regarding how this praticular period kilt was closed was it with buttons or just a belt?

[Woodsheal]

I have a question regarding how this praticular period kilt was closed was it with buttons or just a belt?

Again, we don't know for sure! Belts, buttons, pins, drawstrings, etc are all possibilities, but conjectural....

[Colonel MacNeal]

Woodsheal,
It looks like the same flintlock in both photos. Surely that's not right with a span of 57 years?
What flintlock is that?
Cheers, ColMac

[Jock Scot]

Woodsheal,
It looks like the same flintlock in both photos. Surely that's not right with a span of 57 years?
What flintlock is that?
Cheers, ColMac

Nothing unusual there. The "Brown Bess" musket ,the official musket of the British army in its various forms, was used by them from about 1720 to 1838.

[Woodsheal]

Woodsheal,
It looks like the same flintlock in both photos. Surely that's not right with a span of 57 years?
What flintlock is that?
Cheers, ColMac

It's a Dutch piece. The Scots imported lots of stuff from the Low Countries through their eastern seaports.

As for age, a span of 57 years in the life of a gun is not unusual for that period. Obsolescence is a modern concept! Muskets from the 1690s were still being used by colonists during the American Revolution....

[macwilkin]

It's a Dutch piece. The Scots imported lots of stuff from the Low Countries through their eastern seaports.

As for age, a span of 57 years in the life of a gun is not unusual for that period. Obsolescence is a modern concept! Muskets from the 1690s were still being used by colonists during the American Revolution....

Not to mention all of the percussion conversion flintlocks that were issued to state volunteer troops at the beginning of the Civil War.

T.

[JRB]

Awesome pics, Brian. Do you know how often in period dress the tartans and colors were matched (as yours are) versus being a variety of mismatched tartans and colors? I've often heard of outfits of that era being described as a "tartan mess".

[Woodsheal]

Awesome pics, Brian. Do you know how often in period dress the tartans and colors were matched (as yours are) versus being a variety of mismatched tartans and colors? I've often heard of outfits of that era being described as a "tartan mess".

Mixing of tartans in one outfit was most common, as you can easily see in the Morier painting of Culloden. My son in this pic is wearing 4 different tartans:



(BTW, the lochaber-axe armed ghillie is displaying a common look for a clan's "commoners." Highlanders were not always averse to donning britches, all mythology aside!)

In some period images, like the MacDonald boys earlier in this thread, it might appear at first glance that one tartan is being worn, because of a common background color, but a closer look reveals different setts. (BTW, bright red tartans were a status symbol, the rich color derived from an expensive imported dyestuff called cochineal.)

[JSFMACLJR]

Mixing of tartans in one outfit was most common, as you can easily see in the Morier painting of Culloden. My son in this pic is wearing 4 different tartans:

I'm glad to see your son is wearing what looks to be the MacLean of Duart Red Muted, woven by the house of Edgar. Do you know if there is any historical evidence that this tartan was worn in 1746?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I'm glad to see your son is wearing what looks to be the MacLean of Duart Red Muted, woven by the house of Edgar. Do you know if there is any historical evidence that this tartan was worn in 1746?

The earliest example of MacLean of Duart on record is in the Cockburn Collection (c. 1810-1815). However, the House of Edgar's muted color range comes rather close to some late eighteenth century/early nineteenth century natural dyed tartans I have seen, so it's great for reenacting pre-analine dye periods.