Ok, I have been researching this subject matter out a lot.......or should I say I have been asking who I consider to be experts in this era. This will be long, but this is what all I have been told by the research they have done. Might be some other tidbits in there too! Highlanders riding Shetland ponies!
Ok, here are the answers:
First quote:
"First clue to the answer is the web page you cite ... it provides
information on Renaissance Armies ... not late 18th century armies. So the information is for armies some 100 to 250 years before our period. The saffron shirt referenced in the web site is well documented for Irish and Scots from that earlier period but not for the Highland Regiments in the English Military establishment in the late 18th century. Also, the single image on the web site that indicates a highlander wearing only the shirt does not in any way suggest that ALL highlanders dressed this way, only that this was one form of dress documented. So, yes, at some earlier time, some highlanders did go into battle wearing only a saffron shirt knotted between their legs ... but
that information has no bearing on what the Highland Regiments wore in North America in the 18th century. However, it does indicate that highland soldiers did at times dress in something other than a belted plaid on the field of battle. For our period, that is well documented for the regiments in North America that switched to trousers or overalls for field operations."
Second quote:
"Ummmmmmmm... Highland SOLDIERS wore what their
commanders told them to wear, or they were flogged.
Highland CIVILIANS wore whatever they wanted, though
the kilt was still illegal during the 1770s and early
1780s. If they wanted to go around in their shirts,
I'm sure they could. As long as they didn't leave their
house."
Third quote:
"I'll let the tartan guys answer the question about battleground identification (my guess is that they'll tell you identification was done more by plant badges than by thread count, with a brief allusion to regional native dyes being of peripheral use in identifying where someone's wool might have come from). Trying to ID tartan on the fly with smoke all around is an exercise in futility, especially when nothing was standardised. "
Fourth quote:
"I just can't believe that no one's yet figured out that the "shirt tied between the legs" thing was invented by female reenactors solely for the purpose of convincing men to get their kit off more often."
Fifth quote:
"The Highlanders did not throw off their plaids and kilts to fight in battles. The one noteworthy instance Henrik mentions from the 1500's WAS noteworthy because of how unusual the occasion was - a very hot day. (Battle of the Shirts at Killicrankie)
The Black Watch charged the French lines at Ticonderoga in the middle of July 1758, and did not take off their plaids... and there is no mention of such a practice during the Jacobite period a decade earlier. "
RE: Did Highlanders ride Shetland ponies instead?!
First quote:
"Probably not Shetland Ponies per se, but highland ponies...bigger and heavier than island ponies. I always got the impression that they were not primarily for riding, but could be ridden if needed...more of an all-around use animal. Thus endeth my knowledge of garrons, but yes, they were in fact ponies...they keep easier and are sturdier than larger horses, just more economical."
Second quote:
"The plaid, along with (later) the philabeg, were the everyday, workaday outdoors dress of the highlanders in pre-Proscription times. One should not attach romantic "warrior garb" status to these items, as they were worn by cattle drovers, boatmen, oat farmers, ghillies, and any others who spent most of their time employed out-of-doors in that culture. For the poor clansman, his plaid was worn and worked in all day, slept in all night, and became rather nastily odorous!
Third quote:
As Henrik says, these fellows were not averse to donning typical knee-breeches either. but for "in-the-field" usage, bare legs were preferred in the wet, heathery, boggy environment of the Highlands. That's why the kilt evolved there, afterall (Celts having always been a trouser wearing people).
And, I do recall a period reference to clansmen going about in only their shirt-tails, but only at home and in one's own house. Perhaps it was in Burt's "Letters"....
"I would also be willing to go along with partial disrobing around the home...it's pretty well accepted that women would shed some layers of clothing when working at home, why not men? And I know I've read of visitors being appalled by highlanders/islanders going outside naked in the mornings to heed the call of nature (and to pass the time until the smoke from the fire got above chest level indoors). That said, it was a cold era in a cold climate, and my thought is that sweltering days did not happen terribly often. Add to this that not everyone lived in a remote and isolated area that was untraveled, and in such cases, would likely have maintained some sort of decorum.
And yes, I definitely agree that breeches were more prevalent than thought, particularly in the northeast and the Trossachs. We know that MacGregor of Glencarnoch had some very fancy battle clothes made (or at least ordered the fabric for such), notably breeches, drawers, and boot hose, without a scrap of plaid in the order; I doubt that he was a lone breeches-wearing whacko in the Jacobite army. If he was, he was a goshdarned well-dressed whacko living far beyond his means.
Personally, I can say that every engraving or representation of highland blacksmiths I've seen shows them wearing breeches and chaps (ever try to shoe a horse in a kilt??)...and that fact alone is enough to get one in double-deep trouble with some reenactor-types ("noooooooooo, they all wore kilts!!!") . The plaid is a remarkably utilitarian garment, well-suited to the environment in which it was used (and IMO, it shouldn't really be thought of as anything else from a sociological standpoint...I am notably unromantic), but I'm pretty convinced that it could be (and was) replaced by more suitable clothing when circumstances dictated. "
"Sorry Brian, I think you're right. The "warrior-garb" thing must have been some later notion because of its' use in the Army etc.
I didn't know about the clansmen walking about in their shirttails. Interesting. These clansmen must have been either of the mid-ranker or rear-ranker sort, then..? I find it hard to believe that any Highland Gentleman would do it. After all, they were peacocks with a sence of both fashion and, as our Webmistress said, decorum.
Is there any modern print of the "Letters..." by Burt available? "
"Well, regarding shoes...there was more than one way to come by shoes. There's a great story about the MacGregors of Glengyle during the 1715 rebellion...they noticed a large group of whigs exiting a church, very well-dressed, and so walked over and "requested" their shoes, waiting while the rich gentlemen sat down on the curb to remove them. Now, most of these sort of stories are largely romantic twaddle, but it does make the point that shoes didn't have to be bought to be worn. Women went largely barefoot around home, but generally put on some sort of shoes to go out and about. I don't think that it's possible to say "everyone wore gillies" or "everyone had buckled shoes," I think modern interpretation is more a matter of what each of us is willing or able to put up with. I can't go barefoot because I am allergic to bees and would rather not step on one...so even when I'm doing po'folk, I have hard-soled shoes on...I know that it's not really as accurate as it could be, but I have to work within my abilities and what I feel comfortable doing. "
"As far as men in shirttails, I think that there were far fewer "highland gentlemen" than we assume. Most (at least IMO) may have been gentlemen of circumstance in a military situation, but at home with the wife and kids, they were just another guy like everyone else. And remember...even now, the same guy who wears a three-piece suit to work comes home to his wife and changes into sweatpants. We're less formal at home, and I think that holds through history to some extent or another. "
"Since the Vicar's shared his philosophy, I'll add my own rule of thumb (which I think I may have filched from WH Murray...either him or Hamilton Howlett): When two opinions on the same subject are diametrically opposed and deeply held, it's likely that neither is the whole truth, and the real truth of the matter lies somewhere in the middle. We all have our own personal filters and prejudices on history that draw us toward one side or the other of that middle ground....I think the key is identifying where our own leanings are, and why we have them, because then we can think around our own minds and see the big picture. "
"Edited to add: I am also deeply cynical about documentaries, especially ones that use volunteer reenactors or footage of reenactments, just because there's no central authority to coordinate and balance the costumes properly. Then again, Tim says that seeing a costume film with me is like being in "Mystery Science Theater 3000" because I riff on the inaccuracies so badly.
In the past, the Highlanders certainly threw off their plaids before charging (Memoirs of Mareshal Keith). Whether they continued doing so in the ‘45 is harder to prove. Prebble mentions this practice but I can only find one primary source reference (Lockhart). Given the many surviving descriptions of Prestonpans and Culloden, I am surprised that no one mentions the Highlanders throwing down their plaids and charging in their shirts. "
