Cultural Dress v.2.2

by Searles O'Dubhain & Iain Mac an tSaoir

National Dress

We do not refer to the items of clothing used by our ancestors as costumes, regalia, or garb. Neither do we refer to these items as such when we wear our cultural dress. They are, in fact, national dress. These are part of the customs of our ancestors, which, because they are still in use, are quite living. In the Tribe we recognize the various types of national dress, as having belonged to Gaelic peoples, as National dress of the Tribe.

Even our relatives in the old countries still assign the proper respect due them. As an example, I am reminded of the story of a costume ball which was thrown at Buckingham Palace some years ago. Prince Charles, in regal form proudly came in after all had arrived and the ball started. His "costume" was a formal wear of the Kilt, which is the National Dress of Scotland. The reception he received by the people there was extremely cold. So much so that he very shortly left in embarrassment. This is serious stuff. It is the legacy of our ancestors to us and part of what distinguishes us as a distinct people of a distinct culture.

The following is but a brief treatment of a very complex topic. Some areas of this topic are still sources of contention between learned people.

Irish

When we wish to look for the ways of our Gaelic ancestors, the first place to look is Ireland. There are several sources through which we gain a glimpse back to see what our ancestors wore. One of the most common places is the Book of Kells whose illuminations give pictures of modes of dress. Other places are the descriptions given by chroniclers, as well as the carvings of people on ancient churches. The types of clothing ranged wide in old Irish society. If one were to be able to peer back in time they would see the several articles of clothing in use. These would include the, inar and trews, brahts [cloaks and mantles], leine and leinte. The Irish loved their clothes to be brightly colored. The materials they used ranged from animal skins to silks and linen, to wool.

No Irish Kilt -

It is a complete misnomer that the kilt in any guise was found in Ireland. There is however, still a bit of contention on whether there was an indigenous Irish kilt. Some utilze old sculptures and other things to authenticate the existence of kilts amongst the Irish. Other look at the words in the language itself. The Dictionary of the Irish Language (DIL) says that an Old Irish word for kilt is "celt" and that the ancient Irish were known to wear a piece of clothing called a brecca/n. This is a plaid by another name. As to whether it was belted, no one has said, but it is known that it was sometimes worn with the long shirt called a le/ine. The brecca/n would be called a breacan-an-fhe/ilidh among the Gael of Alba (when worn with a belt).

The respected authority on Irish dress of the middle ages, H.F. McClintock weighed in against the kilt being part of the indigenous wear of Ireland. Most of those with the expertise to make such judgements now concur that what is portrayed is actually the leinebunched up under a belt.

Leine & Leinte - The leine itself is a unisex garment as it was won by members of both genders. It was an article of clothing similar to a moderately cut chamise or smock, which reached to the ankles. It was usually made of linen. When the skilled and dignified wore it, it was pulled on over the head like a long shirt, hung as low as the shins, and was very full, if not pleated, under the belt. Peasants who wore the garment considerable shorter.

It was the custom drawing the garment up through the belt to knee-level, with the subsequent bunching that caused it to be mistaken for a kilt.

Kevin Donaher quotes a visiting Englishman as he described the dress this way in 1581:

"Their shirts be very strange
Not reaching past the thigh;
With pleats they pleated are
As thick as pleats may be"

Inar & Trews -

The Inar is a close-fitting jacket that was worn with and without sleeves. It was worn with a pair of trews (not over a léine). The high waisted versions found in the 16 century were a latter development. The trews were close fitting, with some having legs that stopped right above the knee, others which fastened just below the knee, and yet others had stirrups which went under the instep. This mode of dress seems to have been worn by the younger men and those who engaged in hard activities. The styles of the trews differed. The Book of Kells shows examples of these mode of dress being worn by a soldier.

Brahts -

The braht is simply woolen cloak. There were various versions of them. These ranged from the rather voluminous rectangles worn over the shoulder to something that looks like a cape. There even appears from evidence to have been a version that was formed as a half circle (half circle cloak), this had arm holes and was worn with and without hoods. Another version of the braht was the simple square mantle. In the earliest days the mantle was worn by those of rank, seems to have contained the various colors that the Ilbreachta Law specified. The earliest Irish Filidh wore cloaks of birds' feathers called tugen. These later evolved into the mantle which displayed colors according to the law.

Unfortunately, we have found nothing to date which covers this topic for our cousins from the Isle of Man.

Scotland

The various garments associated with Irish, are also the modes of dress of ancient Scottish Gaelic culture. The Gaels of Scotland came over through the Dal Riadh from Ireland. This did happen, of course, after Christianity came to Ireland.

Tartan

While the tartan kilt may be the most visually recognizable cultural tradition of the Highland Scots, the more recognizable tartans seen today are in fact creations of Scottish and English tailors during the reign of Queen Victoria. This aside, it is generally agreed that the use of the tartan and the wearing of the kilt do have their origin in the history of the early Scottish and Irish clanns, or families.

It has been shown that some clans did aspire to a certain uniformity of design for their garments at least as early as the tenth and eleventh centuries. The use of plaid materials may be pushed back further amongst Celtic peoples in general. The Breacan literally means "speckled", this helps connect it to the description Pliny gave of the much earlier Celtic ancestors. Today though, through the agencies set up under English domination, the patterns or sett's, are used to identify the clann or military regiment with which the wearer is associated. It is generally thought, however, that the first tartans were the result of individual weavers own designs, then were slowly adopted to identify individual districts, then finally clans and families.

The first recorded effort to enforce uniformity throughout an entire clan was in 1618, when Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun, wrote to Murry of Pulrossie requesting that he bring the plaids worn by his men into "harmony with that of his other septs."

Although the kilt is the most widely known use of the tartans, it is also used the form of trews, shawls, and skirts.

Kilt

No one knows exactly when the predecessor of the kilt, the belted plaid, was first developed. The first reference to something that may have, in fact, been a belted plaid, was by Pliny. In his writings there is found a statement that the Celts wore many colored squares of cloth that they held on with a belt, but which they removed before going into battle. The description of the material as many colored hits too close to what the Gaelic word for tartan literally means, "speckled", to be a coincidence.

Some believe that the kilt arose around 1600 and derive from Scottish soldiers belting their braht around their waste. Another school of thought says that it is from an older belted plaid that the filamor or "great kilt" originated. There is a version of the kilt for women, it is called the aresaid. The belted plaid is made of 100 inches x 7-9 yards of material. The kilts on the other hand are made of 60 inch wide x 5-7 yards of material.

The kilt actually has two components. The first is actually that which exists below the belt and the other that above. That part below the belt is the kilt proper. That above the belt is called the "plaid". Worn with the kilt are items which are present day requirements. Amongst these are the sporran, which is a leather pouch, often with a horse hair flap, and always with three tassles. There is a casual approach to wearing the kilt as well as methods for wearing the kilt as formal wear. There is, in fact, quite a bit of etiquette involved in the proper wearing of the kilt in the modern world.

Brief History Of The Kilt

After 1688, and the fall of the Stuart clann, Jacobism spread across the Highlands like wild fire. This caused the English government to feel the need to take a more active interest in the Highland affairs.

In 1707, The Act of Union took place. This Act succeeded in temporarily uniting the political factions and clanns that were universally opposed to the Act. The tartan became a symbol of active nationalism and was seen by the nobility to be a sign par excellance of extremism. It is also believed that this act of parliament succeeded to some extent in the uniting of the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands. This because the wearing of the tartan spread from the Highlands to the Lowlands, which had previously not been known for their wearing of the tartan.

After the rising of 1715, the Government found the need to enforce stricter policing of the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands. A number of independent companies were formed to curtail the various small uprisings and otherdisturbances which occurred frequently. One of the features that distinguished their recruits were the large number of highland gentlemen that enlisted and chose to serve in the private ranks. Many an English officer wassurprised to see these Scottish privates attended by personal servants who carried their food, clothing, and weapons. From the time they were first raised, these independent regiments became known as the Black Watch, in reference to the darkly colored tartans they were known to wear. One of the more famous tales of these Highland companies is told about King George, who had never seen a Highland warrior. Three privates were chosen and sent to London to be presented to the King. The King was so impressed with the skill with which they wielded their broad swords and lochaber axes that he presented them each with a guinea. This was quite insulting to a Highland gentleman, but they could not refuse the gift. They accepted the gift as good manners dictated, but as they left they each flipped it in disgust to the porter as they passed the palace gates.

In 1726 an English iron magnate redesigned the filimor into the filibeg.

In 1740, the independent military companies became a formal regiment, and a formal tartan was created for them. This was quite problematic as they had to choose a tartan which wouldn't insult certain clanns, or seem to favor others. Finally, a new tartan was developed which has ever since been known as the Black Watch Tartan. The Black Watch Tartan was the first documented tartan to be known by an official name and possesses the authenticity of a full pedigree. From this tartan have been derived all of the Highland regimental tartan designsand many of the hunting setts worn by other clanns.

In 1746, the same year as the Bonnie Prince's defeat at Culloden, the Government enacted a law making it illegal for Highlanders to own or possess weapons. By the same act, a Highlander was forbidden to own a horse worth more than 2 Pounds. Even the Bagpipes were outlawed, they being considered an instrument of war. A year later, the Dress Act restricted the wearing of traditional Highland clothes and all forms of plaid - filimor, belted plaid, trews, shoulder belt, or filibeg - were not to be worn in public. There was harsh punishment for disregarding these laws. Punishment for a first offense was six-months imprisonment, a second offense earned the wearer a seven year stint of indentured servitude in one of the colonies. Only those who served in the army were permitted to wear the plaid, and as a result, it is told that many Highlanders enlisted simply to be allowed to wear their more comfortable traditional dress. The traditional great kilt was in use commonly up to the banning of traditional Highland wear. It was the filibeg that was sustained through military service (Black Watch). In fact, most recognizable features and traditions associated with the wearing of the kilt were developed in the nineteenth century, not by Scottish Highlanders, but by the Nobles of England and Scotland.

The Dress Act was repealed in 1783. The plaid now became more of a fashion experiment for the elite of English society. Between the time of the Dress Act and the repeal many Highlanders rebelled by wearing their tartans anyway. Their reasoning was that since Lord Hardwicke, the man who drafted this law, was dead, that the law no longer applied.

Sumptuary Laws, Gaelic Color Usage -Basic Format -

We also find our knowledge being added to by the laws of the time and in particular the Ilbreachta Laws which is an ancient sumptuary law. This set of laws determines the colors of used in clothing. With this system the people could display their accomplishments and position. The basic format according to Brehon Law is as follows:

Ard Righ - Seven colors

Nemed (Druids, Churchmen, Lords, Poets) - Six colors.

Provincial Chiefs - Five colors.

A Bruiden or Wealthy Landowner - Four colors.

A Warrior - Three colors.

A Peasant - Two colors

A Slave - One color.

At least one source (Story of the Irish Race) states that Tighernmas (900 BCE) introduced the colors saffron, blue and green to Ireland from trading with the Phoenicians. He also was said to have established the numbers and types of colors that could be worn by the different classes of Irish society. According to both Peter Beresford Ellis (Irish Mythology) and William and Mary Durning ( A Guide to Irish Roots) , Tigernmas "The Lord of Death" introduced the colored system of clothing. I'd like to suggest these colors for the different levels of Irish society:Ard Righ - Seven colors: Purple, white, black, blue, red, green, yellow. (These are also the colors of the Royal Stewart Tartan in Scotland.)

Nemed (Druids, Churchmen, Lords, Poets) - Six colors: white, black, blue,red, green, yellow.

Provincial Chiefs - Five colors: black, blue, red, green, yellow.

A Bruiden or Wealthy Landowner - Four colors: blue, red, green, yellow.

A Warrior - Three colors: red, green, yellow.

A Peasant - Two colors: green, yellow.

A Slave - One color: yellow.

According to the Cain Law, the dath was proscribed as follows: satin and scarlet for the sons of king; black yellowish, grey and blay clothes for the maic na ngra'd fene. The mac in airrech, mac in airrech tuis, mac in airrech ard, mac in airrech forgill, mac in airrech rig, also had colors assigned to their cloths as well, though no mention is made of them in the DIL.

In another reference, the following colors were prescribed for:

Free class - yellow, black, white, blay.

Noble grade - red, green, brown.

Royalty - Purple and blue.

The shields of the five provinces of Ireland (Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Meath) contain the colors: red, gold, white, blue, green, black and purple.

From the Tain Bo Cuailgne: (describing the cavalcade of Bodb Derg)

"There was no person among them that was not the son of a king or a queen. They all wore green cloaks; and they wore kilts with red interweavings, and borders or fringes of gold thread upon them, and pendants of white bronze thread upon their leggings or greaves, and shoes with clasps of red bronzein them."

From "The Story of the Irish Race" by Seamus Mac Manus: (said of Tighernmas, Milesian King of Ireland)

"Sometimes to him, sometimes to his successor, Eochaid, is credited the ancient ordinance which distinguished the various classes and professions by the colors of their dress. A King or Queen might wear seven colors; a poet or Ollam six; a chieftain five; an army leader four; a land-owner three; a rent-payer two; a serf one colour only."

From the Tain Bo Cuailgne: (Said of Connor Mac Nessa by the herald MacRoth)

"A tall graceful champion of noble, polished, and proud mien, stood at the head of the party. This most beautiful of the kings of the world stood among his troops with all the signs of obedience, superiority, and command. He wore a mass of yellow, curling, drooping hair. He had a pleasing, ruddy countenance. He had a deep, blue, sparkling, piercing eye in his head and a two-branching beard, yellow, and curling upon his chin. He wore a crimson, deep-bordered tunic over his bosom; and a brilliant white shirt, interwoven with thread of red gold, next his white skin."

From the Book of Ballymote: (describing Cormac Mac Art at the Feis of Tara)

"His hair was slightly curled, and of golden color; he had a scarlet shield with engraved devices, and golden hooks and clasps of silver; a wide-flowing purple cloak on him, with a gem-set gold brooch over his breast; a gold torque around his neck; a white-collared shirt, embroidered with gold, upon him; a girdle with golden buckles, and studded with precious stones around him; two golden net-work sandals with golden buckles upon his feet; two spears with golden sockets, and many red bronze rivets, in his hand; while he stood in the full glow of beauty, without defect or blemish. You would think it was a shower of pearls that were set in his mouth; his lips were rubies; his symmetrical body was as white as snow; his cheek was like the mountain ash-berry; his eyes were like the sloe; his brows and eye-lashes were like the sheen of a blue-black lance."

Here is a description of Edain from the Tale of the Bruidean Da Dearga:

"...he saw a woman on the brink of a fountain, having a comb and a casket of silver, ornamented with gold, washing her head in a silver basin with four birds of gold perched upon it, and little sparkling gems of crimson carbuncle upon the outer edges of the basin. A short crimson cloak, with a beautiful gloss, lying near her; a brooch of silver, inlaid with sparkles of gold, in that cloak. A smock, long and warm, gathered and soft, of green silk, with a border of red gold, upon her. Wonderful clasps of gold and silver at her breast, and at her shoulder-blades, and at her shoulders in that smock, on all sides. The sun shown upon it, while the men (that is the king, and his retinue) were all shaded in red, from the reflection ofthe gold against the sun, from the green silk. Two golden-yellow tresses upon her head, each of them plaited with four locks or strands, and a ball of gold upon the point of each tress. The color of that hair was like the flowers of the bog fir in the summer, or like the red gold immediately after receiving its coloring. And there she was disentangling her hair, and her two arms out through the bosom of her smock."

From the Book of Rights: (details of the tuarastal payable from the king to subordinate kings)

"Seven mantles with wreaths of gold,
And seven cups for social drinking,
Seven steed not accustomed to falter,
To the king of Kerry of the combats.

The prosperous king of Rathlenn is entitled
To the stipend of a brave great man;
Ten swords, and ten drinking horns,
Ten red cloaks, ten blue cloaks.

The king of Ara of beauty is entitled
From the king of Eire of the comely face,
To six swords, six praised shields,
And six mantles of deep crimson."

In the tale of Bruidean Da Dearga, Incel reports of Conari Mor's druith (jesters):

"I saw there...three jesters at the fire. They wore three dark grey cloaks; and if all the men of Eirinn were in one place, and though the body of the father or the mother of each man was lying dead before him, not one could refrain from laughing at them."

A description of Maine, son of Ailill and Medb:

"There were seven greyhounds attending his chariot, in chains of silver; with balls of gold upon each chain, so that the tingling of the balls against the chains would be music sufficient. There was no known colour that was not to be seen upon these greyhounds. There were seven Cornaire (trumpeters), with corna (horns) of gold and silver, wearing cloths of many colours, and all having fair-yellow hair. Three druids also went in front of them, who wore minda (diadems) of silver upon their heads and speckled clocks over their dresses, and who carried shields of bronze ornamented with red copper. Three Critire (harpers) accompanied them; each of kingly aspect, and arrayed in a crimson cloak. It was so they arrived on thegreen of Cruachan."

In the "Colloqoquy of the Two Sages":

Bricriu gave a "...purple tunic, adorned with gold and silver..." to Nede an aspiring Ollamh. Then Nede went and sat in the Poet's Chair and pulled his robe of three colors about him: a covering of bright bird's feathers were in the middle, at he bottom a speckling of findruine (a white gold, white brass, silver combination), while the top was a brilliant golden color.

From the Metrical Dindshenchas (referencing the cloak of Fer Berna from Brius):

"Ni find, ni liath, ni lachtna, ni derg,ni gorm, ni corcra, ni breccan raenach riabach, ni hetgud srianach soccra." "It is not white, nor gray, nor dun; it is not red, nor blue, nor purple; it is no tartan, striped nor checkered; it is no beribboned garment of ease."

Scottish tartans had a hierarchy of color numbers just as did the Irish. Amongst the Scots Gael, only the Scottish high king could wear a purple stripe in his tartan. The Scottish King could have seven colors in his tartan. All others could have only six colors. The extra color was purple. The Royal Stewart tartan contains the colors: red, yellow, white, blue, green, black and purple (very similar to the colors of the shields of the Irish provinces).

The following is based on information regarding the leine, the long shirts of the Irish which preceded the belted plaid worn by the Scots, as found in "Scottish Clans & Tartans" by Iain Grimble. In Scotland, the leine was said to have been "striped" and persisted into the 17th century before being replaced by kilts or "belted plaids". The class structures were mentioned in both Celtic Myths and Legends by T.W. Rolleston and A Guide to Early Irish Law by Fergus Kelly. Information regarding colors can be found in The Sacred Cauldron by Tadhg MacCrossan: White for truth, red for physical strength, green/blue for fertility.

We believe that these colors were used in the mantles or brahts. This is ascertained by looking at what articles of clothing have survived. Display of colors seem not to have been matter of ones leine or inar and trews, but rather of bands of color in their cloak. In the lore we see colors in the cloak also mentioned in the Cath Magh Tuireadh, when King Eochaid mac Eirc went to Eriu, that he wore a many-banded cloak.

In The Tain by Thomas Kinsella, the specific colors are listed, in order from highest to lowest as: purple, blue, black, green and yellow, plain grey or speckled grey and yellow-brown in either a checked and striped pattern. Since the yellow dyes of the time was made from burdock root, it is safe to assume that the yellow that is being referenced here is saffron.

Special Thanks To: Morgan O' Maolin Molly NiDana

Sources:

Encyclopedia Brittanica 1994, Encyclopedia Britannica

In Ireland Long Ago, Kevin Danaher

Keatings Social History Of Ireland, Keating

Scottish Gaelic Studies, vol V, part II, Chadwick, Nora K.,

So You Want To Wear The Kilt,

The Story Of The Irish Race, Seumas MacManus

Old Irish and Highland Dress , Henry Foster McClintock, 1947

Irish Mythology, Peter Berresford Ellis

A Guide to Irish Roots, William and Mary Durning

Cain Law

Tain Bo Cuailgne

Book of Ballymote

Tale of the Bruidean Da Dearga

Book of Rights

Colloqoquy of the Two Sages

Metrical Dindshenchas

Celtic Myths and Legends, T.W. Rolleston

A Guide to Early Irish Law, Fergus Kelly

The Sacred Cauldron, Tadhg MacCrossan

The Tain, Thomas Kinsella

Clothing of the Celts - Early Irish, M.E. Riley

Irish Dress - Commentary by Kass McGann

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