• Arts
• Business
• Computers
• Games
• Health
• Home
• Kids and Teens
• News
• Recreation
• Reference
• Regional
• Science
• Shopping
• Society
• Sports

Before the Clearances - 17th and 18th Century Scottish Costume

MaraRiley.net–17th and 18th Century Scottish Costume It is hard to emphasize enough the lack of information about clothing in the Scottish Highlands until the middle of the 1600s, but around the late 1500s to early 1600s, Scottish Highland clothing became more distinct from Irish clothing of the same period.  Whereas the Irish began to wear clothing that more closely resembles that of the common English peasantry, the Scottish Highlanders adopted and kept several forms of clothing such as the bonnet and plaid, both of which were originally worn in the Lowlands and then migrated into the Highlands, where they developed their own distinct forms.  Moreover, checkered cloth, which was worn to some extent in Celtic cultures throughout history (usually as simple checks and two-color patterns), becomes highly developed, and a multitude of patterns can be found in the portraits of Highland chiefs and their followers dating from the middle of the 1600s onward.  These highly-developed tartans may have existed well before this period, but it's hard to know, as no remains have been found.  (The mummies of Urumchi were not Celts!  They were Tocharians, another branch of Indo-Europeans, so they don't count here.  See my discussion of this subject on the '

Contact Information