RenSymp from the eyes of a newbie.

[sstormwatch]

Rydell on Tribe posted this, and I wanted to remember the words the blogger posted. She reminded me of a much younger me, who had joined a new Scots guild way, way, way back when. The blogger is posting about her experience at this year's Ren Symposium.

Musings from a Ren Faire Newbie - Part 1, the crash course trainingThe part I wanted to savor

Comments

[sstormwatch]

I used to do island Scots (MacLeod clan) many years ago... late 80s to late 90s. What we had available then for research was limited to our college library, and a little ILL if we knew titles, and if the libraries would loan out the older books. We were also adopted by a local MacLeod leader who had a small library of books that he allowed our first guild master access to, in helping with research. But most of his books did not go into the 16th century, as I think his interest was post Jacobian.

What you have clarified above is stuff we eventually learned, for the most part, over a number of years. I wish we had someone like you back then. And it seems the Scots at faire may need someone like you even now. We have this site, http://medievalscotland.org/ , and similar sources which is a help to start.

And thank you for the encouragement. The writer of the blog post is now a Facebook friend, and it seems she is deeply interested in learning more Scots specific info, both costuming and other. I hope she learns more than I did, and can pass the good info along.

[katexxxxxx]

This Scots dress thing is where I have some trouble... Chunks of tartan/plaid apart, and excepting the kilt, MOST of Scotland dressed exactly as their English counterparts did, with a little more French influence in the court. At the time of Elizabeth and Mary, the kilt wasn't a matter of pride: it was what you wore when you couldn't afford both clothing AND bedding! Or for women, both a shawl and a blanket. Women would kilt their plaids round themselves in much the same way as the men, only about mid calf rather than shorter, and wrap the rest round like a shawl. Or they'd have a large shawl made of two pieces of cloth sewn together into a square that was folded into a triangle during the day, wrapped round the shoulders and crossed at the front and tied at the back, worn as a sling for babies, or opened up as a blanket for the night. Older more worn pieces were cut down for children or gathered into a more permanent skirt. Jackets often followed the same pattern as those for men. They were often inherited from brothers that grew out of them! Dress in the poorest parts of the country didn't change much until after the clearances. The styles of jackets evolved over time, but not a lot else!

When wearing tartan became illegal, many simply over-dyed the plaids they had. I'm sure a lot of the 'ancient' colour sets we have now are as a result of some of this rather muddy and inexpert recycling fading out!

There's a wee place called Atlantic Bridge, where there sits an old inn. There's a very narrow bit of the Atlantic separating the island of Seil from mainland Scotland. It now has a lovely stone bridge, but back in the day one simply waded across at low tide. The inn is on the island side. Tigh an Truish means 'house of the trousers' and comes from the period after the 1745 Jacobite rebellion when kilts were banned. Islanders heading for the mainland (then without the benefit of the bridge) are supposed to have stopped here to swap their kilts for trousers. Legend has it that the trousers were a sort of communal trouser library, rather than each man owning his own!

[sstormwatch]

Most of what is known of 16th century Scots is... well hard to piece together, at least in the costume books I have that cover the period. Images are scarce, women are completely covered in something furry (not sure if woven furry like frieze cloth, or dressed in furs, hard to tell with woodcuts), and island/highland men look like the Irish. Lowland men look English, and comments from the period make the same comment. We know more on what King James V ordered as fabric to look "highland", but not much idea on what it looked like. We know great kilts come in sometime in the 17th century.

We use great kilts as a theatrical concept to make the highland scots look "scottish" and distinguish them from the Irish or the English. I've tried to discourage the noble Scots from wearing tartans, but the also want to not look English, so they wear kilts and arasaids as well. Those who actually are Scots have come to expect this, and see it as a matter of national or clan pride. So for theatrical reasons it stays, even tho we know better.

[katexxxxxx]

I can see the reasoning, but it still grates.

Too many historians in the family! It rubs off on one... ;)