The Belted Plaid

Traditionally, the story has been that to wear it, a Highlander would lay his broad leather belt on the ground and then lay the plaid on top of it. He would pleat or bunch the lower end of it and lie down so that the edge reached between the middle of his thighs and his knees.Then he would pull the flat bits of the plaid around his waist forming a kind of skirt and fasten the belt. When he stood up, the bottom part of the plaid would look almost like today's kilt and the spare material would hang from his waist down to the ground.

Then he would gather up the spare material, bunch it around his waist and hang the spare end over his shoulder. To keep it in place he would fix it to his shirt or jacket with a large silver bodkin ( a kind of pin) or a round brooch often decorated with precious stones.

This method of donning the great kilt would be all very well given sufficient space and time. However, frequently he would have neither and it's fairly certain that he would have had some belt loops sewn into the inside of this great plaid so that he could put it on a hurry when the Redcoats were hammering down the front door of his croft or Black house. See Jamie Scarlett's article on the The Belted Plaid

Regardless of how he got it on, the Highlander would find his belted plaid was very comfortable to wear and very practical since it could be pulled up over the head in bad weather and used as a cape. It was also very valuable when he was travelling and had to sleep in the open air at night. He would take off the plaid, lay it on the ground and wrap it around himself or just curl up in it as in the illustration so that it acted as a mattress and a duvet.

It was reported that in very bad weather - high winds, frost or snow - the Highlander would dip his plaid in water and then lie down in it. We're told that wetting it like that made the wool swell so that the plaid would give better protection against the wind and cold air. Wrapped up like this with his head under the blanket, the Highlander's breath would then create a warm and moist atmosphere around him which would keep him cosy during the night! As you can imagine, if the poorer Highlanders worked and slept in their plaids they must have been pretty smelly as reported in 1726 in a letter from Captain Burt, an English engineer. " . . . the plaid serves the ordinary people for a cloak by day and bedding at night . . . it imbibes so much perspiration that no one day can free it from the filthy smell . . ."

For the modern remnants of the Belted Plaid see Long Plaid and Small Plaid at the end of this article.

Highlanders were out in all sorts of weather, bare legged and frequently bare-footed and one of the names given to them was Redshankes - shanks is an old word for legs and the red legs were caused by exposure to the winds, rains and snows of the Highlands. In 1543 a Highland priest called John Elder wrote a fairly detailed letter on the subject to Henry VIII.

In 1688 the Governor of the Isle of Man wrote a description of Highlanders: "Their thighs are bare, with brawny muscles . . . a thin brogue on the foot, a short buskin of various colours on the legg, tied above the calf with a striped pair of garters. What should be concealed is hid with a large shot-pouch, on each side of which hangs a pistol and a dagger. A round target on their backs, a blew bonnet on their heads, and in one hand a broad sword and a musquet in the other."

Since Highlanders didn't have any pockets in their kilt they needed something to carry their bits and pieces in - including the lead shot for their muskets - and the earliest sporran was a plain draw-string bag of cloth or thin leather that was hung around the waist. More affluent Highlanders decorated their sporrans with a silver top and tassels.

As time went on the sporrans became even fancier and by the late 1800s the sporan molach or hair sporran appeared — made of animal skins such as otter, badger, goat and seal. In Victorian times the sporrans got so huge and fancy that they almost covered the front of the kilt.

As you read above, shoes were not worn very often by the poorer Highlander but when they were, they were pretty rough! The Highlander would wrap a piece of deer skin or cowhide around each foot and hold it on with strips of narrow leather called thonging. You would think that shoes were supposed to keep the feet dry, but the Highlander's shoes were not waterproof - especially when they went tramping through burns and rivers so they cut holes in them to let the water out! These simple deerskin shoes or brogan (pr: brogan ) are the forerunners of today's brogues where the decoration is an outer layer of leather in which holes have been punched.

It has been suggested - fancifully perhaps - that the word moccasin possibly had its roots in Scotland. The word comes from the American Indian mockasin which the Indians may have got from early Scottish settlers speaking in Gaelic and refering to their shoes as mo chasan (my footwear).

Captain Burt whom we read of a little bit earlier, had something to say about the Highlander's shoes: "They are often barefoot, but some I have seen shod with a kind of pumps made out of a raw cow hide with the hair turned outward. They are not only offensive to the sight, but intolerable to the smell of those who are near them. By the way, they cut holes in their brogues though new made, to let out the water when they have far to go, and rivers to pass; thus they do to prevent their feet from galling." (becoming sore).

A Highlander's leather belt was usually made of cowhide and was 80 to 100 mms wide with a brass or silver buckle. If a Highlander was on a long trip and was short of food, he would tighten his belt which made his stomach feel less empty. Some belts were reported as being highly decorated with silver ornaments intermixed with the leather like a chain. The better-off had even more ornate belts and sometimes the end that went through the buckle would be metal or silver that was highly engraved and decorated with fine stones or pieces of red corral.

Many writings mention the Highlanders' bonnet - Boineid (pr: bonaje) which came to be called the Tam o' Shanter. This was knitted or made of cloth and was worn tight around the brow and very loose on top with a toorie for decoration - a bobble or pompom. Bonnets were mostly blue but were also made in brown and grey. In time it became smaller and was known as the Balmoral - boinead biorach (pr: bonaje beerach) which sometimes had a diced band (checked like a chess or draughts board) and the toorie on top. The ribbons at the back were for adjusting the headband so that it fitted all head sizes. Tradition has it that in the army, Lowlanders (those Scots who live south of the Highlands) let the ribbons hang free whilst Highlanders would tie them in a bow.

Over the years, some wearers of the Balmoral wore it puffed up on the head and then creased it down the middle. This produced a new style of hat called the Glengarry. By late Victorian times almost all the British Army wore this type of hat when they were in their working uniforms. The 'tradition' that the number of eagle feathers worn in a hat showed a man's standing in his clan is a Victorian invention probably copied from the American Indians.

For another detailed description of the Highlanders by the English Captain Burt - one of Marshal Wade's road building engineers in the 1720s - read Captain Burt.

Highlanders were said to be suspicious of money and preferred to carry what wealth they had in the form of jewellery and embellishments to their weapons. Solid silver buttons were one of their favourites and these would often be passed down from father to son. If the Highlander died away from home, it was important to him that he had enough valuables with him that would pay for a good funeral and a headstone.

This is a full length plaid which consists of approximately three and a half yards of 54inch wide tartan (3.2 metres x 137cms) with the ends fringed. In Scotland this plaid is worn almost exclusively by pipers in Pipe Bands, either civilian or Regimental. It is very rarely worn by the individual as it is rather clumsy to wear.

Its origin in history was that the long plaid was the upper part of the kilt or feile mor which was used to cover the head and shoulders in bad weather. When not in use it was wrapped around the body of gathered on either shoulder at the back to prevent impeding the movements of the arms as much as possible.