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Originally Posted by figheadair
First draft of my paper is done and hope to get it proofed over the coming weekend.
It took a bit longer than I'd imagined and it's really a subject that deserves a book on its own right, or at the very least a major chapter in a book on tartan and Highland Dress - Musings on the Arisaid and other female dress.
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A great paper Peter. As pointed out, cloth is for clothing, be it tartan or plaid woven. You have clarified some ideas that time alone can hide and thus be misinterpreted.
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Just finished a first quick go-through of your excellent paper. You make it clear that sadly, we know little of this important garment, yet give us many clues about its possible nature.
Thank you!
Bill+
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Peter - Just read your paper and congratulate you for such a great effort. I agree with your view that this will hopefully open the door to further research and greater knowledge of traditional (and especially 18th c.) Highland women's dress.
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A pleasure to read - thank you for sharing!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by figheadair
It took a bit longer than I'd imagined and it's really a subject that deserves a book on its own right, or at the very least a major chapter in a book on tartan and Highland Dress - Musings on the Arisaid and other female dress.
WONDERFUL work, Peter! A very personal thank you for your work, as it will be a great help and resource to me in my research and documentation for my 18th c. Highland wardrobe.
I have a question, and I hope it's not a stupid one... maybe I'm overlooking the answer. I could not really find any online references for the illustrations on page 4. Fig 4. Scottish Officer’s Wife in Flanders c1743 and Fig 5. Highland Soldier and his wife. You source is Murno, published in 1977. My question is, are those contemporary 18th c. illustrations, or were they created later and based on written descriptions of Highlanders?
One more- I have talked to you before about my husband and I doing 1740s middle class Highland tacksman and wife. I believe in our correspondence or one of your articles I read that in that time, lengths of tartan were woven for specific purposes and would not have had a cut edge susceptible to fraying; rather, the edge would have been woven so as not to ravel. The lengths of tartan I purchased for his great kilt and my arisaid were cut from a large bolt so they have a cut edge and are beginning to ravel. I know I can't make it perfectly historically accurate, but what would you recommend? Should I do a tiny rolled hem or folded hem, or should I sew a discreet row of stitching parallel to the cut edge, to reinforce it and prevent raveling but leave it looking like a fringe on the cut edge? I seem to have read somewhere that kilts had a fringe edge?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlabamaCelticLass
WONDERFUL work, Peter! A very personal thank you for your work, as it will be a great help and resource to me in my research and documentation for my 18th c. Highland wardrobe.
I have a question, and I hope it's not a stupid one... maybe I'm overlooking the answer. I could not really find any online references for the illustrations on page 4. Fig 4. Scottish Officer’s Wife in Flanders c1743 and Fig 5. Highland Soldier and his wife. You source is Murno, published in 1977. My question is, are those contemporary 18th c. illustrations, or were they created later and based on written descriptions of Highlanders?
They are both original: No4 is from a contemporary engraving and No5 was by a man named Martin Engelbrecht but I don't know where the originals are. The National Museum of Scotland has a copy of the former, possibly both, but I'm not sure if they are the only surviving examples hence my reference.
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One more- I have talked to you before about my husband and I doing 1740s middle class Highland tacksman and wife. I believe in our correspondence or one of your articles I read that in that time, lengths of tartan were woven for specific purposes and would not have had a cut edge susceptible to fraying; rather, the edge would have been woven so as not to ravel. The lengths of tartan I purchased for his great kilt and my arisaid were cut from a large bolt so they have a cut edge and are beginning to ravel. I know I can't make it perfectly historically accurate, but what would you recommend? Should I do a tiny rolled hem or folded hem, or should I sew a discreet row of stitching parallel to the cut edge, to reinforce it and prevent raveling but leave it looking like a fringe on the cut edge? I seem to have read somewhere that kilts had a fringe edge?
I think you're referring to my paper on Joined Paids, possibly the one on Traditional Selvedge Techniques too.
The fringe found on some kilts is at the edge of the apron (i.e. the end of the woven cloth) and not the bottom of the kilt which is the material's selvedge, or turned edge in modern cloth. Forget what you might have seen on Outlander, the ragged plaid selvedges are a compromise due to cost constraints and the use of cheaper material. Historically speaking material with a raw (cut) edge would have never been used for a plaid; in fact, it wouldn't have existed because of the type of loom and weaving technique used. What to do? I haven’t seen your cloth but I’d be tempted either, to turn the edge by about half an inch and sew it down, or to find a matching thread and overlock the edge with a zig-zag thread on a sewing machine. Neither is ideal, the first will mean that your cloth will have an inside (cannot be worn either way out as the turn would show on the outside, the second might show (it might not) but at least the cloth could be worn either way around.
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One of the other interesting painting is the Hen Wife from Castle Grant. I didn't include it because she wears no tartan but the red dress and large penannular brooch indicated a woman of standing. A hen-wife (Gaelic eachrais ùrlair) was not a chichen herder. She is often referred to as a witch but a more generous desription would be that she was a herbalist, midwife etc. The pen (possibly a dispensing quill) and horn point to some professional role.
Attachment 28788
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Quote:
Originally Posted by figheadair
One of the other interesting painting is the Hen Wife from Castle Grant. I didn't include it because she wears no tartan but the red dress and large penannular brooch indicated a woman of standing. A hen-wife (Gaelic eachrais ùrlair) was not a chichen herder. She is often referred to as a witch but a more generous desription would be that she was a herbalist, midwife etc. The pen (possibly a dispensing quill) and horn point to some professional role.
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/a...id=28788&stc=1
I have seen this painting many times and have it saved in my research files, but I guess I assumed that hen wife meant chicken herder. HAHA!! Thank you for the explanation. Since I am an amateur herbalist myself, I find that meaning all the more intriguing.
That is a HUGE kertch she is wearing!
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