What do scots use to carry around all their bits and peices!?

[Chas]

In the British military a 'housewife' is a small container (often a bit of pipe, corked at both ends) containing needles (threaded with white and black), a couple of shirt buttons, safety pins, possibly a pencil stub.

The housewives from the Napoleonic Wars, which are often covered in scrimshaw, are highly prized.

Regards

Chas

[Chirs]

I confess, when I first looked at the title of this thread - What do scots use to carry around all their bits and peices!? - I thought the correct answer was "Nothing, they just let it hang."

[Woodsheal]

I have been on this forum a while and never noticed anyone ask, but what sort of accessories did the scots use to carry around gear and stuff? Like backpack type accessories, or did they just not take much with them? And I am talking like from the 1100s on, I guess. Just wondered if anyone had anything specific, pics always welcome of course!

-Zach

I'll assume you're referring to highland clansmen, pre-1746 ("Scots" being too broad term, especially when two distinct cultures were involved in that period: Lowland and Highland).

Your common clansman made due with his sporran - for oats and whatnot - the pouches formed by his belted plaid, and a horn cup for dipping his water from the nearest burn.
A step up would be to add a haversack for carrying food and utensils (small, flat sheet-iron griddles are mentioned for cooking oatcakes), and a leather water bottle.
Your uppercrust clan gent had ghillies to carry his gear and a garron to ride, adding to his comfort "in the field."

Linen haversack:
http://jas-townsend.com/product_info...roducts_id=182

Lightweight "trekking" pan:
http://jas-townsend.com/product_info...roducts_id=103

Leather water bottles:
http://www.armlann.com/bottles.htm

[Oberu]

Sadly there isn't much information of that time frame. The highlanders weren’t very popular even among their own countrymen unless they were wealthy. Now lowlanders… just look to see what was in style at court and you’ve got it pegged. I have always been kind of tickled when folk insist that something is correct when in fact we just don't know because there just isn't much that is left as most things were destroyed, lost, or deteriorated with time unless conveniently dropped in a bog while hunting or something of the like. My guess would be that they carried what we would most likely carry... food, water, and tools. There are bits and pieces of things that someone always throws up in discussions like this and you have to pass it along to others or it too will be lost in time. I wish you luck and I’ll watch to see what’s said myself.

[Bigkahuna]

Throw all yer tents and gear into a wee pony cart. Or have yer servants carry them.

[Sir William]

I'll assume you're referring to highland clansmen, pre-1746 ("Scots" being too broad term, especially when two distinct cultures were involved in that period: Lowland and Highland).

Your common clansman made due with his sporran - for oats and whatnot - the pouches formed by his belted plaid, and a horn cup for dipping his water from the nearest burn.
A step up would be to add a haversack for carrying food and utensils (small, flat sheet-iron griddles are mentioned for cooking oatcakes), and a leather water bottle.
Your uppercrust clan gent had ghillies to carry his gear and a garron to ride, adding to his comfort "in the field."

Linen haversack:
http://jas-townsend.com/product_info...roducts_id=182

Lightweight "trekking" pan:
http://jas-townsend.com/product_info...roducts_id=103

Leather water bottles:
http://www.armlann.com/bottles.htm

I concur (as usual) with Brian.

First off, you don't need to take much with you. If you don't want to toss a handful of oatmeal in your sporran, put it in a small bag first.

Your plaid will serve as your blanket, and if it rains you'll have the full experience. Been there, done that.

You should also take a small flint and steel firemaking kit. Your Highlander might have taken a needle and thread for repairs but I doubt it unless he was on the road all the time, as he could have a female relation do any repairs.

Years ago I read the Highlanders used the folds of their plaid as a pocket to carry what they needed, but I've tried it without much success. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but I found you can't carry anything with much weight, and almost everything fell out anyway.

Another option instead of the haversack is to use a linen or hemp bag. If you don't want to carry it in your hand, you can tie a strap to the ends to make a primitive pack. I've got a small linen "snapsack" that I use. I also carry a a few small personal items such as carried by 18th century soldiers (housewife, comb, etc), and a small kit for maintaining my firelock. I also carry a small 1-2 cup pot (if I'm not carrying a metal cup) to brew my tea in.

[Burly Brute]

I concur (as usual) with Brian.

First off, you don't need to take much with you. If you don't want to toss a handful of oatmeal in your sporran, put it in a small bag first.

Your plaid will serve as your blanket, and if it rains you'll have the full experience. Been there, done that.

You should also take a small flint and steel firemaking kit. Your Highlander might have taken a needle and thread for repairs but I doubt it unless he was on the road all the time, as he could have a female relation do any repairs.

Years ago I read the Highlanders used the folds of their plaid as a pocket to carry what they needed, but I've tried it without much success. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but I found you can't carry anything with much weight, and almost everything fell out anyway.

Another option instead of the haversack is to use a linen or hemp bag. If you don't want to carry it in your hand, you can tie a strap to the ends to make a primitive pack. I've got a small linen "snapsack" that I use. I also carry a a few small personal items such as carried by 18th century soldiers (housewife, comb, etc), and a small kit for maintaining my firelock. I also carry a small 1-2 cup pot (if I'm not carrying a metal cup) to brew my tea in.

Good points all around! What do you guys think would be a suitable material (for the plaid) out here in the arid sonoran desert with temps reaching 117?

[Nick the DSM]

Wool. That's historically correct, duh!

[tulloch]

If a highlander were in the Sonoran desert in 1100 he or she would probably be copying the locals to survive - maybe a buckskin plaid?

[Joe Gondek]

You could use light weight wool

It does get cold at night in the desert so it might not keep you as warm as you would like come evening.

18 th century camping is very spartan, drink from a stream;
find a natural shelter to sleep under in bad weather; you get wet in a rainstorm, dry out in the sun; small cup to make tea and oatmeal,maybe a piece of cooked mutton

must people back then did not camp unless a barn or inn was not available that night

exceptions would be herders,and foresters,
armys traveled with baggage trains