Need help with a novel

[JPIrving]

I am an amateur novelist currently working on my first novel which involves an 18^th century Scotsman who immigrates to the American Colonies shortly following the Jacobite rising of 1745 and becomes a trapper in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. I have some written references concerning the clothing commonly worn by the Scottish fur traders and trappers and it seems they wore an amalgamation of Highland and Native American styles, primarily choosing to wear kilts and Highland style sleeved waistcoats or “labourer’s jaks” with the addition of such items as leather leggings and moccasins or high boots instead of the more common hose and brogues as they were considered more appropriate for travel through the thick and thorny underbrush of the Appalachian Mountains.


My primary issue concerns the Highland style sleeved waistcoats. I am able to find plenty of references of sleeved Waistcoats in such places as Williamsburg Virginia and various museums throughout North and South Carolina, but I have never seen one listed as, “Highland style,” or any such thing. Does anyone have access to extant pieces, accurate replicas, or even reliable artwork which I can study for descriptive purposes. Remember, the clothing would have been brought over anywhere from 1746-1748, though it could have been a trade item picked up from other Scots with whom he would be trading, meaning it could be as late as 1753, given my novel’s timeline.







Thank you all in advance for any aid you may be able to offer.

[TheOfficialBren]

To be frank, the kilt was not commonly seen in the American Colonies, especially after the 1745 Uprising.

It's a more romantic notion than anything. Truthfully, the highlander would likely have been shot on sight for what would surely be seen as stubbornly thumbing his nose at the government whilest wearing the kilt (unless he was in the military).

Realistically, a recently arrived highlander would likely have abandoned the kilt and worn the most common gaarb of the region, i.e. Breeches.

As to wearing Native American garb, yes. That was not unheard of. Many Scots and other ethnic groups adopted Native articles in their daily dress.

A merchant and ferrier named Benjamin Colbert (Colbert's Ferry, Oklahoma), the son pf a Scottish immigrant and a Chickasaw mother, during the 1850s (WELL after the repeal of the banning of Highland wear and during the romantic highland craze of the Victorians. His fathwper is never mentioned as being kilted nor is he. Not impossible but unlikely.

Many of the largest Scottish waves of immigration to the US from the Highlands happened during the Highland Clearances of the 1800s...well after the kilt was replaced by trousers as the everyday garb, though there were also many immigrants after the 1715 and 1745 rebellions.

The kilt would have been a potential marginaliser, or even a symbol of defiance, in a world dominated by the policy of Westminster.

You must keep in mind that even the American colonists considered themselved to be LOYAL ENGLISHMEN until the outbreak of war, and even after the beginning of hostilities, most colonists wanted to stay out of the fight and be left alone. Others chose a side andwent to war...not likely kilted, though, even among fur trappers.

[RogerWS76]

Check out this Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sc...69799343038174

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I have some written references concerning the clothing commonly worn by the Scottish fur traders and trappers and it seems they wore an amalgamation of Highland and Native American styles, primarily choosing to wear kilts and Highland style sleeved waistcoats or “labourer’s jaks” with the addition of such items as leather leggings and moccasins or high boots instead of the more common hose and brogues as they were considered more appropriate for travel through the thick and thorny underbrush of the Appalachian Mountains.

Not wishing to come off as confrontational, but would you please be so kind as to share your references concerning the wearing of the kilt in North America by pre-revolutionary war Scottish settlers? I only ask because this would seem to be at variance with accepted scholarship that supports a contrary point of view.

[ThistleDown]

Fascinating site, Roger, but I think the OP was asking about Highland immigrants, not Ulster-Scots. Like Rathdown I am hoping he can refer us to his sources. We know from inventories that the Northwest Company Highland employees in the late 18C, and employees of the Hudson's Bay Company at earlier dates, did wear Balmorals and some woolen goods from Scotland. The HBC's old "The Beaver" magazine published hundreds of articles on the culture, clothing and habits of its employees and others in Canada and might make a good resource for JPI. No kilts, mind you.

[Nick the DSM]

I'd highly recommend White People, Indians, and Highlanders by Colin Calloway for a historical background as well.

[TheOfficialBren]

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Wow! I just re-read my lat post and would like to apologise if I sounded a bit harsh. No disrespect was intended.

[JPIrving]

Thank you all for your comments, and no, there was no offense taken. I do have some written sources including letters found in an old Hall family Bible in south western Virginia referencing choices to where kilts and kilt-type garments when in and amongst native tribesmen as an alternative to the popular breachcloth and leggings while wearing breaches and boots when in settlements trading. A contemporary writer in the mid 1750s, by the name of James Cashin, wrote that, “the Indians bear great affections toward the Highlanders by reason of their wild manners and sportings and their native clothe, which so resembles their own.” Thomas Campbell, one of the founding members of Collierstown Presbyterian Church in 1842, wrote to his cousin Francis in Richmond and stated that, “these clans of Hall and Irving seem lost to time and reason, holding strong faith in their heretical beliefs in such things as prayers to the saints and even the superstitions of native savages and the deity of God manifest in the living spirits of tree and stone. Their stubborn persistence in their backwards ways is surely the work of the devil and they refuse to observe the propriety of garb, choosing instead the skirted attire of the last century,” which would seem to lend itself to the idea of continued use of the kilt by locals of the area, as many of them were illiterate at the time, but still seemed to know what a tartan was and how to wear one.


There are also numerous extant pieces period of tartan, which are commonly found in certain areas of the Appalachians, where there were a number of Scottish immigrants of Jacobite origin during the 1740s and 50s. All of the pieces I have found belong to private owners, not museums. However, I have had some local textile historians (notably Sarah Weddle and James Causey) examine them and confirm that they date from no later than the 1780s and, “probably well before,“ in the case of one piece from Bluefield West Virginia. No doubt that there would be very few who would dare wear a tartan in a settled area, but there were those, particularly in the Appalachians of Virginia and Carolina, who actually bore a fair amount of contempt for the English and this is openly expressed in letters and diaries of the time. I fully intended to represent the kilt as a form of wear during his frontier time only and describe him as wearing breaches during his time in settlements, though given the apparent controversy over this issue, I may abandon the kilt idea for the sake of creating a more acceptable story. Nevertheless, even when wearing breaches, I have a reference from Cashin stating that it was a popular choice to wear, “the short, sleeved wescot to which they seem so habituated as to continue its use despite the fashions of their peers.”


Nevertheless, I will certainly revisit my research and attempt to post further text from the letters and diaries I’ve uncovered or even photo copies if I can get the owners to allow me to make such copies. This is actually an issue I have never faced in my region of birth, as it is commonly accepted here that, “those blame college boys thin’ they’re so smart but they ain‘t got the sense to know that we don‘t tell ‘em nothin” as my grandfather states. There is a great deal of information concerning this region that is kept secret from those outside the mountains, from traditions concerning attire to the “magical“ practices of the “grannies” and the “dousers,” to most of which even I am not privy, due to the fact that I am a devout Baptist and my mother married, “an outsider.” The general belief is that it isn’t the business of anyone that isn’t part of the “clan,” which is a common term here, and I may simply attempt to release this information as a collection of letters and such later on. Again, it’s very difficult to get permission to photocopy a lot of these letters due to the fact that these are very private and superstitious people and I am only privy to them because I am family. You must remember, my great grandfather and, until recently, my grandfather would not do business with anyone who was not a MacBain, Morrison, or Hay because, “They ain’t clan,” and he practically disowned my mother for twenty years for marrying a, “D*** lolan Irving.” But my great aunt is a Presbyterian and very modern, so I think she will allow me to make some copies of the letters she has.


An interesting fact (in case you’re interested) is that there are a number of common terms among the Appalachian mountain peoples, at least in my area, which seem to have a significant connection to 18^th century Scotland. Some of these are: “highan” or “lolan” folk, “clan” or “English,” folk, “cilty” (referring to a boy’s baby attire, which is traditionally plaid or checked in this region), and the most directly related would seem to be “Jacob” or “Covant” folk. “Jacob folk” are those who retain the traditional beliefs of the area, whereas, “Covant folk” (this is what they call my family) conform to a less superstitious, more traditional Christianity. This would seem to be a direct derivation from “Jacobite,” and “Covenanter,” but is not officially recorded by dialectologist and I have been told outright that they are not used, even though I have personally heard them from my grandparents and great grandparents on numerous occasions. This is part of the reason that I put little stock in what the popular scholastic beliefs are concerning the history of this region, though I put my full faith in what the scholars say concerning more open and settled regions.

[JPIrving]

Oh, I should have also made it clear that he is from a very specific region, as I am well aware that the vast majority of trappers, particularly those connected with trading companies, would not have worn a tartan at all, given the fact that they were so commonly in the presence of Englishmen and would have needed to conform to the standards of the day. However, I do intend to abandon the kilt within my novel and conform to the general consensus for the sake of writing a better novel. It is not a necessity for my character to wear a kilt for any reason but as I said, the short, sleeved wescot seemed to be exceedingly popular and I would therefore like to know if anyone has any information concerning the appearance of the frontier version of this wescot or, “labourer’s jak,” as Cashin describes it on several occasions. I attempt to be as descriptive as possible and would therefore like to have an image. If anyone happens to have an image of one of these or could link to such an image, I would be very grateful.

[TheOfficialBren]

You might have a nice gem there, mate. It could be either a blood-boiler or a boddice-ripper!

;-)