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  1. #1
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    Edmund Burt's Letters...

    Our man Edmund Burt is often quoted, as being perhaps the most comprehensive source of eye-witness accounts of the life, manners and character of the Highlanders in the early years of the 18th century - that is, before it was systematically dismantled after the failed rising of The '45 in the name of pacification.

    His Letters' descriptions of both the men's and women's mode of dress are well-known, and his own illustrations are one of the few sources we have that are not romanticised or stylised portraits. However, what makes his observations most valuable is the examples he gives when referring to matters other than directly about dress. Talking of clan chiefs and lairds and their postition in Highland society, he says this -

    As I was travelling in a very wild Part of the Country, and approaching the House of one of those Gentlemen, who had Notice of my coming, he met me at some Distance from his Dwelling, with his Arcadian Offering of Milk and Cream, as usual carried before him by his Servants... By the Way (although the Weather was not warm), he was without Shoes, Stockings, or Breeches, in a short Coat, with a Shirt not much longer, which hung between his Thighs, and just hid his Nakedness from his two Daughters, about seventeen or eighteen Years old...

    That is, he was dressed much in the usual way for the time, but was without his plaid belted to form the kilt as if it was quite normal.

    And of the plaid, he gives this account of its practicality when on a journey -

    ...when the Highlanders are constrained to lie among the Hills in cold, dry, windy Weather, they sometimes soak the Plaid in some River or Bourn; and then holding up a Corner of it a little above their Heads, they turn themselve round and round, till they are enveloped by the whole Mantle. They then lay themselves down on the Heath, upon the Leeward Side of some Hill, where the wet and the warmth of their Bodies make a Steam like that of a boiling Kettle. The wet they say keeps them warm by thickening the Stuff, and keeping the Wind from penetrating.

    Burt adds qualification to this, by saying that the Highlander is so used to rain and bad weather, that they seldom seek shelter, except in a 'storm' by which they mean a blizzard! And of the lying-out in the plaid, he confirms -

    ...setting out early in a Morning from one of the Huts, I have seen the Marks of their Lodging, where the ground has been free from Rime or Snow, which remained all round the Spots where they had lain.

    Burt's account of the half-naked laird is backed-up by other accounts in his other letters, of the Highlanders' indifference to nudity or the exposure of bare flesh, as it contrasts with that of the Lowlands and south of the border. But he gives one example that clearly shocked and suprised him to some degree, and comes as part of his description of the style and use of Highland dwellings -

    We were soon conducted to a House where lives a Brother to the Pretender's famous Brigadier; and upon entering a large Room, by the Candle, we soon discovered, on different Parts of the Floor, nine Persons, including Children, all laid in the Manner above described; and among the rest, a young Woman, as near as I could guess about seventeen or eighteen, who, being surprised and the Light and Bustle we made, between Sleeping and Waking, threw off part of the Blankets, and started up, stared at us earnestly, and, being startk naked, scratched hereself in several Parts till thoroughly wakened.

    I mean, what..?

    All I can say is, that in all the many visits to friends living in the Highlands, I have never been introduced to their daughters in that way. It's sad the way old traditions die out...

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  3. #2
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    Grand reading. Thank you.
    DunRovinStation.blogspot.com (non-monetized or affiliated)
    Muir, MacKendrick-Henderson, Campbell, Clarke, Gordon, Cameron, Chattan,
    Galt, Euen, Slowan(Sloan), Tyndings, Ramsey, Stewart, MacAlistar

  4. #3
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    Our local book seller didn't have a copy, nor did the local university library. But I did find a digital copy. I've been reading the morning away.
    Thanks for my latest read.
    https://archive.org/details/burtslettersfrom01burt
    DunRovinStation.blogspot.com (non-monetized or affiliated)
    Muir, MacKendrick-Henderson, Campbell, Clarke, Gordon, Cameron, Chattan,
    Galt, Euen, Slowan(Sloan), Tyndings, Ramsey, Stewart, MacAlistar

  5. #4
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    It’s worth remembering the Burt was writing for a southern audience and that there may have been a degree of embellishment in some of his accounts.

    I’ve always been troubled by wetting the plaid and letting it freeze statement. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever as anyone who has slept out in one will I’m sure agree.

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  7. #5
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    My own copy is a two-volume set, an 1876 facsimile reprint of the original, complete with the maps, illustrations and archaic spellings and grammar which I think add to the 'period authenticity' of the books.

    Much of what Burt has to say is very subjective (from a southern Englishman's point of view) but in may respects his views on matters are not a great distance from our own today.

    He acknowledges his motivation in writing the letters is A journey through Scotland (1723) by John Macky, which Burt thinks paints too rosey a picture of Scotland to be taken at its word, and, personally, I find he is both accurate and fair, even if we do not allow for certain English prejudices of the period.

    It must be remembered that the English felt they had the Union thrust on them against their will, just the same as the Scots did, after a century of somewhat bigotted Stewart monarchy, which brought about horrific and bloody civil war, a virtual reign of terror under Cromwell's Commonwealth, and the installation of a German monarchy to replace the Stewarts.

    For almost 1,000 years now, the English have been subject to minority rule. Since Harold lost his eye, his life and his kingdom at Hastings in 1066, the English have been ruled by foreigners - 450 years by the French, then the Welsh Tudors, then Scots Stewarts, and then Germans who are still in place. There has been no English king since Harold. But despite a little local difficulty, the Tudors had brought a degree of peace and stability to England, along a boom in foreign trade, the establishment of New World colonies and the opportunity for commercial and industrial growth and prosperity.

    The arrival in London of James VI in 1603 was, by James' own declaration to Holyrood, meant to be a three year stint of asset-stripping of his new English possession, but by the time Burt was writing 120 years later, there was a strong feeling in England that the Stewart-impossed equality of the two realms would never work in practice. The English felt (and some still do) they would be much better off if they were free of their Celtic neighbours. The question of Scottish, Welsh or Irish independance will never be asked in England, for the answer is already known.

    The Scots generally, and Highlanders in particular, were already a familiar feature of London life - Burt describes the appearance of Lairds in the Highland Garb, buts adds it is readily seen in London, and some of the western clans had been in the pay of the Tudors.

    But despite having reservations about Scotland as a people and a nation, Burt is fair. What criticisms he makes are those of a middle-ranking officer who is used to polite society, and could easily be applied to any of the provincial regions of England at the time. Many of them still are..!

  8. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by figheadair View Post
    It’s worth remembering the Burt was writing for a southern audience and that there may have been a degree of embellishment in some of his accounts.

    I’ve always been troubled by wetting the plaid and letting it freeze statement. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever as anyone who has slept out in one will I’m sure agree.
    I do agree..!

    I have has some success in creating something of an igloo-effect if the dampened cloth is allowed to freeze hard, and is not in contact with the body, but I think Burt's intention was often to show the Scots' comparative savage lack of sophistication when viewed through London eyes.

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  10. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Troglodyte View Post
    But despite having reservations about Scotland as a people and a nation, Burt is fair. What criticisms he makes are those of a middle-ranking officer who is used to polite society, and could easily be applied to any of the provincial regions of England at the time. Many of them still are..!
    This is, I think, an important and fair point. Much of his bias in storytelling is cosmopolitan, not Teutonic. In particular his dwelling on nudity is a trope that can be traced in a straight line back to the Romans, at least, and has always been shorthand for a lack of sophistication. Now, does he apply it more heavily toward his Scottish neighbors than to his brothers in the English countryside? I can't say, but I can imagine familiarity softening his inclination toward those kinds of embellishments, in the case of the latter.

  11. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by JPS View Post
    This is, I think, an important and fair point. Much of his bias in storytelling is cosmopolitan, not Teutonic. In particular his dwelling on nudity is a trope that can be traced in a straight line back to the Romans, at least, and has always been shorthand for a lack of sophistication. Now, does he apply it more heavily toward his Scottish neighbors than to his brothers in the English countryside? I can't say, but I can imagine familiarity softening his inclination toward those kinds of embellishments, in the case of the latter.
    Burt as an individual might have more sympathy with his fellow southern English, but he might share the Londoners' contempt for these living outside the capital, just as we see today.

    Londoners for centuries have regarded themselves as the pinacle of sophistication and taste, and the rest of the country as barbarians, particularly the north. England has always divided itself into The North and The South, which follows essentially the ancient Danelaw boundary, separating the Saxon (Germanic-origin south) and Dane (Scandinavian-origin north) kingdoms. Even today, like the Parisian in France, the lowest-born Londoner sees himself superior to all others by virtue of residing in that city.

    James VI's accession to the English throne created the united kingdom, and he declared that the two old realms would cease to exist individually, and that they would become one whole and known as North Britain and South Britain. The inhabitants would be equally free citizens in each other's country, and they would all live in happy harmony under the king's protection. Now, after 400 years, we can see how well that has worked!

    Burt is for the most part objective, and seems to have a high regard for the Highlander whilst providing evidence both for and against the Highlanders' reputation. His criticism is often born out of frustration, and would be repeated a generation later when attention was turned to the north American colonies a few decades later.

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