Wrapping the Braveheart kilt

[OC Richard]

As for the portrait of William Cunning, Piper to Lord Grant, 1715, yes it's a portrait and could be factually incorrect, but it shows the material to be apparently doubled in two areas as shown below

I have a fairly large print of that portrait in front of me now, and it appears to me that the plaid has a plain red binding around the entire edge, and that it's quite clearly doubled. (The accompanying portrait shows pale green binding, used on Army kilts till the present day.)

I would accept the portrait as accurate. How on earth could an artist invent such a specific minor detail? The artist is obviously trying his best to depict what's in front of his eyes.

Lest we forget, different periods of art place importance on different things, and portraits of that period put great stress on rendering clothing in minute detail. And that portrait has a wealth of such, from each lace rosette on the jacket being meticulously rendered, to even showing with great accuracy bagpipe's sheepskin bag! An artist couldn't make up a bag that is the precise colour of sheepskin and even has the seam (where the leather is sewn) accurately rendered; once again it's obvious that the artist is doing everything in his power to paint exactly what he sees. (There are exceptions! It was the style of the period to minimise anything in the face, and thus the bagpipe's blowpipe's mouthpiece is made impossibly thin. Also it was the style of the period to depict the fingers as being thin and delicate; I doubt if the piper actually used his fingertips on the chanter.)

I've drawn careful diagrams of the pipes, which are very important in piping history, being the earliest clear depiction of the Great Highland Bagpipe. My dream is to one day have a set made that looks like that.