Highland DRESS use during Proscription

[Luke MacGillie]

Something else I just noticed is that both the prisoners are shown wearing their plaids over their right shoulders. Unless they both happened to be left-handed (very slim odds of that), wouldn't it have been customary to drape the plaid over their non-dominant (left) shoulders? This detail, while perhaps insignificant, still leads me to wonder about Sandby's accuracy. It would seem obvious that these men were not posing for a portrait, and that he had to paint it from memory of a glimpse in time. But if he got these numerous details wrong about kilts and tartans, one wonders how much "artistic license" he chose to use. It is always tempting to treat historical paintings in the same manner as modern photographs, as if they were accurate down to small details, but I tend to think that these artists were injecting a lot of non-factual information into their works.

There are a number of 18th Century images, including at least one other that I posted that show the plaid being worn on the right shoulder. I think at this time, it was not so fixed as to what shoulder a person would use. There is at least one Scottish upper body jacket/sleeved waistcoat that has loops on both shoulders. I cant call the loops epaulettets, as they are on not on the summit of the shoulder, but rather on the back slope,. Epaulettes used to secure swordbelt and cartridge box straps are always on the summit.

[figheadair]

There are a number of 18th Century images, including at least one other that I posted that show the plaid being worn on the right shoulder. I think at this time, it was not so fixed as to what shoulder a person would use. There is at least one Scottish upper body jacket/sleeved waistcoat that has loops on both shoulders. I cant call the loops epaulettets, as they are on not on the summit of the shoulder, but rather on the back slope,. Epaulettes used to secure swordbelt and cartridge box straps are always on the summit.

Epaulettes were also used to hide the shoulder seam, at least in some styles of coat. This appears to be the case with 18th century Highland coats. Whether the cut reflected the need to secure a plaid is unclear but I somehow doubt it as that wouls assume that a plaid was always worn. In the case of equestrian type coats such as the 'Culloden Coat' that was not necessarily the case.