Footwear in Highlanders of Scotland

[Orvis]

I've read the well-known reference to what seems to be a Highland version of pamputai, but I can't recall seeing an image of anything like that being worn. What evidence is there for these? Surviving artifacts? Appearance in iconography?

The Ghillies that appear in The Highlanders Of Scotland, roughout tan leather, do appear rustic and perhaps evolved from earlier Highland shoes.



In many Highland portraits and in Episode Of The Rebellion the Highlanders appear to be wearing ordinary shoes. Are those the shoes you're referring to? I'm not familiar with the term "turn shoes".



I do wonder whether or not the 19th century Highland buckled shoes functioned like 18th century shoes.

For sure the ones that appear in The Highlanders Of Scotland come high enough on the foot that it's hard to imagine that they're slip-on. But in many Victorian photos the shoes are quite low-cut and appear to be slip-on loafers with nonfunctional buckles.

So low-cut that they appear to be, more or less, Mary Janes lacking the top strap

With regard to cuarans/pampooties, the primary source of information I have is Burt's "Letters from A Gentleman in the North of Scotland", in which he describes them as "Highland moccasins" cut from raw cow or deer hides (making them smelly after a period of time) and laced to the ankles with the hair grain running toward the rear. With regard to turn shoes, they were a late-medieval/renaissance style of shoe that remained in used in the Highlands a bit later after they were dropped elsewhere in Europe. They were made by assembling the shoe inside-out, then "turning" them right-side out. They had thin soles and no heels and generally laced up. Because they were town-made, I have always attributed them to Highland gentry, especially in the remote places in the Highlands, and probably not much after the 1750s. With regard to buckle shoes, those from the early 18th c. were cut higher and had smaller buckles - by the 1750s, they were cut low enough to slip on (based on finds at Ft. Ligonier, PA). As far as Highanders going barefoot, there is the story of the mid-18th c. gentry woman who was walking to church barefoot one Sunday with her servant woman. When they got within sight of the church, the gentry woman stopped, took her shoes and hose from her servant, put them on and continued to church. After, she took off her shoes and socks, handed them to her servant and continued the rest of the way barefoot.