Quote Originally Posted by artificer View Post
the book is called:
The highlanders of scotland: The complete watercolours commissioned by queen victoria from kenneth macleay of her scottish retainers and clansman

the author is delia millar.

As for a sporran made of highland cow, i'm sure most of the people out in the highlands at this time had a sporran made from whatever they could get their hands on, assuming they were still wearing highland dress.

You'll find, macguffin, that this book and topic is a bit of a sore spot for some native highlanders. The people of the area have had a rather difficult time, financially and politically over the centuries.

They tend to be rather frustrated (and rightfully so) when people interpret these images as "what the average highland man wore" rather than "a group of royal retainers depicted in all their finery by royal request."

to hear these men speak of it. The answer to nearly every "what did the average highlander wear for x (hose, kilt, jacket, et)?" the answer invariably is "whatever they could scratch together".

In short, just keep in mind that the men depicted are not average men simply going about their day. They are royal staff or very well to do friends of the queen.

That said, the images are gorgeous, and an excellent record of the fashions the well-positioned could roll out in at the time.

ith:
Thank you.