The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

150 THE HIGHLANDERS [part i
" Item, for iij elnis quarter elne of grene taffatyis, to lyne
of the ehie x^. : xxxij^. vj^^.
"
Item, for iij ehiis of Hcland tertane to be hoiss to the
the said coit with, price summa,
kingis grace, price of the ehie iiij^. iiij^. : summa, xiijs.
" Item, for xv ehiis of Holland claith to be syde Heland
sarkis to the kingis grace, price of the elne viij^. : summa,
vjiib
" Item, for sewing and making of the said sarks, ix^.
" Item, for twa unce of silk to sew thame, x^.
" Item, for iiij elnis of ribanis to the handes of them, ijs."
The Jioiss here mentioned are plainly the ti^uis, the stockings
being termed short Jioiss ; and from these accounts it appears
that this dress consisted of the Highland shirt, the truis made
of tartan, the short Highland coat made of tartan velvet, with
"
and finally, the plaid thrown over
the sleeves " slasht out ;
the shoulders. The truis cannot be traced in the Highlands
previous to the sixteenth century,
but there is undoubted
evidence that it was, from the very earliest period, the dress
of the gentry of Ireland. I am inclined therefore to think
that it was introduced from Ireland, and that the proper and
peculiar dress of the Highlanders consisted of the first two
varieties above described. The use of tartan in the Highlands
at an early period has been denied, but the passages above
quoted show clearly, that what is now called tartan, was used
from an early period in various parts of the dress. Among
the gentry, the plaid was always of tartan, and the coat appears
to have been from 1538 of tartan velvet, and slashed; the
short hoiss were likewise of tartan, but the Highland shirt
was of linen, and dyed with saffron. Among the common
people the plaid was certainly not of tartan, but generally
brown in colour, ^ while the shirt worn by them was of tartan.
The present dress with the belted plaid is exactly the same
as the old dress of the gentry, with the exception of the yellow
shirt. The dress with the kilt and shoulder-plaid, is probably
a corruption of the dress of the common people. Among the
' " Chlamydes enim gestabant unius says, " But for the most part they
formfe omnes et nobiles et plebeii (nisi (the plaids) are now browne, most
quod nobiles varierjatis sibi 7nagis place- nere to the colour of the hadder."
bantj."—John Major. Moniepennie