Old and rare Scottish tartans : $b with historical introduction and descriptive noticesStewart, Donald William
History
Old and rare Scottish tartans : $b with historical introduction and descriptive notices
Stewart, Donald William
Tartans -- Scotland
In weiris quhen thay yokit the aduersar, thay invadet athir with ane
arrow or a lance. Thay vsed ane twa edged sword lykwyse; the futmen a
lang sword, the horsmen a schort sword bot baith vset a verie braid
sword, with a scheiring sharpe edge that at the first straik, with
little force, it walde scheir a man in twa in the waste or midle. Thay
war harnest with Jacks al wouen throuch with yrne huikes, quhilkes
habbirgeounis thay cal: This vpon, or as we say, abone a lathir cote,
quhilke was na les stark than it was elegant, thay put on. Al thair
harnesse was lycht, that gif thay fel in ony danger, the lychtlier
thay mycht slip out of the handes of thair ennimies: for in swiftnes
of fute, in quhilke thay walde ouirrin the swoftest horse, quhither
the way war lang and plane, or gif it war cumirsum throuch hilis or
hopes, in sik swoftnes, I say, thay obteined gret prais, athir quhen
the ennimie flies to follow, or quhen the ennimie persues to flie,
and gif mister be to declyne from perrel.... Thair cleithing was til
necessitie, and nocht till decore, maist conuenient ay to the weiris;
for thay al vset mantilis of ane forme, baith the Nobilitie and the
commone people, excepte that the Nobilitie delyted mair in coloured
claith and sindrie hewis, and thir mantilis war baith wyd and lang,
notwithstandeng about the bosum, quhair thay walde decentlie losin. I
can weil think thir same to be the kynd of cleithing quhilke in ald
times in latin war called Brachæ. In thir only mantilis in the nyt
seasone, thay rowit thame selfes, and in thame sleipit sound: this
was thair maner, and this day the hilande men, and thay of Irland
weiris even siklyke, bot now thay use ruch couirings, ane sorte to
thair bed, another sorte to the Jornay conuenient. The rest of thair
claithis, was a schorte cote of woll, with wyde and apne sleiues
that the radier quhen thay walde thay myt schote or caste a darte, or
ane arrow, breickis thay had verie slichte, and indeid mair to hyd
thair memberis than for ony pompe or pryd, or to defend thame frome
the calde was meit. Of linnine lykwyse thay maid wyd sarkis, with
mony bosumis, and wide sleifes of negligence hinging doune evin to
thair knies. Thir sarkis the mair potent amang thame vset to smeir
with saffronne, bot vthiris with a certane fatnes, and this thay did
to keip thame cleine frome al filthines. Nathing thay thocht worthier
of counsel than to exercise thame selfes continuallie in the sueit of
the Barresse, or in siklyke ane exercise. In makeng thame, appeirit
na kair or trauel neglected athir in arte or decore: as with threid
of silke, cheiflie greine, or rid, al the partes of the sarke maist
artificiouslie thay sewit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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