They lead a life of blissful ease; from the poor people they take what they want in victual; bows they have, and quivers, and they have halberts of great sharpness, for their iron ore is good. They carry a stout dirk in their belts; they are often naked from the knee down. In winter for an over garment they wear a plaid.[13] Perhaps the first indisputable reference to the Highland breacan occurs in the _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_ in August 1538:— THE EXPENSIS ON THE KINGIS PERSOUN DELIVERIT TO THOMAS ARTHURE. Item in the first for ij elnis ane quarter elne of variant cullorit velvet to be the Kingis Grace ane schort Heland coit price of the elne vj^{lib} summa xiij^{lib} x^s. Item for iij elnis quarter elne of grene taffatyis to lyne the said coit with, price of the elne x^s summa xxxij^s vj^d. Item for iij elnis of Heland tertane to be hoiss to the Kingis Grace, price of the elne iiij^s iiij^d summa xiij^s. Item for xv elnis of holland claith to be syde Heland sarkis to the Kingis Grace, price of the elne viij^s summa vj^{lib}. Item for sewing and making of the said thre sarkis ix^s. Item for twa vnce of silk to sew thame x^s. Item for iiij elnis of rubeins to the handis of thame[14] ij^s. The costume thus consisted of a short “variant cullorit” Highland coat, tartan hose—that is, trews and stockings combined—and three “syde” or low-hanging Highland shirts (each of which, it would appear, contained five ells), with ties of ribbons at the cuffs. The trews, described in the extract as “hoiss,” extended from the waist to the foot, and were tied with a garter below the knee. Doubts have been cast, indeed, on the possibility of existence in the rigours of a northern winter with the scanty raiment attributed to the poorer classes, but these are dispelled by the evidence on the point. Preserved in the British Museum is a remarkable letter written in 1542 or 1543 by John Elder, clerk, a “Reddshancke,” to Henry VIII., proposing the union of Scotland with England. The following excerpt affords positive testimony of the hardihood of the people, and of the title “Reddshanckes” conferred upon them by the Lowlanders:—