The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

CHAP. IX] OF SCOTLAND 149
of displaying his nakedness, and termed " a sleeveless man, and
without backskirts." The third variety in the form
of^thedresf^ of the drcss wom by the Highlanders was that of
the Truis, but this dress can be traced no further
back than the year 1538. Martin thus describes it in 1716.
"
Many of the people wear trozvis ; some have them very fine
some are coloured,
woven, like stocking of those made of cloth ;
and others striped ; the latter are as well shaped as the former,
lying close to the body from the middle downwards, and tied
round with a belt above the haunches. There is a square piece
of cloth which hangs down before. The measure for shaping
the trowis is a stick of wood, whose length is a cubit, and that
divided into the length of a finger, and half a finger, so that
it requires more skill to make it than the ordinary habit
The one end (of the plaid) hangs by the middle over the left
arm, the other going round the body, hangs by the end over
the left arm also ; the right hand above it is to be at liberty
to do any thing upon occasion." And in 1678 it is thus men-
tioned by Cleland, who w^ote a satirical poem upon the
expedition of the Highland host.
''
But those who were their chief commanders,
As such who bore the pirnie standarts,
Who led the van and drove the rear,
Were right well mounted of their gear ;
With brogues, trues, and pirnie plaides.
With good blue bonnets on their heads.
" A slasht out coat beneath her plaides,
A targe of timber, nails, and hides."
Defoe, in his Memoirs of a Cavalier, mentions it as worn
in 1639— " Their dress was as antique as the rest ; a cap on
their heads, called by them a bonnet, long hanging sleeves
behind, and their doublet, breeches, and stockings of a stuff
they called plaid, striped across red and yellow, with short
coats of the same." The earliest notice, however, is contained
in the treasurer's accounts for 1538, and consists of the dress
worn by James V. when hunting in the Highlands.
"
Item, in the first for ij elnis ane quarter elne of variant
cullorit velvet to be the kingis grace ane sc/iort Heland coit,
price of the elne vj^'^ : summa,
xiiji'b
x^.