Ireland, ca. 5th-10th Centuries CE

The basic elements of ancient Irish dress for people in the upper classes were the léine and the brat. These lasted, with variations over time, from the earliest recorded times down to the 16th century. There is some speculation that the adoption of the léine is due to Roman influence; but I think it is more likely that the Romans adopted the more fitted clothing of the Celtic and Germanic tribes toward the later years of the Roman Empire (as those so-called ‘barbarians’ gained more power in the Empire).

Tunic (Léine)

The léine (pronounced /lay’-nuh/) in early Ireland in early depictions (between 5th and 12th century CE) is a long smock-like garment made of linen, not too widely cut, reaching to slightly above the ankles and decorated around the neck, wrists, and lower hem with embroidery. McClintock says it resembles a djelabbeh (Arabic garment). It might have sleeves or be sleeveless. The léine can be drawn up through the belt to knee-level (which causes it to bunch in such a way that carvings of men wearing their lÈines this way are sometimes mistaken for wearing a kilt). (H.F. McClintock, Old Irish Dress, p. 2) The léine may sometimes have opened in the front to the waist (see below), but most pictures show a neckline and don’t indicate such an opening. The léine’s neckline can be round, square, or v-shaped. Sometimes a léine is described by the term culpatach, meaning hooded; this could have meant that it had a collar (culpait) large enough to be used as a hood. (McClintock, Old Irish Dress, p. 13).

Both women and men wore the léine, but for women, it was a little longer. The full-length léine is nearly always shown being worn with a brat, not by itself, and is never shown worn with trews or the inar.

The léine can sometimes be shorter than ankle-length; a shorter léine, however, seems to be a mark of lower status, as the wearer probably is involved in physical labor. Some effort was made to assure that the léine wasn’t too short. (Dunleavy, p 17)

Laborers or peasants are sometimes seen in what superficially appears to be a short kilt, which has some embroidery around the lower hem. However, this most likely represents a léine, with the upper part thrown off to allow for coolness and freedom of movement while working. This would indicate that the neck-line of the léine is big enough to allow the wearer to put his whole body through it, so that it hangs around the waist. One figure on the cross shows an opening big enough to do this. (Dunleavy, p. 4)

The léine as seen in the Book of Kells has a high neckline, too narrow for the wearer to throw off the top of the garment for work. Sleeves are narrow and close to the arm. The long, flowing sleeves of léinte from the 16th century are a later development.

Decoration

The léine is usually described as being gel, or bright. This probably indicates light-colored linen. Some of the léinte shown in the Book of Kells are of various colors, including light blue or green, which are obtainable with woad, with an under-dye of weld for the green. Linen doesn’t take dye very well, and most colors applied would come out light, rather than the intense, dark colors we are able to achieve with modern chemical dyes; the exceptions are the pigments obtained from indigin (from woad) and murex purple. The Book of Kells seems to indicate embroidery or woven borders at the neck, wrists and hem.  Léinte may also have been striped.  The lines on the garments of the Breac Maedhóc figures (below) could be intended to represent deep pleats, or stripes, or both.

A good description of how to construct a similar tunic can be found at the following site of How to Make a Viking Tunic — look at the Birka tunic with a round neckline and gores let into the side seams. I’ll be posting pictures and instructions eventually. In the meantime, my information for The Rogart Shirt would probably be fairly accurate.

Women (left) and men (right) from the Breac Maedhóc, a bronze house-shrine from the 11th or 12th century:

    .

Cloak (Brat)

The brat (pronounced /braht/) was a rectangular woolen cloak worn over the shoulders like a shawl and/or fastened with a brooch on the chest or the right shoulder. The brat seems most commonly to have been rectangular, and rather voluminous, so that it could be folded several times around the wearer, with longer length indicating greater status. Sometimes the brat is described as ‘five-folded’ (Gantz, p. 157), but we don’t know exactly what this means. They are sometimes portrayed as having some sort of hood, or as being folded and/or pinned in such a way that part of the brat could be drawn up over the head as a hood.

Several other forms of the brat seem to have been used, though it’s hard to tell from the pictorial evidence — one form seems to have holes through which one can put one’s arms without unfastening the cloak. Some are shown that look like modern capes — a half-circle, with the bottom edge parallel to the ground, with or without a hood. (Dunleavy, p. 3) Both large and small mantles are portrayed. The shorter brats, however, are usually worn with trews. Women are usually portrayed wearing the full-length brat.

Decoration

Unlike linen, wool takes dye very well, and the brat is often described as being colored. Usually the brat is one color with a fringe (corrthar) or border of another color. These borders or fringes could have been either woven into the brat, as was common with fabric woven on a warp-weighted loom, or made separately, and could include silver and golden threads. It is possible that embellishments included appliqué and tapestry-woven patterns. (McClintock, Old Irish Dress, P. 15) Bright colors were common, with purple, crimson and green being mentioned most often. Other colors listed are blue, black, yellow, speckled (which, from the Latin, can mean checked or tartan), gray, dun, variegated and striped. (McClintock, Old Irish Dress, p. 14) McClintock downplays the possibility of tartans being used, but scraps of checked cloth have been found from ancient Scotland and elsewhere in Europe, so a simple check is certainly not impossible.

The brat is also sometimes described as being ‘fleecy’: the woman who enters Da Derga’s Hostel in the tale of that name is described as wearing a brat that was fleecy and striped. (Gantz, p. 76) Some brats from later periods have been found that had a pile woven into the fabric, so that they looked rather like a rug. It is also likely that the nap of the fabric was drawn out with teasels, so that the fabric was very fuzzy; this fiber could then be either left long or sheared short, so that it looked like modern woolen blankets. The depictions in the Book of Kells and other manuscripts, however, do not show mantles with obvious tufting.

No Kilts!

One of the myths making its way through the Celtic community is that the Irish used to wear a kilt. There is no evidence to support this. Several sculptures have been cited to support the existence of kilts; however, most authorities (including H.F. McClintock) on the subject say that the garments portrayed are léinte, gathered around the waist (see both my comments above in the segment on léinte, and Scottish Clothing, ca. 1100-1800 AD. The kilt arose in Scotland around 1600 C.E., when Scots started belting their brat around their waist. This was remarked on by observers, who said they could tell the Scots from the Irish soldiers in Ulster because of this habit of belting their cloaks.

Below: The disputed panel from the Cross of Muiredach

Jacket (Inar)

Soldiers are portrayed as wearing a close-fitting sleeved or sleeveless jacket, waist-length, fastened in the chest with a brooch. The jacket is worn with a pair of trews, not over a léine. The high waists of 16th c. jackets seem to be a later development. One soldier portrayed has sleeves to the middle of his forearm and trews that come to a few inches below the knee. Another has sleeves that come to his wrists. (Dunleavy, pp. 21, 22)

Trews (Bróc)

Trews in Ireland are usually shown on soldiers, who are wearing them with a short jacket. The trews are usually close-fitting, sometimes shown to end above the knees, sometimes to a few inches below the knee, and sometimes cover the whole leg. They are sometimes marked with vertical lines which may represent decoration or a striped weave in the cloth. An illustration in the Book of Kells shows a soldier wearing a fitted green jacket with close-fitting sleeves and a round neck, and bright blue trews. The trews end just above the ankle-bone and have a strap going under the foot, making them like modern stirrup pants. There is a line right under the knees that may represent a garter. (McClintock, Old Irish Dress, p. 5; Dunleavy, p. 21, 22) This is corroborated by an account of the arrival of Harald Gille, who later became king of Norway, who came to Norway from Ireland claiming to be a son of King Magnus Barefoot by an Irish mother. His clothes are described thus: “he had on a shirt and trousers which were bound with ribands under his foot-soles, a short cloak, an Irish hat on his head and a spear hat under his hand.” (McClintock, Old Irish Dress, p. 5)

Other forms of trews: on the Cross of Muiredach (10th c.), soldiers are shown wearing what appear to be striped trews that are rather short — they only reach to mid-thigh at most. (Dunleavy, p. 21)

Soldier from the Book of Kells, ca. 800 CE (jacket is green, trews blue):

Persons who would have worn trews would have included charioteers, the king’s bodyguard, food bearers, door keepers, and scouts. Kings and other notable persons are usually shown wearing the long léine.

Belt (Crios)

The crios usually refers to a leather or woven belt. These are probably either tabby weave (as is the criosana still woven in Aran today), or tablet-woven. It was woven not only to keep the léine in place but to carry object and utensils in the usual medieval fashion.

Shoes:

Contrary to popular opinion, going shoeless is not a universal Celtic trait. The Rule of Ailbe of Emly directed that “no matter how ascetic a person became he should never go barefoot.” (Dunleavy, p. 20)

See Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn’s Footwear of the Middle Ages site for information on Irish shoes for this period.

Colors of Clothing:

Brehon law laid out the colors of the clothing that people were allowed to wear — see my Textile Page.

Also see:
Eachna’s Celtic Clothing

Social History of Ancient Ireland (excerpts from P. W. Joyce) — use with caution.  His information on the spurious Irish ‘kilt’ has been thoroughly refuted.

Molly ni Dana’s Home Page – another essay on Irish clothing, and an essay on shoes.

 

Originally published here in 1997.

Celtic Costume Myths and Tips

A couple of popular myths about Celtic costuming that trip up reenactors:

Myth: The Kilt was worn by the Ancient Celts

Actually, the kilt, in the form of the breacan feile, or belted plaid, seems to have come along around 1550 to 1600 AD. Previously, the Gaels of Scotland, like the Irish, wore a linen or wool tunic (leine) and a large cloak (brat). For more information on the development of the kilt, see Scottish Clothing, ca. 1100 – 1800 AD.

The modern kilt seems to have been invented around 1745 or so. There are several stories as to who invented it. One is that a blacksmith had his tailor cut off the ‘top’ part of the breacan feile, and stitch the pleats into the kilt, as a way to make a less cumbersome garment; the other is that a factory owner wanted a less cumbersome or voluminous garment for his workers, and asked a tailor to make up a smaller kilt. Personally, I prefer the former. Moreover, McClintock says that some nobles had the pleats sewn into their belted plaids, for greater ease in putting them on every day; it is a simple step to cutting off the cloth above the waist and using the remainder as the feileadh beag (small kilt).

There are several ‘reconstructions’ of a man’s garment based on a piece of cloth from about 750 BC that supposedly consists of a piece of cloth wrapped and tied around the waist, and attached with straps over the shoulders; however, the piece of cloth this is based on is actually too small to substantiate this reconstruction.  So, there is no early sarong-style Irish ‘kilt’.

Myth: The word ‘Kilt’ comes from ‘Celt’

The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word kilt comes from Middle English, and is probably of Scandinavian origin, probably from the Danish word kilte, meaning ‘to tuck up.’ The term kilt is a Scots term (Scots is an English dialect), not the Gaelic term for the belted plaid. The Gaelic term for a kilt is breacan feile for the belted plaid, or feileadh beag for the modern kilt. (Breacan means ‘the tartan cloth’; feileadh means ‘wrap’, and beag means small. McClintock, p. 37.)

Myth: The term ‘Tartan’ comes from ‘Tartar’, and tartan cloth was introduced by trade with the Tartars / The ancient Celts didn’t have Tartan.   OR — the Ancient Celts lived in China.

The word ‘tartan’ comes from the French word tiretaine, which probably refers to linsey-woolsey cloth. This is the word that English writers used to refer to the Scottish cloth. The Gaelic word for tartan is breacan (variegated).

The Celts have worn many-colored and checked fabrics from time immemorial (as did some of the surrounding cultures). Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni, is described as having worn a gown of many colors, and checkered cloth has been found in the Salzburg salt mines (which the Celts mined for salt).

The recent find of the Mummies of Urumchi has stirred up a lot of interest about the tartan-style materials found in some of the graves.  Unfortunately, this has led to some speculation that the mummies are the remnants of a long-lost Celtic tribe.  This is NOT the case — the mummies are mostly members of a group called the Tocharians, which split off from the core Indo-European language group at about the same time the Celts did, so they retained some characteristics (linguistic and textile) similar to those retained by the Celts.  However, the language they spoke was not Celtic.  Other Indo-European groups such as the Scythians (who also were not Celts) wore checked fabrics that might be called tartans; and a garment called the Thorsberg Mantle has been found in the Baltic region which has a blue-and-white check — but it was made by Teutonic/Nordic people, not Celts.  So the very idea of tartan or checked cloth is not unique to the Celts; the Celts simply took the idea and carried it down to modern times, whereas other groups either stopped using it (presumably other Indo-European groups like the Greeks and Romans, who split off the core group much later than the Tocharians and Celts) or didn’t have it to begin with.  Some checked fabrics have also been found in South America, but that doesn’t mean that the Mayans were Celts, either.  It’s a simple matter to have two colors in the warp of a fabric, then put two colors in the weft, and wind up with checks — then to elaborate on that idea.  It stands to reason that this type of textile would arise in various places at different times.

Myth: Everybody in Ancient Times wore drab colors

Actually, the very poor often did wear clothes dyed in colors that were easy to obtain and easy to keep clean; but natural sources for colorful dyes were readily available for the taking. Colors were very popular and widely used. See Dyes for more information. A note of caution, though: one of the worst things I’ve seen was a leine in a very bright canary-yellow cotton. The color is all wrong; only an aniline dye can make a yellow so obviously unnatural. For a better idea of what shades are available using natural dyes, check out a book on the subject in your local public library.  Lastly, the Romans noted the Celts’ fondness for brightly colored clothing.

Myth:  The medieval Irish leine’s sleeve had to have been pleated or gathered to accomodate the huge amout of fabric used.

The historical costuming list has had a lot of discussion over the years about the construction of the late-period Irish leine.  The general consensus is that the sleeve is neither pleated nor has a drawstring along the top — it’s shaped more like the long sleeve of a Japanese kimono, but more rounded at the lower end.  The practice of either sewing in pleats or a drawstring comes from an attempt a few decades ago to figure out how to incorporate 6 or more yards of material into the leine.  However, given that the material used was probably only about 30 inches wide — well, that makes a big difference in construction.  You could easily use two yards of 30″ wide fabric in each sleeve, and another three to four yards in the body of the garment, and not have an overwhelmingly large garment.  Moreover, only the very wealthy would have been able to afford lots and lots of extra fabric in their leine.  See the last illustration on this pagefor a good look at the sleeve of a poor man’s leine — it clearly isn’t as full as some of the other sleeves on this page, and is shoved up a bit at the elbow.

Other Tips:

DON’T use buttons if your persona is prior to about 1300. They weren’t introduced into England prior to that; and I’m still tracking down a date for their introduction into Ireland. DO use brooches, toggles, ties and lacing to close garments and attach items. (It’s easier than stitching buttonholes, anyway.)

DON’T use polyester/synthetic materials, especially if you’re going to be out in hot weather and/or near any kind of flame, even if it’s just a candle. DO use natural fibers like wool, linen and cotton. Natural fibers ‘breathe’ better in hot weather, and they don’t stick to your skin if you accidentally catch your garb on fire (polyester does stick to the skin, and can result in much worse burns). Real wool doesn’t burn as quickly as linen or cotton; it smoulders first, which gives you time to notice that something’s amiss and remedy the situation. A wool/poly blend may be ok, since the wool content might retard the burning tendencies of the polyester, but burn a swatch to see what it does if you’re unsure.

Cotton wasn’t introduced to Europe until the Middle Ages, and even so was horrendously expensive until the invention of the Cotton Gin in the 19th century made the cotton fiber process cheaper, so it isn’t quite ‘period’ for early Celtic, but it has the advantage of being inexpensive, so you can work out the details of your costume before making a final version in more expensive wool and linen. You can also find cotton/linen blends, which will pass for linen (well, they drape slightly differently) but cost less.

Real linen costs more than cotton, but worth it if you’ve got a pattern that works well for you, since it wicks moisture away from the body better and wears a lot better over the long term than cotton does, and gets more comfortable the more you wear it. A cotton garment will wear out in just a few seasons of moderate use.

Other Pet Peeves:

That under-boob bodice that lots of people wear — it’s WRONG.  Nobody was wearing a bodice like that until the Victorian era, when people started coming up with all kinds of folk-costumes that had tenuous connections at best with what people wore in the past.  The only bodice that went under the bust is the type worn by Flemish working women in the 15th century over their woolen kirtles — which gave them enough structure and bust support that their breasts weren’t exposed.  If you want to look like a fantasy wench, fine, but it’s neither authentic nor attractive..

It’s ‘Keltic,’ not ‘Seltic’, dammit! The Celtics (with an ‘s’ sound at the front) are a basketball team. The Celts (with a ‘k’ sound at the front) would have pronounced it as a hard ‘c’.

Originally posted here in 1997.