[Sca-cooks] Images of Dining in Ireland 1581

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 9, 2006, at 12:49 AM, Sue Clemenger wrote:

> Some of the details in the woodcuts in regards to clothes are
> pretty spot-on: the oversized leine sleeves, the very short, high- 
> waisted
> jackets with pleated skirting (ionar, I think the jackets are  
> called), the
> shaggy mantles.  I've seen some of the woodcuts before in another  
> context,
> and always concentrated primarily on the clothing.  I'll have to  
> take some
> time and look at them all this weekend, now that I've got this  
> nifty new
> website bookmarked!

I'm not an authority on costume, but I've got people in my household  
who've done quite extensive research into Irish and Scots clothing,  
ad some of the things they told me years ago seem to come back to me  
when I look at these woodcuts.

One of them was that this type of dress and the somewhat unclear  
representations of it in things like woodcuts, _may_ be early  
examples of the philabeg, or the small kilt that many SCAdians claim  
doesn't occur until the 18th century or so.

I refer you specifically to the pinched waists of most of the Irish  
men illustrated, although I don't believe you see a single,  
identifiable belt around the waist of any of the men pictured. What  
you do see is a thing like an Elizabethan neck ruff, sticking out  
from the waist, but at an angle not really consistent with being part  
of the lower, trailing edge of the jacket.

Well, to make a long story short, there's been some speculation that  
what you're seeing in those woodcuts are guys wearing jackets that  
actually come over the hips, but are tucked into a pleated garment  
similar to the modern-ish philabeg, differing only in the lack of a  
sewn-in waistband (although the pleats may or may not have been  
stitched together near the top). The ruffly thing is possibly the  
upper edge of the "kilt", sticking up over and hanging down to  
conceal a belt (and leaving enough clearance so it doesn't fall out  
of the belt).

Adamantius (who in his younger, slenderer days has been known to wear  
various kilt-like garments)