Chapter Ii

Statement of the Problem Scottish dress, including Highland dress, has been studied through portraits, letters, household accounts, and travel accounts, and extant garments, although these sources are not numerous. The Scottish poets created numerous poems, ballads and songs that addressed events that affected the Scottish culture. Bell (1995), Robertson (1988), and Willhardt (1993), have shown that culture is reflected in poetry, while Greenfield (1980) demonstrated that a poet’s work reflects his life experiences. Highland chiefs often had a poet to record the history of his clan (Bain, 1954; Trevor-Roper, 1984). The poet had a high status because he worked closely with the chief. Not only did poetry serve as historic records of a clan, it also served as a form of entertainment and a place to voice opinions. Scottish poetry reflects the social, political, and economic beliefs that were popularly held by the people. Prolific poetry has rarely been used as a means for documenting 17, 18, and 19 century Scottish and Highland dress; more specifically documenting dress between 1603 and 1830, which corresponds to significant social, political, and economic events in Scottish history. Some major changes in the social, political, and economic environment in Scotland, particularly the Highlands, occurred between 1603 and 1830. In 1603, the Union of the Crowns occurred, which united Scotland and England under one monarch (Browne, 1896; Maxwell & Hutchison, 1958). In 1707, the Union of the Parliaments occurred, which united the Scottish and English parliaments in the British House of Parliament (Brander, 1980; Pryde, 1979). The union was followed by significant Jacobite uprisings against the English, as many people felt England had usurped the power of Scotland (Pryde, 1979). The united government suppressed the uprisings and then imposed a dress ban on the Scottish people, particularly the Highlanders. The ban, known as The Act of Proscription of 1746, forbade the wearing of traditional Highland dress (Bennett, 1980; Dunbar, 1979); thereby removing a portion of their identity. The government had hoped that the ban would help assimilate the Highlanders into the British culture. The ban was repealed 36 years later in 1782. Cheape (1993) discussed the relationship between dress and society by stating that “dress, like weapons, functions as a symbol that commands society’s highest respect and approval” (p. 41). Control of dress was indeed a weapon used by England during their political upheavals and power struggles with Scotland, in general, and the Highlands, in particular. The Act of Proscription, as well as the economic situation in