The Gordon Horse above all from Matchlock.
Another two Highland Clan regiments completed. Better the proud plaid. No doubt. It's slow work mind.
Here we have another Clan regiment.
Another 4 to go. I'm currently waiting on some pipers. Those above are from Lurkio and I should have bought more. Then its time for more cavalry.
Meantime I’ve made a start on the Irish regulars. Two command stands here.
The rank and file are being assembled, I'm awaiting more Khurasan and Matchlock figures, and
minor conversions of others have begun.
While we are considering the Irish here's a pic of the Irish woolly hat. A soft hat like this could take many shapes and no doubt did. Flatten the top and you have something like some of the Essex Irish Montrose15mm figures wear, roll the hem and that's a match for the Khurasan 15mm Irish. You get the idea.
I have found two such illustrations and I guess it's as near to an appropriate image of period Irish head gear as we are going to get. It's also likely that in Scotland some of the Irish wore Scots bonnets. I've gone for a mixture plus the odd hat. I'm currently of the opinion that for this campaign the definitive Irish apparel was truis. The Irish wore them at home and could get them in Scotland. For that matter as their women folk traveled with them they could make them in Scotland.
Here is the first of the Irish units. Where appropriate I've added swords, caps and bonnets.
I'm pondering about Mac Colla's life guard, a small separate unit or roll them into a regiment? Then, there's the man himself - reputedly a 7 footer. Things to think on.
While we are considering the Irish here's a pic of the Irish woolly hat. A soft hat like this could take many shapes and no doubt did. Flatten the top and you have something like some of the Essex Irish Montrose15mm figures wear, roll the hem and that's a match for the Khurasan 15mm Irish. You get the idea.
I have found two such illustrations and I guess it's as near to an appropriate image of period Irish head gear as we are going to get. It's also likely that in Scotland some of the Irish wore Scots bonnets. I've gone for a mixture plus the odd hat. I'm currently of the opinion that for this campaign the definitive Irish apparel was truis. The Irish wore them at home and could get them in Scotland. For that matter as their women folk traveled with them they could make them in Scotland.
Here is the first of the Irish units. Where appropriate I've added swords, caps and bonnets.
I'm pondering about Mac Colla's life guard, a small separate unit or roll them into a regiment? Then, there's the man himself - reputedly a 7 footer. Things to think on.
Enjoying this so far.
ReplyDeleteI bought a few essex 28mm(25mm tbh) Irish and Higlanders last year and never got around to them. I am sure I will do a proper War of the Three Kingdom project eventually.
The Scotch bonnet is interesting. Any idea when and where it originated? I am currently working my way through my 16th century Redshanks. When did their saffron leine give way to increasing amounts of tartan and the bonnet?
That is a fantastic illustration. Any idea on a date? The Irish with their darts prevailed for a while it seems.
Mac Colla is a fascinating figure. Romanticised I am sure, but a good example of the continuim of Irish/Scottish cultural crossover, even after the Reformation.
Thanks, Eoin.
Good to hear Eoin.
ReplyDeleteI don't know when the bonnet made its debut in Scotland early 1500s maybe?
We are on firmer ground with Redshanks and tartan. The multi coloured plaids of Shane O'Neill's Scots body guards were noted in Irish Chronicles. I think the saffron leine hung on for quite a bit in the Isles.
I don't yet know the date of the illustration. I think it's quite late given the utilitarian nature of the clothes.
I'm also minded that many Irish clans had been thoroughly disarmed after the 9 years war. A dart and a knife might be the best many could get their hands on.
When Eoin Ruadh arrived in Ulster most of his recruits had only knives. From that he built an army but that's another story.
I think Mac Colla was a fascinating lad too. You would likely enjoy very much reading David Stevenson's Alisdair MacColla and the Highland problem in the seventeenth century. It's affordable and a mine of information.
Thanks OB. I will have a look out for it.
ReplyDelete