The blue bonnet was a type of soft woollen hat that for several hundred years was the customary working wear of Scottish labourers and farmers. Although a particularly broad and flat form was associated with the Scottish Lowlands , where it was sometimes called the scone cap , the bonnet was also worn in parts of Northern England and became widely adopted in the Highlands .
33-402: A blue bonnet is a type of soft woollen hat that was the customary working wear of Scottish labourers and farmers. Bluebonnet or blue bonnet may also refer to: Blue bonnet In later years it came to be associated with Highland dress , and in the 19th century gave rise to other headgear such as the more elaborate Balmoral bonnet , the tam o' shanter , and (with the addition of
66-490: A houndstooth pattern. A maud also commonly has a border or inset border of the darker wool and between one and six bars of the darker wool at the ends. An analysis of various written and artistic works puts dimensions between 0.9m to 1.5m wide and between 2.5m and 3.5m long. While commercially-produced mauds are often of one piece, many older and home-produced mauds woven on smaller looms are of two narrow lengths sewn lengthwise together. When woven to be joined, each length has
99-479: A "gude blue bonnet", though the more modern "tam" may be made of a wide range of materials. Like the English Monmouth cap , the true knitted blue bonnet is still made in small quantities for historical and military re-enactment groups. In Scotland the term "bonnet-laird", or "bannet-laird", was sometimes used to refer to a yeoman , who themselves farmed land of which they owned the freehold . The name combined
132-400: A border along only one length, as pictured above. The Rev. George Gunn provides an early reference of the maud as a shepherd's garment. Drawing from barony records of Stichill, Roxburgh from 1655-1807, he said, "The maud, or shepherd's plaid, and the blue bonnet marked the peasant's dress." (p.10). Supporting the maud being used by the common folk, whilst also noting it as a male garment,
165-508: A checkered maud. A very few others may be seen at gatherings wearing a maud with Western clothes. In any case, to the discerning observer, the maud is as much an item of cultural identity as is the kilt. Few mills now weave mauds in the Borders region. One has produced mauds in non-traditional and fashionable colours (such as light and dark orange, jade and red) in an attempt to attract modern buyers whilst another has positioned their product as
198-602: A dinner of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne : Nor must we overlook the music—which, as it ought to be, was ancient—the orchestra consisting of a couple of bagpipes. The Percy pipers were the performers—the two Greens, father and son, the father, piper to the Duchess Dowager of Northumberland, wearing the silver crescent on his arm; and the son, piper to the Duke of Northumberland, wearing His Grace's livery and badge, with
231-416: A half-knot at the right hip. Scott's first description, above, and many portraits and statues of Scott, James Hogg and Robbie Burns, show a long maud draped over the left shoulder, brought diagonally around the body and passed over the left shoulder, with both ends reaching about waist height. In some pictures, the same length maud is wrapped in the same manner but over the right arm, instead of under, to form
264-437: A longer maud, writing: ... a Maud or Low Country plaid. It is a long piece of cloth about a yard wide wrapped loosely round the waist like a scarf & from thence brought across the breast & the end thrown over the left shoulder where it hangs loose like a Spanish Cloak. It is not of Tartan but of the natural colour of the wool with a very small black check which gives it a greyish look … A broad belt about his waist
297-453: A maud in portraits, etchings and statues. This romantic revival may have prolonged the use of the maud and saved it from extinction; writing in 1808, Allan Ramsay said, "The wide great-coat, and the round hat, are, frequently, adopted for the grey checked plaid or mawd, and the broad blue bonnet with its scarlet rim;" (p. 396). Edwin Waugh , a prominent 19th-century Lancastrian poet and writer,
330-471: A pattern of small black and white checks known as Border tartan , Shepherd's check, Shepherd's plaid or Galashiels grey. It was in common use as an item of clothing in the southern counties of Scotland and the northern counties of England until the early twentieth century. The origin of the word maud is uncertain. Writing in 1894, Russell said that it came from the Gaelic maudal or maundal ,
363-510: A poetic synonym for plaid . Her view seems to be backed by an old poem in Gaelic, "The Tale of Connal", recorded in Ross-shire in 1859, which has the line, "And wrapped my maundal around". An alternate source is that the word derives from maldy , meaning 'a coarse grey woollen cloth', which in turn comes from medley , meaning 'a parti-coloured cloth', by way of mispronunciation. However,
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#1732887237740396-505: A small tuft or red worsted "cherry", while in the Highlands the fashion was for a smaller, plain bonnet, sometimes peaked at the front. The bonnet's construction made it an extremely practical piece of clothing in Scotland's damp, cool climate. The flat shape formed an effective brim against the weather, could be pulled down ("scrugged") in various directions for additional cover, pulled over
429-524: A sort of mantle. Scott's second description, above, describes the carrying of a long maud, wrapped around the waist and passed diagonally over the chest to fall behind the left shoulder. The maud gained popularity as a symbol of the Scottish Borders from 1820 due to its mention by fashionable Border Scots such as Walter Scott , James Hogg and Henry Scott Riddell and their wearing of it in public. Together with Robbie Burns , they can be seen wearing
462-458: A white wig, blue bonnet, and large white cockade. The association was reinforced by later nostalgic Jacobite songs, such as "Blue Bonnets Over the Border", set down (and possibly written) by Sir Walter Scott , who himself affected to wear a bonnet in later life, dressing very much like "an old Border baron", according to James Hogg . The blue bonnet remained everyday wear for Lowland farmers until
495-447: A wire cage) the military feather bonnet . The characteristic blue bonnet was knitted in one piece from a thick wool, dyed with woad , and felted to produce a water resistant finish. Strings were often sewn around the inner edge, allowing a close fit around the brow, whilst the top was worn pulled into a broad circle. The typical Lowland man's bonnet was large and worn flat, overhanging at the front and back and sometimes ornamented with
528-472: Is also part of his costume – it served to retain one end of the Maud & occasionally to carry a large knife or dagger. The maud was therefore the outer garment of the shepherd or common man. It provided warmth amongst the Border hills, protection from the rain and was his blanket at night. The voluminous nature of the wrapped maud also meant that pockets or nooks, known as ‘maud neuks/nuiks', could be fashioned for
561-461: Is given up". An 1825 dictionary described the bonnet as "formerly worn by the more antiquated peasantry". By the middle of the century the characteristic broad, flat Lowlander's bonnet, usually worn with clothing of homespun hodden grey and perhaps a woollen, black and white checkered maud , was said to have disappeared or survived only in the "degenerate form of a small round Kilmarnock bonnet worn pretty generally by ploughmen, carters and boys of
594-824: The Northumbrian maud. The garment is still worn on ceremonial occasions by Northumbrian pipers, especially the Ducal pipers. It would seem that use of the maud on the Borders fell away towards the end of the 19th century and today, early mauds are relatively rare. One possible explanation is that England's Burying in Woollen Acts 1666-80 required the dead to be shrouded and buried in pure English wool. The Acts were in force until 1814 so rural folk being buried in their mauds may have accounted for many disappearing. Two more likely explanations were that mauds, as working garments, simply wore out; and that 19th century changes in fashion rendered
627-562: The Rev. Archibald Craig, writing in the New Statistical Account of Scotland for Roxburghshire, said: The dress of the peasantry is neat and becoming. The plaid or maud of the border, consisting of black and white, or blue and white checks, is almost universal among the men, and they arrange it with a good deal of taste. A description of the appearance, age and use of the maud is best summed up by Walter Scott , when he wrote: The plaid
660-464: The Scottish title of laird , the holder of an established estate, with the blue bonnet of the typical Scottish farmer. Walter Scott gave a slightly differing definition of the term, stating that it signified "a petty proprietor", or member of the low-ranking gentry, who adopted "the dress, along with the habits, of a yeoman". Owing to the flower's resemblance to the cap, the wildflower Succisa pratensis
693-421: The carrying of ‘fairns' (food), other provisions and even lambs. The method of carrying the maud was dictated by its size and possibly local custom. A Cumberland Shepherd , painted by Joshua Cristall in 1816 shows a short maud carried wrapped around the waist. The Shepherd's Sweetheart by Thomas Brooks (1846) and The Craigy Bield , above, show a medium-length maud carried over the left shoulder and tied in
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#1732887237740726-414: The ears for warmth, or folded and put in a pocket. It could also be removed and used as a pocket or bag in its own right. The felted wool helped protect the wearer against rain, and could be easily wrung dry. A substantial hand-knitting industry is believed to have developed in Scotland by the late 15th century. Bonnetmakers produced broad, flat knitted caps in imitation of the velvet caps popular amongst
759-401: The end of the 18th century, but its use was gradually discontinued under the influence of fashion and increasingly industrialised clothing manufacture. A minister of a lowland parish of Angus , noting the increase in the use of imported cloth and clothing in his lifetime, wrote "in 1760 there were only two hats in the parish: in 1790 few bonnets are worn; the bonnet-maker trade in the next parish
792-623: The following century. Despite its earlier association with the Covenanters, adorned with a white cockade the blue bonnet was also adopted as an emblem of Jacobitism . Its political symbolism became overt: one night in December 1748, over two years after the failure of the 1745 Jacobite rising , someone scaled the Edinburgh Parliament House and dressed the lion in the Scottish royal arms in
825-596: The humbler ranks". Reflecting the Victorian fascination with (and militarisation of) Highland dress, the smaller Kilmarnock or Balmoral bonnet, further elaborated with ribbons, a diced border, and a toorie , was incorporated into British military uniform during the 19th century. The informal version of the Balmoral, also adorned with a toorie, is often known as the Tam o' shanter, after a Robert Burns poem whose central character wears
858-497: The maud obsolete in favour of coats and then jumpers. In either case, old and un-needed mauds were probably thrown out. In more recent decades, mauds have seen a modest revival as a part of Border Scots and Northern English traditional dress . The maud is often worn by Northumbrian pipers , and many Borderers choose to wear trews in their clan tartan rather than the Highland kilt , and some of these will pair their tartan trews with
891-558: The reverse is also said to be true, whereby maldy was an early-19th-century noun for yarn and cloth used to make mauds, as in "a cloak of maldy", where it was pronounced "mawdy". Spelling and pronunciation varies throughout the Border lands. It was written maud or mawd in southern Scotland and northern England but also maad in parts of Scotland and Northumberland, mad in Lancashire and maund in West Yorkshire. In long form, it
924-549: The upper classes of the time. Dyed with blue or grey vegetable dyes , they became popular with the peasantry and by the end of the 16th century—as noted by Fynes Moryson —the bonnet had been adopted nearly universally by men throughout the Lowlands, although it did not become widely worn in the Highlands until the following century. By 1700, Martin Martin described Highlanders as mainly wearing thick woollen bonnets of blue or grey. It
957-472: Was called a shepherd's maud , in Northumberland, a herd's maud , and in parts of south-west Scotland, a Moffat maud . A maud is a rectangular, woollen blanket with fringed ends. It is characteristically woven in small checks of dark and light wool; for example, black, blue or dark brown, and white, cream or light grey. The most common pattern is often called shepherd's check but some mauds are woven in
990-423: Was identified by his use of the shepherd's plaid or maud. He affected huge sticks, of which he had an immense collection, and he liked to throw a shepherd’s plaid over his shoulders... He was fond of clothing himself in honest homespun of the thickest texture, and of wearing huge broad-soled boots, guiltless of polish. The garment is also associated with Northumbrian smallpipes . In 1857, William Green played at
1023-462: Was never in use among the Borderers, i.e. the Highland or tartan plaid; but there was, and is still used, a plaid with a very small cheque of black and grey, which we call a maud, and which, I believe, was very ancient; it is the constant dress of the shepherd, worn over one shoulder, and then drawn round the person, leaving one arm free. On another occasion he described the wearing of what must have been
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1056-412: Was often called the "blue bonnet" in Scotland. By extension the name was also applied to the garden flower Centaurea montana . The blue tit was also called the "blue bonnet" or "blue bannet" in parts of Scotland, with the equivalent name "blue cap" being used in northern England. Maud (plaid) A maud (also Lowland plaid or Low Country plaid ) is a woollen blanket or plaid woven in
1089-483: Was the bonnet's blue colour, as well as, perhaps, its Lowland and peasant origins, that influenced its adoption as a badge of the Covenanters , who used blue to distinguish themselves from their Royalist opponents and their red cockades and ribbons. During the 18th century the bonnet was, to outsiders, the most readily identifiable Scottish piece of clothing in the popular imagination. Tartan would occupy this role in
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