Embroidery & Decoration In Scotland and Ireland of the 15th and 16th Centuries

Embroidery & Decoration
In Scotland and Ireland of the 15th and 16th Centuries

Written and illustrated by Jennet Jowan Truro (© 1990, Janet Cornwell)

...with thanks to the many fine authors mentioned in the Bibliography, and, of course, their sources, and all our handcrafting ancestors

done for SYMPOSIUM ON THE TEXTILE ARTS OF 15TH AND 16TH CENTURY IRELAND AND SCOTLAND, March 11, 1990, presented by the Society for Creative Anachronism, Kingdom of Caid, Office of Sciences. Distributed with permission of the author.

Needlework and Decoration

Attempting to recreate or even describe the "soft crafts" of this time and place has proven to be a real adventure, as we are hampered by a sad lack of surviving examples as well as by a scarcity of good contemporary description. Nonetheless, enough bits and pieces of information have been recovered, both from these areas and from the rest of Europe with which the Renaissance Scots and Irish traded, that it is possible to make a good guess as to the tools, textiles and techniques most favored by these folk.

The Four Cultural Areas

It is necessary, in dealing with Scotland and Ireland, to realize that there were in the 15th and 16th centuries essentially four culturally different, though interrelated, geographical areas.

• Ireland had remained essentially Celtic since that people conquered the island around the 4th century BCE. The Romans never got there. The Vikings raided widely and founded the few towns to be found in Renaissance Ireland, but never fundamentally disturbed the customs of the country. Visitors from Europe fund the Irish sophisticated, savage and fascinating.
• The English monarchs had frequently declared themselves Lords of Ireland, but they had really established control only over a small area called the Pale, near Dublin. It had the character of a colony; as near as it was to England, it ha its own styles and systems that were distinctly un-English.
• Highland Scotland was colonized by Gaels from Ireland around 400 CE. These people seem to have absorbed certain aspects of the native Pictish culture, even though they obliterated most evidence of it, and maintained close ties with their own Irish cousins. Western Scotland was also affected by several centuries of occupation by Scandinavian lords. Poverty and lack of roads inhibited the spread of goods and ideas here, though trade centers such as the Orkney Islands showed an interest in the new.
• The Scottish Lowlands in the south, on the other hand, had never bee truly Gaelic--speaking, their early British-Celtic peoples having been fought and walled off by the Romands, and then replaced first by Danish and Anglo-Saxon immigrants and finally by Anglo-Norman feudal lords. This area was more commercial than the others, maintaining close trading connections with France and the Netherlands and following their styles.

Each of these areas had customs of its own, though of course they all had some trade and communication, as well as less friendly relationships, with each other. Each defeloped its own decorative styles, thought many of their implement and resources were the same.

For Historical Re-Enactment Use...

For those who simply would like to add a bit more realism to their portrayal of theatrical or historical re-enactment characters, the text and illustrations here should be sufficient. Regional differences will be mentioned so the reader may determine which items pertain to which historical characters.

Those interested in studying specialized and decorative textile work are recommended to the fine and fascinating books in the Bibliography (some in print, some available in local public and university libraries, and some available by arrangement with private parties in various historical groups. and from there to the original sources and museum pieces which may found, especially in the British Isles. There is a great deal to be learned and shared!