My uncle's tartan design is more subdued, consisting principally of brown and green hues.
Galu,
you do know that originally it was a particular length of plaid that was wrapped around the body.before battle the lower half would be hitched up to make movement far easier. At night outdoors when on campaign or 'reaving' it became their sleeping wear. I can't remember the standard length now but lairds would often require the length to be laid upon the ground and with sheild and all weapons men had to be able to jump the entire length. The tartans are a joke, they could be anything you liked the way you told which clan a man was from was what he wore in his bonnet - sprig of heather, juniper always a plan, this was the old way.
you do know that originally it was a particular length of plaid that was wrapped around the body.before battle the lower half would be hitched up to make movement far easier. At night outdoors when on campaign or 'reaving' it became their sleeping wear. I can't remember the standard length now but lairds would often require the length to be laid upon the ground and with sheild and all weapons men had to be able to jump the entire length. The tartans are a joke, they could be anything you liked the way you told which clan a man was from was what he wore in his bonnet - sprig of heather, juniper always a plan, this was the old way.
The word "kilt" derives from Scandanavian words whose meaning is "to tuck up".
The "Little Kilt" or "Philebeg" that was banned by the Dress Act refers to the bottom half of the Great Kilt or "Philamhor".
I read that those ‘little kilts’ were frequently the remains of cut-down, well worn philamhors rather than specifically tailored garments.
It’s a little like when some bright spark thought of cutting the legs off a pair of trousers and discovered they'd invented shorts!
Some historians say that the idea of a tartan being used to identify a clan may have emerged post the Dress act and that, prior to that time, clan identification was made solely by the decoration worn on the bonnet.
What may not be generally known is the tartan is not a Scottish invention, having been initially found in Central Europe as far back as the 7th century.
I read somewhere that it was two Polish Jews who emigrated and came to live in Glasgow thought up the idea of specific tartan designs, I can't remember the reference to give you. A few years ago a team of Chinese archeaologists were working in N W China and excavated some tombs and were shocked to see the remains of cloth with distinctive tartan like designs. Because of the climate the remains were well preserved, this only confirms the starting place of the Celteach. It's a shame that neither Scotland/Ireland, Wales/Cornwall or Brittany teaches the whole story of the Celteach in Europe which is a shame. Same goes in France where most of the people are of Celtic/Euskadi blood. If the oak forests could be replanted in Wales and Scotland and the native conifer species on the higher ground in Scotland where hill farming is simply not profitable it would give people wonderful places to visit, especially for the young and in the future valuable exports of much sought after timber.
Oak is a very good construction material which has to be cut green, has exceptional strength. If protected against woodworm and termites ( a big problem in France) in the first few years is from then immune - trying cutting oak with some years, it will blunt whatever you try to cut it with. I tipped two real carpenter/joiners I knew to hop across the Channel/La Manche and buy oak there. Before the insanity of Brexit they had no import duties or VAT to pay. Oak floorboards give a real basis for bass notes if laid on battons on a reinforced concrete floor.
Oak is a very good construction material which has to be cut green, has exceptional strength. If protected against woodworm and termites ( a big problem in France) in the first few years is from then immune - trying cutting oak with some years, it will blunt whatever you try to cut it with. I tipped two real carpenter/joiners I knew to hop across the Channel/La Manche and buy oak there. Before the insanity of Brexit they had no import duties or VAT to pay. Oak floorboards give a real basis for bass notes if laid on battons on a reinforced concrete floor.
At least there's some good news from the area:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...heep-rescued-after-two-years-at-foot-of-cliff
Hugo
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...heep-rescued-after-two-years-at-foot-of-cliff
Hugo
Maybe but the sheep was an import ( the Clearances). The animal I would have liked to have been reintroduced - madadh-allaidh - the wolf. An animal that in olden times no Celt would have killed, they and the iolair / eagle were fellow hunters and respected, any Celt that killed either would have been hunted down and killed.
We can't fill the glens with the departed but we could replant the ancient forests and we could stop the deliberate poisoning of the eagles and hawks. The wolf would keep down the numbers of deer without the need of the cowardly hunters who pay plenty to kill them. Tourism, good tourism would bring in plenty of wealth, from tourists who live in depressing cities across Europe and the world. I've lived in the Netherlands where there is no real wilderness, it becomes claustrophobic. I've lived in Spain where you can really breathe with vast vistas, same up on the Massif Central. There is a very good reason I cannot right now visit the Tatra mountains in Poland or the Carpathians in Romania but one day maybe I shall.
We can't fill the glens with the departed but we could replant the ancient forests and we could stop the deliberate poisoning of the eagles and hawks. The wolf would keep down the numbers of deer without the need of the cowardly hunters who pay plenty to kill them. Tourism, good tourism would bring in plenty of wealth, from tourists who live in depressing cities across Europe and the world. I've lived in the Netherlands where there is no real wilderness, it becomes claustrophobic. I've lived in Spain where you can really breathe with vast vistas, same up on the Massif Central. There is a very good reason I cannot right now visit the Tatra mountains in Poland or the Carpathians in Romania but one day maybe I shall.
That's un-baa-lievable!
Nice to know that not everything happeniing in the world is baa-d news.
Have you been to the South West in the USA?
Less than a hundred miles from the LA metropolis you find yourself with incredible dessert vistas... you can see for a hundred miles... no houses or habitation....
No thanks I'll take the Tatra mountains and the Carpathians. On the mountain tops you can see forever and in summer the sheperds take their flocks of sheep up there and make cheese. The huge sheepdogs guard against the wolf packs. Down in the huge forests you can see the forest bison. Stop and break bread with peasant farmers and drink some good Romanian wine. I wanted to go with the fall of the red fascist dictator but I had to say with my frail father at that time. Everything was so cheap and before the tourists arrived - so it goes.
I made use of several Scottish based internet sources and amalgamated the information.
One has to be careful stating anything as fact because different historians make different interpretations of the old writings.
However, I don't perceive any of the above 'facts' as being particularly contentious.
P.S. I don't know how the word "Kodi" got in before "Dress Act" -- that wasn't in my original submission!
Must have been a pre-edited version you quoted. 🌝
One has to be careful stating anything as fact because different historians make different interpretations of the old writings.
However, I don't perceive any of the above 'facts' as being particularly contentious.
P.S. I don't know how the word "Kodi" got in before "Dress Act" -- that wasn't in my original submission!
Must have been a pre-edited version you quoted. 🌝
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Well, the “stage” of growth may have been first delineated by the Victorians - although I am not sure that is the precise time in history that we first had recognition of the concepts of puberty and being a teenager. But it seems fairly well recognized from a scientific/psychological perspective, that in general teenagers brains, especially males, are still te-arranging themselves and pruning/forming new neuron connections.
Accordingly, it is an interesting issue whether 16 year olds, as a class, should be accorded the rights of an adult. This would include signing contracts, marrying, etc.
I think a better use of the money is to continue the various reforesting/ rewinding efforts throughout England, Wales and Scotland, with a view to restoring long-gone forests cut down for firewood (primarily) and later to support grazing.
Of course, this means giving up landscapes that everyone assumes to be “natural” and iconic. Perhaps restoration in selected areas would be a good compromise. Coul be based on productivity of existing uses versus benefits of reforestation into a simulacrum of what used to exist. Probably have to take into account global climate change, though.
I think that a review of literature will show that forest clearing was mostly due to need for firewood and subsistence farming.
Furthermore, I am confident that the Enclosure Acts were intended to consolidate economic power in a few landowners. By dispossessing the tenants of land they occupied from “time immemorial,” the wealthy essentially created a ready/made worker class with NO obligations to the workers, unlike the Feudal system.
Actually, the "Kodi" is a clickable link to a downloadable app.
I wonder how it managed to corrupt Ganthercage's quote of my original post?
It certainly wasn't present in my original post (#104)!
That may be true, but by far the greatest use was firewood. Forests across Europe and the Mediterranean, as well Greenland, were essentially destroyed for firewood. The discovery of coal did not simply jumpstart the Industrial Revolution (along with water power), it arguably prevented the collapse of human civilization at least in Europe. The US was lucky to have incredible expanses of forest, aling with fossil fuels, but our profligacy destroyed most old growth forest in East -
including SE like the Carolina’s and Georgia, and Midwest.
including SE like the Carolina’s and Georgia, and Midwest.
If you can look at the growth rings on an old piece of wood 1883 and 1884 will show almost no growth. I saw a trunk at a home sale that showed those rings. I was a bit surprised that no one else could date the trunk.
Anyone local to the sycamore gap tree should be able to get a picture showing a bit of the tree’s history!
Anyone local to the sycamore gap tree should be able to get a picture showing a bit of the tree’s history!
Many English used the expression 'blackfaces' about the Celts in Scotland and Ireland because the main source of heat in their homes was peat not wood. The Highland Clearances was of men and forests. Sitka pine was only planted quite recently.
A university in England,I can't remember now which one conducted a survey and established that before the Romans left the Aryan occupied part of the island they had cut down all major oak trees. Rome like all empires are essentially looting machines. When the European invaders occupied a lot of what are now NE States they cut down a lot of the forests only to abandon the land because it was simply no use for agriculture - it was too poor, the forest regenerated itself. That's why today the best soft wood and limited supplies of hard wood come from the poor lands of Norway and Sweden. The reason being that it takes so long for growth to happen making the timber from these trees exceptionally strong and long lasting. This 'first growth' timber commands a high price.
I lived for two years in northern Galicia, Spain . At one time the forests there and in the NW generally were predominately deciduous but when the Spanish empire began to grow they cut these forests down to build their enormous galleons. It was the Galician Fascist, Franco that ordered the lands which had become grazing land for cattle and sheep to be replanted with eucalyptus. This alien tree sucks up vast amount of water as it grows very quickly. It's colour is an awful depressing grey/green and is impenetrable to walk through. An English man-of-war normally needed 200 acres of oak to build one ship. When I lived in Hove, Sussex as a lad with friends we would walk about 4 miles from our home to the Devil's Dyke on the South Downs and look down on the Weald (old Saxon) of Sussex. At one time it was virtually impenetrable oak forest. Yes there were 'steadings' which turned into small towns and villages and some land cleared for crops but it wasn't until the 18th century when England became the predominate sea power that this once vast forest was cut down to build both men-of-war and trading ships.
Greece was once a heavily forested land but again the huge deciduous and coniferous forests were cut down to build the huge triremes - 120 ft long and 50 ft wide. The Black Forest in Bavaria was so called because by the 16th century the old primeval forest had been cut down and the local prince ordered the forest to be replanted. The peasants obeyed but instead of planting hardwoods they planted softwoods. Pine forests are essentially dark places hence the name Black Forest. For some time now it has been the law to replant only with hardwood trees.
With climate change and southern Europeans not being prepared to periodically cut down undergrowth, every year these forests burn. In 2007 I travelled by moto from Andalucia to the Aveyron in France and behind Valencia for many, many kilometres inland it was all burnt out forest, very sad. In the Peloponnese many fires have been started deliberately to make way for building(greed).
I live in, for a Brit in a small town of around 10,000 people, it's actually two towns that have grown together. It's 5 minute walk to what is part of the GR/grande randonnee 36. Part of the walk is on what was once single track mini rail for shifting coal onto the main rail line from the now abandoned coal colliery, nature has returned and scenery that changes with the seasons. Sometimes I see deer that the #~_<'@- hunters havn't managed to kill, hear a woodpecker and wonderful bird song. I couldn't imagine returning to live in big town like Brighton & Hove 200,000 + or worse a big city.
I like the words of Steve Miller - people in the cities are going insane, people in the cities are out of their brains.
I may be misremembering, but peat was used primarily for fuel after the wood ran out. Same thing with dried dung. Peat is not a great source of heat. Smoky and not much energy liberated compared to wood from most species of tree. However, peat is real easy to harvest for energy, compared with wood.
In a college class that I took decades ago, there were several books that discussed the destruction of forests in Europe and Mediterranean. Buildings and ships were mentioned, but they all pointed to firewood as the largest use for wood. My own anecdotal experience is consistent with this.
My most cogent example: I have a vacation home in the mountain region of Maryland. My neighbors there use wood that they cut down and split to heat their house using a relatively efficient wood furnace. Cooking, however, is done on typical electric stove (we will ignore water heater as ancients did not bathe like we do with hot water). They burn wood from October through April. The region is fairly mild although it does get down to zero during the severest winters (but has not done so in last 5 years). The wood is harvested off their land, and is mostly oak, with some maple and black cherry. They go through 10 “small” trees (compared to old growth monsters in Europe) in a year. Consider that this does not include cooking, which I think would double the number of trees. If this is representative, then one two-person family would go through 20 small trees a year for fuel in a mild climate. I would have to look up population of, say, England in 400 AD, but I think it is pretty clear that the number of trees to fuel a homestead economy is substantial. Then you think about clearing for agriculture, and this becomes even more interesting. I never thought about it but coppicing and pollarding may have been ways to extend the wood supply, as people began realizing that the source of wood for fuel and shelter was being depleted.
In any event, I think our argument is largely academic, as we agree that the ancient forests are largely gone due to influence of man. Suggests that Anthropocene, if you believe that as a concept, started way before 19th century.
In a college class that I took decades ago, there were several books that discussed the destruction of forests in Europe and Mediterranean. Buildings and ships were mentioned, but they all pointed to firewood as the largest use for wood. My own anecdotal experience is consistent with this.
My most cogent example: I have a vacation home in the mountain region of Maryland. My neighbors there use wood that they cut down and split to heat their house using a relatively efficient wood furnace. Cooking, however, is done on typical electric stove (we will ignore water heater as ancients did not bathe like we do with hot water). They burn wood from October through April. The region is fairly mild although it does get down to zero during the severest winters (but has not done so in last 5 years). The wood is harvested off their land, and is mostly oak, with some maple and black cherry. They go through 10 “small” trees (compared to old growth monsters in Europe) in a year. Consider that this does not include cooking, which I think would double the number of trees. If this is representative, then one two-person family would go through 20 small trees a year for fuel in a mild climate. I would have to look up population of, say, England in 400 AD, but I think it is pretty clear that the number of trees to fuel a homestead economy is substantial. Then you think about clearing for agriculture, and this becomes even more interesting. I never thought about it but coppicing and pollarding may have been ways to extend the wood supply, as people began realizing that the source of wood for fuel and shelter was being depleted.
In any event, I think our argument is largely academic, as we agree that the ancient forests are largely gone due to influence of man. Suggests that Anthropocene, if you believe that as a concept, started way before 19th century.
Isn't there an argument that the industrial revolution happened in the UK because we ran out of wood to burn, and so had to mine coal, and the technology involved in pumping water, lifting coal people, an transporting coal drove innovation, as well as some other nations stifled change.
I was amazed to find out that wooden sailing ships had an economic lifespan of only 10 years.
I was amazed to find out that wooden sailing ships had an economic lifespan of only 10 years.