A maud (also Lowland plaid or Low Country plaid) is a woollen blanket or plaid woven in a pattern of small black and white checks [1] known as Border tartan, Shepherd's check, Shepherd's plaid [2] 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. [3]
The origin of the word maud is uncertain. Writing in 1894, Russell said that it came from the Gaelic maudal or maundal, a poetic synonym for plaid. [4] 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". [5] An alternate source is that the word derives from maldy, meaning 'a coarse grey woollen cloth', [6] which in turn comes from medley, meaning 'a parti-coloured cloth', by way of mispronunciation. [7] However, 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". [8]
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 was called a shepherd's maud, in Northumberland, a herd's maud, [9] and in parts of south-west Scotland, a Moffat maud. [10]
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 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 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). [11] Supporting the maud being used by the common folk, whilst also noting it as a male garment, the Rev. Archibald Craig, writing in the New Statistical Account of Scotland for Roxburghshire, said: [12]
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: [13]
The plaid 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 a longer maud, writing: [14]
... 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 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 the carrying of ‘fairns' (food), other provisions and even lambs. [15]
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 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 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. [16] Together with Robbie Burns, they can be seen wearing 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). [17]
Edwin Waugh, a prominent 19th-century Lancastrian poet and writer, was identified by his use of the shepherd's plaid or maud. [18]
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 a dinner of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne: [19]
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 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 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 a checkered maud. [20] 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 a traditional Northumbrian collectable.
A kilt is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first recorded in the 16th century as the great kilt, a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak. The small kilt or modern kilt emerged in the 18th century, and is essentially the bottom half of the great kilt. Since the 19th century, it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland, and more broadly with Gaelic or Celtic heritage.
Tartan is a patterned cloth with crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming simple or complex rectangular patterns. Tartans originated in woven wool, but are now made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland, and Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns. The earliest surviving samples of tartan-style cloth are around 3,000 years old and were discovered in Xinjiang, China.
A sarong or a sarung is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often has woven plaid or checkered patterns, or may be brightly colored by means of batik or ikat dyeing. Many modern sarongs have printed designs, often depicting animals or plants. Different types of sarongs are worn in different places in the world, notably the lungi in the Indian subcontinent and the izaar in the Arabian Peninsula.
Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of varying fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fiber. Flannel is commonly used to make tartan clothing, blankets, bed sheets, and sleepwear.
Highland dress is the traditional, regional dress of the Highlands and Isles of Scotland. It is often characterised by tartan. Specific designs of shirt, jacket, bodice and headwear may also be worn along with clan badges and other devices indicating family and heritage.
The belted plaid is a large blanket-like piece of fabric which is wrapped around the body with the material pleated or, more accurately, loosely gathered and secured at the waist by means of a belt. Typically, a portion of the belted plaid hangs down to about the knees or ankles with the rest of the material being wrapped up around the upper body in a variety of ways and pinned or otherwise secured to keep it in place.
Hodden is a coarse, undyed cloth made of undyed wool, formerly much worn by the peasantry of Scotland from prehistory. Hodden, with wadmal, represent two similar cultural fabrics in Scottish history. Hodden is an early-modern period name for a primarily Gaelic fabric, earlier named lachdann in Gaelic, and even earlier lachtna in Old Irish; while wadmal was a Scandinavian fabric, in the now-Scottish islands and Highlands. Both are usually woven in 2/2 twill weave but are also known in plain or tabby weave. Both are a thick, coarse, fulled homespun cloth typically made of natural undyed wool of the vari-coloured Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds. The Scots preferred to breed strains of sheep in various areas to provide the local preferred colour of natural wool used for cloth to protect the poor and rural peasants from the elements.
Trews are men's clothing for the legs and lower abdomen, a traditional form of tartan trousers from Scottish Highland dress. Trews could be trimmed with leather, usually buckskin, especially on the inner leg to prevent wear from riding on a horse.
Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained by mixing dyed wool before it is spun.
Linsey-woolsey is a coarse twill or plain-woven fabric woven with a linen warp and a woollen weft. Similar fabrics woven with a cotton warp and woollen weft in Colonial America were also called linsey-woolsey or wincey. The name derives from a combination of lin and wool. This textile has been known since ancient times. Known as shatnez (שַׁעַטְנֵז) in Hebrew, the wearing of this fabric was forbidden in the Torah and hence Jewish law.
The history of the modern kilt stretches back to at least the end of the 16th century. The kilt first appeared as the belted plaid or great kilt, a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak draped over the shoulder, or brought up over the head as a hood. The small kilt or walking kilt did not develop until the late 17th or early 18th century, and is essentially the bottom half of the great kilt.
The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland was an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The battalion formed on 1 August 2006 when its antecedent regiments - the Royal Scots and the King's Own Scottish Borderers - amalgamated just after the formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006. On 1 December 2021, the battalion transferred to the new Ranger Regiment as the 1st Battalion, Ranger Regiment.
Plaid may refer to:
Thomas Rawlinson was an 18th-century English industrialist who some sources have claimed was the inventor of the modern kilt. He was the managing partner in the Invergarry ironworks and rebuilt Invergarry Castle which had been burned down by Col. Clayton following the Jacobite rebellion.
A full plaid, or just a plaid, is a long piece of tartan fabric, most often worn as part of a Highland dress. It usually matches the tartan of the kilt. A modern full plaid is pleated the whole way, with half of its length sewn shut. Its length is about twice the distance from the ground to the wearer's shoulder.
The modern fly plaid originated with the traditional Féileadh Mòr worn in the Scottish Highlands. The Great Plaid was a large piece of cloth, which by the 16th century measured up to 8.2 metres in length, half of which was pleated and belted about the waist, while the upper half was draped over the left shoulder, was then gathered in front and could be used as a cloak and hood during inclement weather.
A kaunakes or persis was a woollen mantle associated with ancient Mesopotamia and Persia. It was woven in a tufted pattern suggesting overlapping petals or feathers, either by sewing tufts onto the garment or by weaving loops into the fabric.
Border tartan, sometimes known as Borders tartan, Northumbrian tartan, Northumberland tartan, shepherds' plaid, shepherds' check, Border drab, or Border check, is a design used in woven fabrics historically associated with the Anglo-Scottish Border, particularly with the Scottish Borders and Northumberland. Possibly the most identifiable Border tartan garment of the region is the maud, made popular from the 1820s by fashionable Border Scots such as Sir Walter Scott, James Hogg, Henry Scott Riddell and Robert Burns.
An arisaid is a draped garment historically worn in Scotland in the 17th and 18th century as part of traditional female Highland dress. It was worn as a dress – a long, feminine version of the masculine belted plaid – or as an unbelted wrap. An earasaid might be brightly coloured or made of lachdann wool. Some colours were more expensive than others. The garment might be single-coloured, striped, or tartan – especially of black, blue, and red stripes on white. White-based earasaid tartans influenced later dance and sometimes dress tartans, as well as household-item tartans in a style called "barred blanket" tartan.
The term Galway shawl usually refers to a specific type of heavyweight shawl that was worn by Irish women during the colder seasons. It became popular during the late nineteenth century and was still being worn up until the 1950s by a few, older Irish women. Throughout Ireland, not just in Galway, women traditionally wore various types of lightweight shawls that were hand knit, crocheted, or woven; and would have been of solid color, plaid, print, or paisley. Lightweight shawls, worn directly over the blouse and tied or tucked in at the waist, were worn in all seasons, both indoors and out. The Galway shawl was a winter-weight outer garment worn over the lightweight shawl.