Re: Druidic Clothing and Dress Searles Sun Sep 27 13:35:10 1998 Celtic Color Facts*p*I went out and did a little research on colors in Celtic dress and here are a few of the quotes I discovered. It seems that the léine or long shirt would sometimes be banded with several stripes of different colors as was the right and status of the person who wore it. Cloaks and tunics were sometimes different colors, with crimson and scarlet being favored colors of the upper classes. If one was related to a king, a Druid or a Fili, then gold or silver jewelry and ornamentation also was used. Other folks used brass and copper. The outfits were completed with the wearing of a sort of kilt that came down close to the knees. Here's the bare facts folks:*p*Tighernmas introduced the colors of yellow, green and blue to Ireland in 900 BCE.*p*Slaves wore saffron (yellow) colored long shirts.*p*Druids wore white robes in ceremony, grey bull hides in battle and many speckled robes on state occasions such as banquets and court appearances.*p*The kings usually wore robes of crimson or red.*p*The foster sons of kings wore cloaks of scarlett, purple or blue.*p*According to the Cain Law, the dath was proscribed as follows: satin and scarlet for the sons of king; black yellowish, grey and blay clothes for the maic na ngra'd fene. The mac in airrech, mac in airrech tuis, mac in airrech ard, mac in airrech forgill, mac in airrech rig, also had colors assigned to their cloths as well, though no mention is made of them in the DIL.*p*In another reference, the following colors were prescribed for:*p*Free class - yellow, black, white, blay.*br*Noble grade - red, green, brown.*br*Royalty - Purple and blue.*p*Only the Scottish high king could wear a pur ple stripe in his tartan.*p*The shields of the five provinces of Ireland (Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Meath) contain the colors: red, gold, white, blue, green, black and purple.*p*Scottish tartans had a hierarchy of color numbers just as did the Irish.*p*The Scottish King could have seven colors in his tartan. All others could have only six colors. The extra color was purple. The Royal Stewart tartan contains the colors: red, yellow, white, blue, green, black and purple (very similar to the colors of the shields of the Irish provinces).*p*From the Tain Bo Cuailgne: (describing the cavalcade of Bodb Derg)*p*"There was no person among them that was not the son of a king or a queen. They all wore green cloaks; and they wore kilts with red interweavings, and borders or fringes of gold thread upon them, and pendants of white bronze thread upon their leggings or greaves, and shoes with clasps of red bronze in them."*p*From "The Story of the Irish Race" by Seamus Mac Manus: (said of Tighernmas, Milesian King of Ireland)*p*"Sometimes to him, sometimes to his successor, Eochaid, is credited the ancient ordinance which distinguished the various classes and professions by the colors of their dress. A King or Queen might wear seven colors; a poet or Ollam six; a chieftain five; an army leader four; a land-owner three; a rent-payer two; a serf one colour only."*p*From the Tain Bo Cuailgne: (Said of Connor Mac Nessa by the herald MacRoth)*p*"A tall graceful champion of noble, polished, and proud mien, stood at the head of the party. This most beautiful of the kings of the world stood among his troops with all the signs of obedience, superiority, and command. He wore a mass of yellow, curling, drooping hair. He had a pleasing, ruddy countenance. He had a deep, blue, sparkling, piercing eye in his head and a two-branching beard, yellow, and curling upon his chin. He wore a crimson, deep-bordered tunic over his bosom; and a brilliant white shirt, interwoven with thread of red gold, next his white skin."*p*From the Book of Ballymote: (describing Cormac Mac Art at the Feis of Tara)*p*"His hair was slightly curled, and of golden color; he had a scarlet shield with engraved devices, and golden hooks and clasps of silver; a wide-flowing purple cloak on him, with a gem-set gold brooch over his breast; a gold torque around his neck; a white-collared shirt, embroidered with gold, upon him; a girdle with golden buckles, and studded with precious stones around him; two golden net-work sandals with golden buckles upon his feet; two spears with golden sockets, and many red bronze rivets, in his hand; while he stood in the full glow of beauty, without defect or blemish. You would think it was a shower of pearls that were set in his mouth; his lips were rubies; his symmetrical body was as white as snow; his cheek was like the mountain ash-berry; his eyes were like the sloe; his brows and eye-lashes were like the sheen of a blue-black lance."*p*Here is a description of Edain from the Tale of the Bruidean Da Dearga:*p*"...he saw a woman on the brink of a fountain, having a comb and a casket of silver, ornamented with gold, washing her head in a silver basin with four birds of gold perched upon it, and little sparkling gems of crimson carbuncle upon the outer edges of the basin. A short crimson cloak, with a beautiful gloss, lying near her; a brooch of silver, inlaid with sparkles of gold, in that cloak. A smock, long and warm, gathered and soft, of green silk, with a border of red gold, upon her. Wonderful clasps of gold and silver at her breast, and at her shoulder-blades, and at her shoulders in that smock, on all sides. The sun shown upon it, while the men (that is the king, and his retinue) were all shaded in red, from the reflection of the gold against the sun, from the green silk. Two golden-yellow tresses upon her head, each of them plaited with four locks or strands, and a ball of gold upon the point of each tress. The color of that hair was like the flowers of the bog fir in the summer, or like the red gold immediately after receiving its coloring. And there she was disentangling her hair, and her two arms out through the bosom of her smock."*p*From the Book of Rights: (details of the tuarastal payable from the king to subordinate kings)*p*"Seven mantles with wreaths of gold,*br*And seven cups for social drinking, *br*Seven steed not accustomed to falter, *br*To the king of Kerry of the combats.*p*The prosperous king of Rathlenn is entitled*br*To the stipend of a brave great man;*br*Ten swords, and ten drinking horns,*br*Ten red cloaks, ten blue cloaks.*p*The king of Ara of beauty is entitled*br*From the king of Eire of the comely face, *br*To six swords, six praised shields, *br*And six mantles of deep crimson."*p*In the tale of Bruidean Da Dearga, Incel reports of Conari Mor's druith (jesters):*p*"I saw there...three jesters at the fire. They wore three dark grey cloaks; and if all the men of Eirinn were in one place, and though the body of the father or the mother of each man was lying dead before him, not one could refrain from laughing at them."*p*A description of Maine, son of Ailill and Medb:*p*"There were seven greyhounds attending his chariot, in chains of silver; with balls of gold upon each chain, so that the tingling of the balls against the chains would be music sufficient. There was no known colour that was not to be seen upon these greyhounds. There were seven Cornaire (trumpeters), with corna (horns) of gold and silver, wearing cloths of many colours, and all having fair-yellow hair. Three druids also went in front of them, who wore minda (diadems) of silver upon their heads and speckled clocks over their dresses, and who carried shields of bronze ornamented with red copper. Three Critire (harpers) accompanied them; each of kingly aspect, and arrayed in a crimson cloak. It was so they arrived on the green of Cruachan."*p*In the "Colloquy of the Two Sages":*p*Bricriu gave a "...purple tunic, adorned with gold and silver..." to Nede an aspiring Ollamh. Then Nede went and sat in the Poet's Chair and pulled his robe of three colors about him: a covering of bright bird's feathers were in the middle, at the bottom a speckling of findruine (a white gold, white brass, silver combination), while the top was a brilliant golden color.*p*From the _Metrical Dindshenchas_*br*(referencing the cloak of Fer Berna from Brius):*p*"Ni find, ni liath, ni lachtna,*br*ni derg,ni gorm, ni corcra,*br*ni breccan raenach riabach,*br*ni hetgud srianach soccra."*p*"It is not white, nor gray, nor dun;*br*it is not red, nor blue, nor purple;*br*it is no tartan, striped nor checkered;*br*it is no beribboned garment of ease."*p*In another post I mentioned that Tighernmas (900 BCE) introduced the colors saffron, blue and green to Ireland from trading with the Phoenicians. He also was said to have established the numbers and types of colors that could be worn by the different classes of Irish society. Many works define the number of colors for each level in Irish society, though none (in my knowledge) specifically equates all of these levels to particular colors. I did some research and I'd like to suggest these colors for the different levels of Irish society:*p*Ard Righ (also Kings and Queens)- Seven colors: Purple, white, black, blue, red, green, yellow (these are also the colors of the Royal Stewart Tartan in Scotland.)*p*Nemed (Druids, Churchmen, Lords, Poets) - Six colors: white, black, blue, red, green, yellow.*p*Provincial Chiefs - Five colors: black, blue, red, green, yellow.*p*A Bruiden or Wealthy Landowner (perhaps also the lesser Nemed?) - Four colors: blue, red, green, yellow.*p*A Warrior (officers as well) - Three colors: red, green, yellow.*p*A Peasant (rent-paying farmers)- Two colors: green, yellow.*p*A Slave (and servants) - One color: yellow *br*.*p*This is based on information regarding the léine, the long shirts of the Irish which preceded the belted plaid worn by the Scots, that I found in "Scottish Clans & Tartans" by Ian Grimble. The léine was said to have been "striped" and persisted into the 17th century before being replaced by kilts or "belted plaids". The class structures were mentioned in both "Celtic Myths and Legends" by T.W. Rolleston and "A Guide to Early Irish Law" by Fergus Kelly. I also got this information regarding colors from "The Sacred Cauldron" by Tadhg MacCrossan": White for truth, red for physical strength, green/blue for fertility. *p*According to Seán O'Tuathail these are the color symbolic meanings:*p*blue - protection (dark blue)*br*black - pure and powerful (here I am interpreting based on O'Tuathail's other remarks)*br*brown - strength*br*gold - magically far less important than silver*br*red - war, political authority*br*silver - authority*br*white - barren-ness, empty-ness*br*yellow - thanksgiving*p*The information regarding Tigernmas "The Lord of Death", who introduced the colored system of clothing came from both "Irish Mythology" by Peter Beresford Ellis and "A Guide to Irish Roots" by William and Mary Durning. *p**br*Searles*br* Druidic Clothing and Dress Searles 188 Tue Sep 22 15:10:41 1998