AUTHOR’S NOTE
191 Words
AUTHOR’S NOTEThe word tartan is derived from the French Tartalne and the first written reference to Highland dress occurs in the Saga of Magnus Barefoot in 1093.
In 1538 James V ordered himself the first Highland suit ever worn by a member of the Royal Family. Until the nineteenth century it was the custom of the women of the house to weave whatever tartan was required by the family.
When the Dress Act of 1746 made it illegal for Highlanders to wear a kilt or a tartan, to play the pipes or carry arms in place of swords, they carried sticks as a substitute for the dirk, a shorter knife was adopted called a skean dhu. This was small enough to be concealed in a, pocket or stuck in the top of a stocking.
When in 1822 King George IV decided to visit his Scttish Kingdom, a journey no crowned King had made since Charles I, he wore full Highland regalia, the Royal Stewart tartan.
All the details of his reception and engagements in Edinburgh are correct and come from A Historical Account of His Majesty’s Visit to Scotland published in 1822.
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