cl-Celts-msg - 6/5/96
Clothing of the early Celtic peoples.
NOTE: See also the files: clothing-msg, cl-Scotland-msg, cl-Ireland-msg, cl-Scot-fem-art, cl-Scot-male-art, clothing-MN-msg, underwear-msg.
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From: jerryn at crl.com (Kati Norris)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Celtic Dress (F) - long!
Date: 9 Apr 1995 17:33:18 GMT
Organization: Cathlin ban Gerald / Stargate / Ansteorra
Someone (my system rebooted and I lost the message) wanted to know
what 11th cent. Celtic Ladies wore. Here goes:
The Emergence of Man: The Celts
True Life Books 1975 ISBN: 7054-00891
This recorded in 8th Century AD, of Edain, 'loveliest girl in Ireland'
'Her upper arms were as white as the snow of a single night, and they were
soft and straight; and her clear and lovely cheeks were as red as the
foxglove of the moor.
...The bright blush of the moon was in her noble face; the lifting of pride
in her smooth brows; the ray of love-making in both her royal eyes; a
dimple of sport in both her cheeks.
She was the fairest and loveliest and most perfect of the women of the
world that the eyes of men had ever seen; they thought she must be of the
fairies'
also:
'Celtic women seemed flamboyantly uninhibited. Though they twisted their
long hair into braids, and sometimes piled it high upon their heads in
elaborate coiffures, they were generally too fond of ornaments. They moved
to the sounds of tinkling necklaces and bracelets, and there were little
bells sewn to the fringed ends of their tunics. Over the tunics went gaudy
cloaks with bright coloured stripes and checks, and often elaborately
decorated with embroidery of silver or gold.
The Celtic women were also described as preoccupied with make-up. They
painted their fingernails, reddened their cheeks with 'ruan', an herb, and
darkened their eyebrows with berry juice. But they were as war-like as
their husbands - a trait one Roman warned his countrymen to beware - "A
whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single Gaul if
he called his wife to his assistance. Swelling her neck, gnashing her
teeth, and and brandishing her sallow arms of enormous size, she begins to
strike blows mingled with kicks as if they were so many missiles sent from
the string of a catapult." (This attributed to Ammanius Marcellinus)'
and:
'from Dio Cassius; of a Celtic wife to a Roman matron: "We fulfill the
demands of nature in a much better way than do you Roman women, for we
consort openly with the best men, wheras you let yourselves be debauched in
secret by the vilest." '
also - Celtic women were sometimes permitted to have more than one mate
Exploring the world of the Celts
Simon James - Thames and Hudson ISBN: 0-500-05067-8
Celtic women, particularly noblewomen, had a more prominent role than their
Roman or Greek sisters.
on clothing:
dress - 'peplos' - consisted of two rectangles of fabric, fastened up at
the sides, and typically held together at the shoulders by a pair of
'fibulae', sometimes linked by swags of decorative chain.
skirt - checked wrap-around, calf or ankle length to avoid mud, and to show
off anklets
cloaks - woll, linen or sometimes imported silk
hair - worn long (hairpins often found at burial sites), some evidence of
headcloths or scarves
necklaces - coral, amber or glass beads
<the end>