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CHAPTER V Results and Discussion The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not poetry (i.e., poems, ballads, and songs) could be used as a source of knowledge on historic dress in a social, political, or economic context, using the dress of Scottish Highlanders from 1603 through 1830 as an example, and to triangulate the findings with other sources that portray dress through the written word or visual image. This research cross-referenced the items of dress with social, political, and economic events that occurred in the lives of the Scottish and Highland people. Poetry was a major source of expression for the Scottish and Highland people and represents a valuable resource for studying historic dress; therefore, the main source of documentation for this research was 3,501 literary documents written from 1603-1830 in the form of poetry (i.e. poems, ballads, and songs). The researcher examined these literary documents and identified 394 poems with male dress references and 245 poems with female dress references between 1603 and 1830. The researcher also examined the relationship between dress references, the social, political, and economic events, and the contents of the poetry. Finally, the researcher examined the impact of sumptuary laws (i.e., the banning of Highland dress due to The Act of Proscription) on the dress behavior of the Scottish Highlanders during the 18th century. The study was completed in three phases. The first phase identified 3,501 poems by Scottish writers and documented whether or not dress references were present. The second phase involved further investigation into the poems with dress references. Each poem was read and dress information was recorded on either instrument A or B, depending on whether the reference referred to male dress or female dress. The dress references were recorded into an Excel database first and then imported into SPSS 10.1 program for analysis. The data analysis was recorded as cross-tabulations and frequencies. The final phase of the study involved the investigation of travel accounts, in the form of letters, and portraits to triangulate with the information gained in the poetry portion of the study (i.e., phase II). Dress information in letters was recorded on Instruments C and D (gender-specific) and portrait information was recorded on Instrument E. The findings for this study were divided into poetry, portraits, and letters and were arranged according to the research questions. The findings for the poetry section treated male dress references and female dress references separately. The poetry 109 section was organized according to each research question and was discussed in order of category placement within the instrument (e.g., upper body, lower body, fibers). The poetry section answered research questions 1 through 4. These questions were answered in a quantitative manner (i.e., frequencies and cross-tabulations). Dress references were divided into several different categories, including upper and lower body, shoes, accessories, headdress, fabric, and fibers. Each of the first four research questions pertained to adult dress. The fifth question was answered in a qualitative manner in the portrait and letters sections. The letters were divided into male and female letters, as well as location in the Highlands or Lowlands and time period. The portraits were divided into male and female portraits, as well as their location and time period. Both the letters and portraits had dress references for adults and children. The poetry section was analyzed statistically, while the portraits and letters were analyzed qualitatively. Poetry findings were introduced into both the portrait and letter sections, in order to triangulate the findings and deduce the relationship between the three sources. Research Question 1 How many dress references appeared in Scottish poetry between 1603 and 1830? Eighteen anthologies were examined that contained poems written by Scottish authors. Each poem was only considered once. There were poems that contained a similar name but different words, in which case each of those poems was considered separately. The total number of poems examined for this study was 3,501. Each poem was analyzed to determine whether an item of dress was mentioned. There were a total of 639 poems that contained references to specific items of dress. The poems that had dress references were further examined for the number of dress references overall. Male and female dress references were examined separately. Instruments A and/or B (i.e., gender specific) were completed for each poem with dress references. Each dress item mentioned was noted and determined to be either a male or female garment. There were 245 poems with female dress references and 394 poems with male dress references for a total of 639 poems with dress references. Approximately 18% of the poems examined had dress references. The percentage of poems with dress references appeared small; however, the number of specific dress references within those poems was large. Each poem had one or more references to dress items with a total of 1531 references to dress for both males and females (see Table 7). There were 741 110 Table 7 Dress References In Poetry Dress Number Number Percentage Female Number Percentage Reference of Male of of specific Dress of of specific Categories Dress Poems male dress References Poems female Items with items within within with dress items within Male poems Poems Female within Poems dress dress poems items items Accessories 108 394 27.4% 98 245 40.0% Fabrics 56 394 14.2% 53 245 21.6% Fibers 18 394 4.5% 51 245 20.8% Footwear 70 394 17.8% 47 245 19.2% General 174 394 44.2% 116 245 47.3% Dress References Headdress 159 394 40.4% 50 245 20.4% Lower Body 124 394 31.2% 63 245 25.7% Dress Items Upper Body 206 394 52.3% 148 245 60.4% Dress Items Total 915 394 ≠100% 626 245 ≠100% references to specific dress items within male poems. Male upper body dress items were the most often mentioned items of dress overall, followed by headdress items, lower body dress items, and accessory items. Footwear, fabrics, and fibers were the least mentioned male dress items in poetry. In addition, there were 174 general references to dress (e.g., he was brawlie dressed) within the male poems. The most often mentioned garments appeared on the upper half of the male (i.e., upper body garments and headdress), which would be the most visible area when first looking at a man. There were 510 references to specific dress items within the female poems. Similar to male dress references, the female upper body dress items were the most often mentioned. Accessory items were the next most popular item mentioned by poets, followed by lower body dress items. Fabrics, fibers, headdress items, and footwear were discussed with similar frequency. In addition, there were 116 general references to dress (e.g., she was brawlie dressed) within the female poems. The most often mentioned items for women also appeared on the upper half of the female form (i.e., upper body garments and accessories), which would be the most visible area when first looking at a woman. While the actual number of poems and dress references were greater for poems with male 111 dress references, poems with female dress references often had a higher ratio of specific dress items within a poem with female dress references (e.g., upper body dress items for males 52.3%, upper body dress items for females 60.4%). This would indicate that poets discussed men in general more often but when discussing women the poets mentioned many items that completed a woman’s appearance. Research Question 2a What specific dress items were worn by the Scottish people, particularly the Highlanders, between 1603 and 1830? Instruments A and B were used to identify specific dress items mentioned in Scottish poetry. The instruments had been created using specific dress terminology gained during the review of literature. In addition, some new dress terminology was discovered during the examination of the poetry, as most editors of the anthologies provided glossaries or footnotes about items of dress. Each time a new term was encountered it was added to the instrument and the previously examined poems were re-examined to investigate if the new term was initially missed. All dress terms were documented only once for each poem. In addition, any color adjective or other type of dress descriptor that accompanied a dress reference was recorded. The instruments were examined, the information was entered into a database, and frequencies and cross-tabulations were generated. A separate analysis was conducted on poems written in Gaelic to compare the dress references in poems written by authors of unspecified Scottish origin (i.e., Highlanders or Lowlanders) with authors of specified Scottish origin (i.e., Highlanders). The dress references in poetry were then used to identify specific Scottish dress items, particularly Highland dress items, worn between 1603 and 1830. The poetry referred to specific dress items being worn by characters in each poem. Some references were accompanied by color adjectives and other descriptors. Unfortunately, the dress references were usually just a garment name and no style information could be associated with the name. The information on dress did add to the knowledge base on what was worn in Scotland in general, particularly the Highlands. Some information was gained on Lowland dress, but since that was not the focus of the study, any information gained was an additional benefit. 112 Poetry with male dress references was separated from poetry with female dress references. The dress items in the categories of upper body, lower body, fiber, fabric, footwear, accessories, and headdress were examined using frequencies to understand the amount and type of dress items worn during the time period under investigation.