The Waverley Gazette

1822 : Sir Walter Scott – a King in a kilt – and the rise of Tartan

Two hundred years ago, this week, the Citizens of Edinburgh and Leith were waiting impatiently for their King.

12 August 1822 was a Monday - King George IV’s 60^th birthday, and coaches carrying the Regalia of Scotland and dignitaries from the Castle to Holyrood Palace were escorted in procession led by the Midlothian Yeomanry and companies of Highlanders who assembled on The Mound before proceeding to the Castle. Watched by packed crowds, the procession formally received the Regalia then returned by way of The Mound to Princes Street and on by Calton Hill to Holyrood House.

As the crowds watched the procession in Edinburgh, King George was on his way to Scotland aboard The Royal George.

The embarkation of his most Gracious Majesty George the Fourth at Greenwich, August 10th, 1822 for Scotland. Lord Mayor’s Barge &cc Royal George, Royal Sovereign. The James Watts Steam Boat. Royal Museums Greenwich.

The King's ship The Royal George arrived in the Firth of Forth at noon on Wednesday 14 August, but his landing was postponed due to torrential rain.

It was not until Thursday 15 August, that the King, in naval uniform, arrived in sunshine at the quayside at The Shore, Leith.

The detail below is from a painting by Alexander Carse showing King George IV landing on the Shore at Leith in 1822. The main building is the Custom House on the opposite bank of the Water of Leith.

On the morning of the 15th it ceased to rain ; and our revered Monarch, as he ascended the deck, beheld the Scottish capital, with its towers and palaces, basking in the rays of an autumnal sun, and the surrounding country spread out before him in all its loveliness. The frith was covered with innumerable boats and vessels, in their gaudiest apparel ; and from many of them arose the strains of the bagpipe, which floated over the waters, and were heard in the distance, wild, yet pensive, like the voice of Scotland's Genius, welcoming her Sovereign to her hospitable shores. What were the emotions of the King when he beheld this glorious scene — when he contemplated the abodes of his illustrious ancestors — when he looked around, and saw the distant Grampians,— Dunfermline, where all that was perishable of the great Bruce slumbers in dust,—and scenes innumerable, consecrated in the hearts of the patriot and the scholar !

In the city of Edinburgh all was joy and breathless expectation. Its inhabitants were about to witness a scene the most grand and impressive, the most grateful to their feelings of any recorded in their annals — a scene surpassing every triumph of ancient or modern times —a scene which imperial Rome herself could never have exhibited. They felt, that they were about to receive within their walls the greatest potentate upon earth — their own Sovereign —a prince as beloved as he is powerful —who came among them to make a tender of his love, in return for their tried fidelity and courage; and that this reception was to be conducted under circumstances of such splendour as would exalt the character of their country, and for ever stifle in its own falsehood the reproach of parsimony and calculating selfishness which ignorance had delighted to cast upon it.

We speak not in the spirit of exaggeration; for, after revolving every circumstance in our minds, the immense multitudes collected, the magnificence of the preparations, the joy that was everywhere visible, the picturesque beauty of the ground, and, above all, the occasion, so deeply interesting to a people, national above all others in their feelings,—we venture to assert, that there never was exhibited a scene combining greater solemnity and grandeur.

A Historical Account of His Majesty's Visit to Scotland, Mudie, 1822

The background to the visit and the re-discovery of The Scottish Regalia

In 1820, George III had died. The Prince Regent, now as George IV, was able to give full attention to his flamboyant and romantic tendencies. He had a reputation for being 'well-dressed' – and fashion, as it is today, was a passport to favour, especially if one subscribed to the popular idea that His Majesty was absolutely the 'last word' in fashion.

His coronation was an occasion of pomp and magnificence unequalled since 'The Field of the Cloth of Gold' – the meeting between Henry VIII and King Francis I of France in 1520.

The minutest detail relating to the fashion of the period was carefully observed by George IV. Although, unlike his mother, Queen Charlotte, he was not partial to snuff – the highest fashion, but His Majesty carried a snuff-box; from which he would ostentatiously extract a pinch, which he would convey 'twixt right thumb and forefinger’ to the Royal nostrils, but was careful to drop it before it reached them.

His taste was exotic, and bizarre. Sir Morgan O'Doherty, wrote that “George IV might have had a great many good points – concocting punch was one – but as to dressing, he had the vilest taste. I remember seeing him in a purple velvet waistcoat, with a running stripe of a gold tree, surmounted with gold monkeys upon it; and – congratulating him on his exquisite taste in the selection of colours, he felt evidently very flattered by my remarks, but when I recommended him a yellow coat with purple braiding, I think he smelt a rat. He did not ask me back to Carlton House for nearly a month.”

Scott’s Waverley Novels were published anonymously but everybody knew he was the author. These novels made him a star. He was friends with the great and the good in London. He was chums with the Duke of Wellington. He knew the Russian Tsar. He knew Lord Byron. He became friends with the Prince of Wales, in 1815.

Scott was invited to be poet laureate but declined.

The Prince was quite overweight, lazy, vain and inconsiderate. He lived on cherry Brandy but – also like many of us here today – despite that, he was a cultured and intelligent fellow. The Prince had huge admiration for Scott’s work. Scott began to impress on him the idea that he could restore to Britain its rich historical legacy – George could even be the new Bonnie Prince Charlie !

We can’t underestimate Scott’s impact at this time. From Lockhart's Life of Scott. "His works were the daily food of educated Europe. Wherever he appeared, in town or country, whoever had Scotch blood in him, felt it move more rapidly through his veins, when he was in the presence of Scott."

In 1820 Scott went to London to receive his baronetcy. Whilst there he sat for his portrait, and for his bust, and received Honorary Degrees from English Universities. He was elected President of the Royal Edinburgh Scottish Society ; the Bannatyne Club; Professor of Ancient History to the Royal Scottish Academy. He was active as a citizen as well as an author. He was chairman of nearly every public meeting, or charity, or educational scheme in town.

Scott attended the coronation in 1821 – the service lasted 5 hours. Thereafter the procession to Westminster Hall for the coronation banquet. Napoleon’s coronation had been a very lavish affair and George was determined that his coronation should out-do that by a country mile, which it did.

The most notable aspects of the coronation were the costumes. Costumes of the 16th and 17th century Tudor and Stuart courts. From London, Sir Walter wrote for The Edinburgh Weekly Journal:

'On the subject of costume, I could not but admire that which I had previously been disposed to criticise, - the fancy dress of the Privy-Councillors, after the fashion of Queen Elizabeth's time. So gay a garb had an odd effect on the persons of elderly or ill-made men; but when the whole was thrown into one general body, all these discrepancies disappeared.'

You can hear the wheels turning in Scott’s mind. A royal visit to Edinburgh – a splendid opportunity. Heralds, uniforms, banquets, a 'Gathering of the Clans', – tartan - at the very point at which Gaelic culture was being destroyed, by clearances and emigration, – there could be an an outbreak of 'Highlandism' – all brought about by Scott’s writing.

After all, it wasn’t so long since the 1746 Act of Proscription which made wearing Highland dress illegal.

The law stated that "no man within Scotland, shall wear or put on the clothes commonly called the Highland Garb; and that no tartan or party-coloured plaid of stuff shall be used for coats, and if any such person shall wear or put on the aforesaid garment or any part of them, every such person so offending ... For the first offence, shall be imprisoned for 6 months, and on the second offence, to be transported to His Majesty's plantations beyond the seas, there to remain for seven years." The ban was strictly enforced, and extended.

Those under suspicion had to take an oath : "I ... do swear, and as I shall have to answer to God at the great day of judgment, I have not, nor shall have, in my possession, any gun, sword, pistol or arm whatever: and never use any tartan, plaid or any part of the Highland garb, and if I do so, may I be cursed in my undertakings, family, and property - may I never see my wife and children, father, mother, and relations - may I be killed in battle as a coward, and lie without Christian burial in a strange land, far from the graves of my forefathers and kindred - may all this come across me if I break my oath."

The ban lasted thirty-five years, repealed on 1 July 1782, only 40 years before the visit of George IV. More than two-thirds of the generation that saw the ban imposed had died before it was lifted, and as a result much traditional tartan lore and knowledge was lost.

Through the men of the Highland regiments, tartan survived. These were the Highland Independent Companies, or Watches, – originally set up in 1667 to stamp out the cattle raiding.

The clans who supplied men for the Watches had supported the Hanoverians, and they were exempt from the ban. The Black Watch, has its origins here, the name rom the dark colour of the tartan, and the 'black trade' the Watch was supposed to stop. The word 'blackmail' also comes from the Highlands, – the money paid by cattle owners to clans to avoid their livestock being stolen. 'Black' refers to the colour of the cattle, or to infamous deeds, and 'mail' is an old Scots word for rent or payment.

As the struggle between Britain and France for North America became war in 1757, the Prime Minister, William Pitt, decided to commission new Highland regiments to take part.

Pitt however was indifferent as to whether or not the Highlanders were killed. The measure struck at the traditional alliance that had existed between Scotland and France for centuries.

On 17 June 1782, the Marquis of Graham, who helped form the Highland Society of London, appealed to parliament to repeal the ban'.

A Highland proclamation announced: "You need no longer adopt the unmanly dress of the Lowlander."

The celebrations included such odd spectacles as the Reverend Macgregor, the eccentric minister of the Gaelic church in Edinburgh, parading throughout the city clad in a suit of Macgregor tartan. Even today the sideways kicking step of Highland dancers performing the Shown Trews Dance symbolises the kicking off of the trews or trousers in favour of the kilt. Shown Trews means Old Trousers.

However, the rebirth of tartan began the controversy. What is a clan tartan?

The truth is somewhere between on one hand that the patterns today are the same as in the heyday of the clans, and on the other that many tartans are pure invention - the product of Victorian romanticism.

So now we know what George IV was up against, we can return to the conversation he was having with Walter Scott.

Essential to any Scottish welcome to a King was the Regalia. The last regalia of the Scottish monarchy - the sword, sceptre and crown hadn’t been seen since 1707. There was a report that these were removed to London, but there was no record of them.

Walter Scott thought the Regalia was still somewhere in Edinburgh Castle, perhaps in the great black kist of the Stuarts.

In 1817 at Scott’s suggestion, the Prince Regent issued a warrant to the officers of State, permitting them to open the Crown Room. The Commissioners, with Walter Scott assembled on February 4, 1818.

The Crown Room was a vaulted apartment, secured by iron bars, – the entrance protected by two doors, one of oak and one of iron, fastened with bolts, bars, and locks. The keys of this room and of the chest have never been found.

Walter Scott wrote :'' It was with feelings of no common anxiety, that the Commissioners commanded the King's Smith to force open the great chest. The general impression that the Regalia had been removed, weighed heavily on the hearts of all while the labour proceeded. The chest returned a hollow and empty sound to the strokes of the hammer, and even those whose expectations had been most sanguine, felt the probability of bitter disappointment, and could not but be sensible that, should the result of the search confirm those forebodings, it would only serve to show that a national affront – an injury, had been sustained, for which it might be difficult, or rather impossible, to obtain redress.

On March 26, 1707, the Regalia had indeed been placed there.

The joy was extreme when the lid of the chest opened, and the Regalia were discovered, covered with linen cloths, exactly as they had been left in 1707, after a slumber of more than a hundred years.

The discovery was instantly communicated to the public – The Royal Standard was flown, and was greeted by great shouts from the soldiers in the garrison, and the vast multitude assembled on the Castle Hill; the rejoicing was general and sincere”

The recovery of the regalia earned Scott his baronetcy and prepared the way for the next step in restoring Scotland's glory – the regalia being essential accoutrements for the coming pageant.

And the plan to dress King George IV in a kilt was in hand.

George Hunter was commissioned to supply the full Highland Dress, including the new Royal Stewart tartan, and weapons. This would complement other Clan tartans on parade, many created by weavers William Wilson & Son and George Hunter, especially for the occasion.

"Two complete Highland dresses, including coat, kilt, hose, bonnet, &c. of the Royal Stuart tartan, were made for the King by Mr George Hunter, Prince's Street, his Majesty's clothier and mercer. The finer suit was intended for the drawing-room to be held, the other for the levees."

In the coming days :

The Kings Visit – Walter Scott’s idea?

The role of Major-General David Stewart of Garth, of The Black Watch

• “Hints to the Inhabitants Of Edinburgh, and others, in Prospect of His Majesty’s Visit by an Old Citizen”

• The Royal George approaches

“Sir Walter Scott ! The man in Scotland I most wish to see !"

• 15^th August - King George comes ashore

• A King in a Kilt

• The Outcome - the seal of Royal approval to the Scots way of dressing.

• Vestiarium Scoticum

Key Sources :

A Historical Account of His Majesty's Visit to Scotland, Mudie, 1822