On 15 August 1822 King George IV (1820-30) stepped off a ship in Leith harbour, just outside Edinburgh, to spend a few days in his northern kingdom. This was a momentous occasion – Charles II (1660-85) had been crowned King of the Scots in 1650 (before the Restoration) but then fled to the continent, and before that the last reigning monarch to set foot in Scotland had been Charles I (1625-49) in the 1630s. Scotland had seen a number of Jacobite risings over the 18th century. Jacobites were supporters of the Stuart monarchs who tried to reclaim the throne from the Hanoverian kings, and the most famous attempt was the 1745 Rising, which was led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart (known to history as Bonnie Prince Charlie).
The person in charge of organising King George’s visit to Scotland was the novelist, Sir Walter Scott, the ‘Wizard of the North’, and he was keen to show the world that the Jacobite threat was in the past and that all Scots were loyal subjects of the Crown. A series of processions, levées and balls were planned, and participants were encouraged to wear specific clothing. Men of the court, for instance, were instructed to wear either their regimental uniforms or what Scott called ‘the complete national costume’ ‒ Highland dress.
Highland dress, as the name suggests, was a garb associated with the Highlands of Scotland, consisting by this time of a kilt, a jacket and a plaid worn at the shoulder. The plaid was a piece of tartan fabric that was originally wrapped around the body to create the kilt effect, but by 1822 it was much smaller and draped over the shoulder. (Confusingly, ‘plaid’ is also the word used to describe tartan in some areas of the world.) At this point the outfit wasn’t actually a ‘national costume’ as Scott suggests, but the royal visit certainly helped to put it on the national stage.
Not to be outdone by his Scottish subjects George IV himself appeared in Highland dress, the extravagance of which left no doubt as to his kingly status. Made by George Hunter & Co. of Edinburgh, the outfit was made from lengths of satin, velvet and cashmere tartan. The sett (or pattern) of the tartan was called ‘Royal Tartan’ and later became known as ‘Royal Stewart’. These were used to make a kilt, jacket and plaid. He also wore a bonnet with a gold and jewel-encrusted badge, a sporran made from white goatskin and lined with silk, golden buckles depicting St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, a gold plaid brooch, golden rosettes for his shoes, a dirk (dagger) with an emerald encrusted hilt, a broadsword and a pair of pistols. This extravagant outfit cost over £1,350 (approximately £58,000 in today’s money), and would have been a far cry from the practical and simple dress of the average Highlander.
Unfortunately, the whole effect was rather spoiled by the King’s unwillingness to expose his royal knees (or anything else) to public scrutiny. He wore flesh-coloured trousers underneath his kilt to protect his modesty, which did not go unnoticed.
Highlanders and Lowlanders alike wore tartan and forms of Highland dress for the royal visit. Commentators and cartoonists of the day lampooned this sudden desire for all and sundry to adopt Highland dress, and a number of unflattering images of the King himself were produced (header). A portrait by Sir David Wilkie painted a few years later is a far more complimentary image of the King in Highland dress, but it is also a toned down version of what must have been a dazzling outfit.
George had spent just two weeks in Scotland, much of it in the company of the Scottish nobles rather than on display to the general populace, and he did not wear Highland dress at every single event. However, the spectacle and display of the visit, and the distinctiveness of tartan and Highland dress, helped boost and solidify the popularity of these items in fashionable dress. George’s visit and his royal adoption of the Highland dress set the stage for his niece, Queen Victoria (1837-1901) and her own endorsement of this ‘national costume’ in the later 19th century
The kilt is one of the most distinctive articles of dress in the British Isles and is central to the Scottish identity.
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