The Other Mob - Scots mariners, 1512

I was recently introduced to the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, and particularly volume IV, covering the years 1507-1513. This wonderfully detailed source contains many entries relating to clothing supplied to the household and retainers of James IV. I dived in, hoping to find references to clothing and equipment destined for James’ rapidly developing fleet. James IV was every bit as maritime-minded as Henry VIII, and his growing fleet represented a formidable threat to English commerce. James had also placed his ships at the disposal of his ally, Francis I, whose own fleet in the Channel threatened England’s southern shores (more on the Battle of Saint Mathieu and the invasion of Brighton in a later post…). Moreover, one of the first actions Sir Thomas Howard fought at sea was against the Scottish pirate Andrew Barton (hmm, more on that later too I think).

So, although my primary interest here is with the soldiers and seamen of the English fleet, it can’t hurt to know a bit about the Scots mariners as well. Unfortunately, references to the clothing and equipment of mariners in the Accounts are limited. There’s lots of interesting information about the ships, and quite a lot of stuff on the men (including a lot of mariners’ names, for those excited by genealogy), but not a great deal on their appearance. In fact, the only detailed reference in the volume relates to clothing provided to the crew of a vessel commanded by ‘the Dutch skipper’, Andrew Johnson. Whether Johnson’s ship was Scottish or Dutch, and the nationalities of his crew are hard to ascertain, but the information on clothing may still be relevant. In the first place, it is quite possible that Johnson was a foreign skipper in command of a vessel crewed by Scotsmen, and secondly, whatever the nationality of the ship, skipper, and crew, they were nonetheless in the service of the Scottish king, were paid by him, and had their clothing provided by him. It is quite possible, then, that the clothing provided for Johnson and his men is representative of the clothing of Scottish seamen at the same time. So here’s what it says:

A.D. 1512.
Item the xxvj day of Marche, boght to be the Duche skipper at brocht the Kingis Mastis, ane goune, xv elnis blak chamlot; price elne x s.;summa vij ll. x s.
Item, to bordoure the sclewez of it, boght half ane quarter welvot; price… v s. ix
Item, for ane lyning of quhet lamskynnis and the werkmenschip tharof to the said goune… xxxvj s.
Item, to be him ane doublet, deliverit ij elnis iij quartaris welvot; price elne xliiij s.; summa… vjll. xij d.
Item, to be hyme ane coit, iij elnis Franche gray; price elne xjs; summa … xxxiij s.
Item, to be hyme ane pair of hoise, iij quartaris braid red; price … xiij s. vj d
Item, to the tymmerman and sterisman of the said Duche skippar and his schip, to be thame cotis, doubletis and hoise; xiiij elnis red carsay; price elne v s. summa iii ll. x s.
Item, to xxiiij marineris of the said Duche skipparis schip, to be thame doubletis and hoise, lxxij½ elnis blew and greyne carsais; price elne iiij s. vj d; summa xvj ll. vj s. ix d.
Item, to the said xxiiij wrichtis for their cotis, boght xlvij elnis iij quartaris yallow carsay; price elne iiij s viij d; summa … x ll. xviij s. x d.

Which, roughly translated, means:

A.D. 1512.
Item, the 26th day of March, bought for the Dutch skipper that brought the King’s masts, one gown, 15 ells black camlet; price [per] ell 10s.; total £7 10s.
Item, to border the sleeves of it, bought one eighth of an ell of velvet; price… 5s 4d
Item, for one lining of white lamb skins and the workmanship thereof to the said gown… 36s.
Item, to make him a doublet, delivered 2 ¾ ells velvet; price [per] ell 44s.; total… £6 7d.
Item, to make him a coat, 3 ells French grey; price [per] ell 11s; total… 33s.
Item, to make him a pair of hose, ¾ ell of red broadcloth; price … 13s. 6d
Item, to the carpenter and steersman of the said Dutch skipper and his ship, to be their coats, doublets and hose; 14 ells red kersey; price [per] ell 5s. total £3 10s.
Item, to 24 mariners of the said Dutch skipper’s ship, to be their doublets and hose, 72½ ells blue and grey kerseys; price [per] ell 4s 6d; total £16 6s 9d.
Item, to the said 24 wrights [presumably an error for ‘mariners’, as shipwrights’ clothing is dealt with elsewhere] for their coats, bought 47 ¾ ells yellow kersey; price [per] ell 4s 8d; total… £10 18s 10d

So, how big is an ell? The trouble here is that there were numerous different measurements that might be described as an ell, ranging from 18” up to 54”, depending on where you are in the world and when you’re asking. The Scottish ell was only standardised in the seventeenth century, but at that time was 37” (Scottish inches that is, not Imperial inches, though the difference is tiny enough to be ignored). In 1512 then, it’s not unreasonable to equate the Scottish ells mentioned in this text to an Imperial yard… roughly.

The skipper’s hose are made from broadcloth which, as the name suggests, was woven in broader widths than other cloths, so the fact that only ¾ of an ell was used in their construction makes comparison a little difficult, but it seems safe to assume that, had they been made of narrower cloth they would have required somewhere in the region of 1¼ yards, the same amount needed for hose given to Henry VIII’s household (see The King’s Servants). Working on that assumption, some quick calculations show that the skipper’s coat, doublet and hose required seven ells of fabric for their construction. The same garments made for the carpenter and steersman also required seven ells for their construction, so it is fair to assume that they were of more or less the same design as the master’s.

The mariners’ clothing, however, required only five ells, indicating that they were different in their construction. The mariners’ coats were made from one ell less fabric than the officers’, and a further ell was scrimped on their doublet and hose. Since it would be almost impossible to ‘lose’ an ell of fabric, or even half and ell, from a pair of hose, it’s reasonable to conclude that the material was taken from their doublets.

Comparison with the fabric allowances for Henry VIII’s household, detailed in The King’s Servants, sheds some interesting light. Hose seem to have been pretty standard, taking about 1¼ yards/ells, whichever side of the border they were made. Doublets in the English household were made from three yards, which compares roughly with the 2¾ ells allowed in Scotland for the ship’s officers. There’s a big difference in the ‘coats’ though, which in England were made from as much as eight yards, but in Scotland took only a quarter of that amount for mariners’ coats and well under half for officers’. Clearly, the garment described as a coat in the Scottish accounts was very different to the garment of that name in England.

Followers of the Admiral’s Man may recall comments in my last entry on the difference, or not, between coats and jackets issued to English seamen. Briefly recapping, the same short skirted garments, with full or half length sleeves, were variously described in English sources as either ‘coats’ or ‘jackets’. If ‘coat’ can refer to a shorter garment, then, it seems probable that the ‘coats’ issued to Scottish seamen were similar to those issued to their English counterparts, that is, close bodied garments with short pleated skirts and either half or full length sleeves. This still doesn’t explain the discrepancy in the amount of material used, but it may be as simple as that the officers’ doublets and coats had full length sleeves while the mariners’ coats had half length sleeves. Mariners’ doublets may have had no sleeves at all.

Another point of interest is that none of the garments apart from the skipper’s gown appear to have been lined. It may be that for some administrative reason the lining materials were not mentioned, or were mentioned elsewhere, but it may be that the garments were actually unlined.

With all this wild speculation in mind, it seems likely that the mariners of the Scottish fleet were dressed in a similar fashion to their English counterparts, probably looking like to figures in some of the pictures in my last post, with blue/grey doublet and hose and a yellow jacket with half-sleeves. Petty officers may have looked very similar, but all in red and with full length sleeves. Masters, if the ‘Duche skipper’ is anything to go by, wore red hose, a velvet doublet, grey long-sleeved jacket, and a black gown lined with lamb.

Now, to find out what the French were wearing…

(And just because a blog without pictures looks dull, here's a model of the pride of James IV's navy, the Great Michael)

Thanks to Dave Roberts and Tudor Cook for their input.