It's something I hope to test out at some point as others have noted there are many depictions of short sleeved versions too I based this one off one in a museum here but I have a few tests I would like to test out with these.

The Elizabethan invader Edmund Spencer confirmed this, at least in regards to the Brat, stating "often times their mantle serves them, when they are nigh driven, being wrapped about their left arm instead instead of a target (shield), for it is hard to cut through with a sword."

Thank you for the support I'm so glad my work can help.

Green being associated to Ireland is a very new tradition a

Green is the colour of republicanism. Popularised during the 1798 rebellion

That must have been a rough allergy in that situation.

I would absolutely love to do that feel free to contact me through any of the links in my videos and we can sort something out great to have another like minded person around. Plus if you think the leine is bad wait until you trim a brat lol

@@ramblingkern 😂 oh, I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge when the time comes. But I’ll be spinning and weaving it myself like a crazy person so what’s a little more work? Lol

Interesting I didn't know that. I will have a chat to my Man pictivia leather he is my source for Pictish news.

Thank you I really appreciate the support.

You are most very welcome.

Thank you so much for the support.

Thanks for the support

There are multiple records of saffron being used to dye as well as being imported from all over the continent. Other dyes were used for those who were less well off but saffron creates a very distinctive colour that would be used to distinguish your wealth.

@@Alasdair37448 as far as all references go there were no other colour of leine that I can find. They seem to be exclusively yellow. With saffron as it is as you mentioned the brightest colour being the most desirable.

@@ramblingkern ok I was just speculating due to the expensive nature of the saffron dye what shirts would people who could not afford such expensive clothes? I've deleted my other comment for good measure. But surely there must have been attempts at cheaper colors.

@@Alasdair37448 for sure there were cheaper methods to make yellow that were commonly used but they don't create the same vibrant yellow.

@@ramblingkern Thank you for helping me to understand this better.

Thanks mate I am glad you enjoyed it.

thank you so much for the support mate

I actually have some very big videos coming on the wicker shield. The gauntlet I am working on I am just trying to find a Smith who can make what I need.

@@ramblingkern let me know when you do! I am also trying to get that for myself

@@colinlawler8785 will do.

Apparently it's the same for making the spice which I tried recently for a medieval pie recipe. To dye something I imagine takes a lot of work and obviously money.

The word "saffron" was used as a colour descriptive by the English. That does not mean that saffron was actually used. Ireland is full of plants/flowers that can dye linen a yellowish colour.

@@cooldaddy2877 thats what I thought, still today we referr to the colours of some sports teams as saffron

​@cooldaddy2877 Saffron was used for the high quality stuff. They used other dyes to imitate it.

Go raibh maith agat mo chara. Yes I felt even here in Ireland it was far too ignored. You are actually lucky if it's undyed you could play around with using natural dyes for it too if you wanted to try. I felt even in Ireland this is a very unknown part of our history so wanted to shine some light on it.

I hope you have done the hanging sleeves properly. It is the most misunderstood part of the léine. Nathan, sadly has the sleeves all wrong, but well done to him for trying. The brat is also often made wrongly. It should be sub-circular in shape and made in three parts. Also, your crios should be around three metres in length and ties without any knots.

That one was for you 😂

There was a number of dyes used I have not heard of gorse but there are other people much more knowledgeable in that field than I am who might know more.

That would be brilliant I really appreciate the help. Any chance you could pop me a message on social media so I don't lose track of you?

Yes I have indeed I have seen a few references to people using onion to create a vibrant yellow and I was actually chatting to a weaver recently who was telling me there was an even more common subtance used that I cant remember right now. Thank you for the support i am delighted you are enjoying the channel.

Yes it's an extremely labour intensive crop to harvest.

Yes there is a lot of interesting cross over

Very interesting I shall have to research that.

That book only makes a suggestion and gives no historical sources. I can confirm that the sleeves hold heat on a cold day and the warm air rises up the arm. This is a major consideration but I have also used them as pockets.

The large sleeves of traditional Japanese clothes could be used as pockets too.

Yes I have another video on the ionar or wool jacket you mention as well.

If ordering from them you enter all of your stats into their portal once you create an account the sizing is for cost in the cart then everything is done to the exact measurements you give.

@@ramblingkern Ah ha, I was wondering. This helped a lot, thanks for the quick reply I appreciate it 👍 ( btw hope to see you donning yours for more content, thought the hike and the solo camp vids were savage🔥, would love to see more )

@@petertobin596 Thank you mate will have another hike soon need to revise my kit before I do any of the bigger journeys I have planned.

Yeah most sources that refer to them being used for theft are usually English and part of discrediting the Irish. Rolling the sleeves up and putting them in a gauntlet or ionar can work well.

I cant say the sleeves of the léine, if made correctly, get in the way. I've never had that problem.

depictions seem to show the mens never go below the elbow and only the female version went down to the wrist. there's a nice picture of a Scottish highlander in a léine shooting a deer with a bow and you can see how the length of it prevents it getting in his way

Nothing better,

The sleeve openings are actually pretty big so they don't tend to get caught up too much. It seems primarily men often wore them where they stopped at the elbow as well which you will see in my second video on the leine so these would be even less likely to catch. They also do some funny things in fights like catching stabs etc. I will need to get another one made and film some fencing in them.

It's not really a topic I am familiar with.

From further research since this video it seems that for men the majority were short sleeve stopping at the elbow and for women they were long. It's possible there were regional styles with longer sleeves but nothing concrete on that.

@@ramblingkern Awesome! Thanks so much!

Yes and I would not dispute that. I do explain in the video that there were plenty of other dyes being used and even show some examples of those the desired dye was saffron. People seem sceptical of its used but it is on the shipping logs throughout the period so was most definately used. However how prevelant it was amongst the common Irish person I have no idea.

The Irish imported saffron, but also grew it themselves.

For sure.

No need to apologise I am delighted you are enjoying the channel and love to interact with those who are genuinely interested. So one thing that is interesting about the leine and you can see this in Henry Viii's statue against the leine is the amount of cloth used per social standing. A poorer person most likely just had a less baggy Leine died with a cheaper subsitiute to saffron like onion for example.

@Rambling Kern Makes sense that the garment would look similar like a long tunic with just less vibrant yellow. But then of course thats made me also wonder what was in fashion before the Leine

@@A_Moustached_Sock it depends on the period but around the Viking and Norman period and even a bit before and after it was pretty much the same as far as we know. Simple under and over tunic with trews and cloaks being common of course with some certain nuances such as fabric weave and dyes.

the léine had no great expense in it. It would not be hard to make a léine, unpleated, and dyed with one of many Irish sources. History mentions sleeves almost reaching the ground but the average sleeve only reached to the knees. Altogether, this required much less material compared to a heavy pleated léine with sleeves almost to the ground. Yellow can be got from gorse, broom, weld, onions and even heather. As for an alternative, the Irish also wore triúbhas with the léine ghearr.

@@cooldaddy2877 Excellent point thank you! I believe I sort of misspoke and was curious if there were sources showing that perhaps there was another tunic option other than Leine. As so far it seems we went from Norsemen clothing into the Leine and Irish fashion. Curious on where turning points might have been or what else may have been worn besides the leine. But I may be applying too much of a modern mindset to it.

This is made to my exact size all orders from this company are tailored to your size so this one would be very big for most.

​@@ramblingkernthank you! Did it take long for this to arrive?

@@rachelcarlyle7673 probably a month but this was their first time making one and it was a lot of back and forth discussing it so they could be faster for you.

We don't really know for sure but I have been testing it out hiking to see.

This question is asked so often I did a video on this topic. Yes it was used and we have recipes from the period on the dye formula used and I know a few who have tried to replicate it to. You will find the video on my channel.

Nice one I have seen some examples of it and would love to try it myself sometime.

@@ramblingkern I mean, its a WAY cheaper natural alternative to saffron.

@@The_Gallowglass considering how it stains all of my kitchen when I cook curries that makes sense haha.

@@ramblingkern All I did was fill up hot water from the tap in the sink, few scoops of the turmeric and one freshly made white leine and let it steep for a good while. When I felt like the color was right, I rinsed it with cold water in the sink, then ran it through the wash to rinse it off a time or two, to make sure the excess was gone. If it ever fades throughout the year, repeat the process. I've heard people use a mordant, but I didn't and it seems to work out.

@@The_Gallowglass I have also read of onion being used even in period accounts but not seen how it's done.

Thank you bb

This question comes up so much I am going to need to make a specific video on the topic to address this. There are numerous references to this for example the letters from Thomas Cromwell to Henry VIII, in the State Papers. Which talks about specifically saffron dyed cloth and silk used for Leine. We also have shipping logs for saffron to be used for dying we even have references such as Fr. Good in 1566 looking for methods of dying with saffron and other additives to reduce cost. Yes there are other dyes and I mentioned them in the video however saffron gives a very distinctive yellow and one that takes well to linen unlike many other dyes. Yes some say things are gold coloured but saffron coloured refers to the dye that the flower produces not the flower.

@@ramblingkern that's wild! Thanks for the responce. That was the other part i never got about saffron, yes we can grow crocus but the real saffron has to be imported from Asia. Could some of the more expensive leina have been as dark orange as buddist monks saffron robes not just the pale yellow we see in paintings? The dye water used many times so subsequent less valuable cloth is paler, or cheaper cloth was dyed with other products to imitate the colour. The use of the word orange to describe the colour orange is modern, African red was often used to describe orange, could saffron coloured mean something darker?. Could the really expensive clothes of the wealthy have been a deeper orange and the paler yellows we see in paintings be washed out faded versions or poorer people? Thanks for your reply, i find this fascinating and there is very little except the same few paintings discussed. Keep making the videos they are great !

@@twoonthewall suprisingly a lot of the saffron in Ireland at the time was grown in England with the remainder being imported from Spain. Paolo Giovio (1548) says of the Irish merchants’ overseas trade, “they bring back armour, helmets, spears and swords from France and Spain, as well as wine, olive oil and saffron. You can look up the traditional greek outfits dyed with it they have a very bright and distinctive yellow which is what was sought out. Poorer people would indeed have had pale or different shades which would also be mirrored in less cloth in their Leines and as such donating their social status.

There are references to leather jackets but by this period steel armour of various types was popular and widely available.

I have never refused your invitation once. I believe you did mention it in a comment at some point but I received no email or enquiry about it so if it is something you wish to arrange then we can. As I am sure you can imagine it's difficult to book a meeting with cool daddy.

I plan on finding out. There is a lot of artwork of kerns at war in them so it must be doable but tricky.

@@ramblingkern It wouldn't surprise me if there were fighting methods that incorporated the sleeves in some way, like hiding strikes.

@@kennethbrunk4065 I think there was also some possibilty of rolling them up to act as padding but again purely guesswork on my end.

Very easy actually. People suppose that the sleeves are a problem but I rarely have found that.

The Irish were wearing this clothing 500 years after the viking invasions at that time Irish and viking clothing were incredibly similar. As I discussed in my video these were worn as a sign of wealth having large amounts of cloth dyed in such a valued colour was a display of wealth just like putting shiny rocks on your fingers. This clothing didn't seem to hamper the Irish in warfare and they were highly successful until much like the native Americans a force with superior numbers and technology slowly wiped them out through famine, warfare and numerous other means.

@@ramblingkern Yes, when I think of the early Medieval Irish I think of a TV show called Arthur of the Britons from the early 1970s. Apart from the modern horses they used it looked okay. But is a pity they did not use Icelandic horses. The Icelandic horse was brought to Iceland over one thousand years ago and it is believed to be the olders and most pure of all breeds. It was already an old breed when first brought to Iceland.

As far as we know they didn't saffron was the only colour used. Other yellow dyes were used but always a yellow.

@@ramblingkern was it just down to fashion or was their another reason

@@Strawberry-12. its hard to say there could be a cultural significance but so many irish manuscripts have been destroyed there is little in the lines of text to read for the reasons.

@@ramblingkern ok thanks. Great content keep it up

@@Strawberry-12. you are very welcome and I appreciate the support.

I dont think they have any real interest in this part of Irish history.

@@ramblingkern yes but they ought to as this period was the last time the irish actually had a uninterrupted culture,more or less, after this period the english banned irish culture,and it never recovered,and now the eu and irish govornment are flooding ireland with non irish economic migrants ,and breaking down the last vestiges of the indigenous irish peoples identity ,I would make it compulsory to promote this kind of dress, and try to develop it into a practical contemporary style eg promote saffron shirts ,separate saffron kilts for men,and various shades colours or even tartans, I would promote colourful waistcoats,capes, etc..I would promote historical events ,fairs etc..where traditional proper irish culture ,predating the treaty of limerick,etc.. would be encouraged ,including irish language, music, ,I would promote a new gaelic golden age, based on socialist and nationalist principles of fairness, redistribution of land and wealth and promote positive celtic christianity ,and also educate people to the positives of their pagan beliefs ! It's sad when people see the ghosts of their brightly dressed ancestors and liken them to fairys ,when these people were their blood line ,who were murdered by the english and Norman's,vikings etc..only to be forgotten and fictitiously invented as elementals ,no wonder their souls cannot rest in peace !

The irish government don't care about anything except themselves. Irish culture is dying out. Bearly now irish people know or even care about history and culture is slipping away. Unfortunately.. love the vids and information

@@aehealthsafety3335 thank you for your support.

@@ramblingkern I'll spread it around. Great channel and keep the info coming. We'll done.

Most people would have used other dyes but it was highly sought after.

I have never seen that nor any reference to such a thing or any depictions of it in artwork. Do you have any information on that?

What a weird thing to say

@@hewhodoes8073 I guess you're from one of those places where they're still struggling to define what a woman is and who's supposed to go into a Ladie's Room. LOL

​@@johnnyquest5727 I'm a good ole boy from the mountains and I don't feel inlcined to sexually assault someone because they're wearing a linen tunic

I have a video of sparring in one on the channel it's not that difficult