[Ryan S.]

Dear Mark Millman,

I am not sure that I am right, and as my opinon has changed more than once since the start I will clarify. I believe that both these quotes from the same book refer to the same garment:

"The common folk among the Wild Scots go out to battle with the whole body clad in a linen garment sewed together in patchwork, well daubed with wax or with pitch, and with an over-coat of deerskin"

"Those among them that are of more civility have no other shirts than what are made from deers' hides, and the plaids of their wild men are not otherwise"

The first quote has already appeared in this thread in another form, an it was taken to mean gambeson covered in leather:

[Ryan S.]

The Wilde Irishe, a reeactment group have two articles discussing leather armour. The articles overlap with what they cover, and mainly have to do with what the Irish Chieftain in Derricke´s Image of Ireland. They consider other options, but lean towards the interpration that the helmet and doublet are made from gilted leather, a type of leather made in Spain painted and treated with silver, and later tin. They also connect this to the "Leather quilted jack" mentioned by Edmund Spenser.

https://www.wildeirishe.com/_files/ugd/71b4fd_26323c0dfe444834a0b193cc2a3f44fc.pdf
https://www.wildeirishe.com/post/the-armour-of-derricke-s-chieftain


It seems that these do not refer to true leather armour, but rather leather covered armour. The quote from Spenser as well as the quote from John Majors could mislead someone to believe that a pure leather garment is meant, what the leather or deerskin is just the outer covering. My guess is that the leather outerlayer provided some degree of waterproofing, which is probably important when wearing 30 layers of cloth. The sources are also rather late in relation to the middle ages and the viking era.

[Len Parker]

Cuir bouilli armour in 13th century Lancelot-Grail Cycle:

https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Paris,_Paulin_-_Romans_de_la_Table_Ronde,_tome_4.djvu/256
https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Paris,_Paulin_-_Romans_de_la_Table_Ronde,_tome_4.djvu/231

Original: https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/16155935
Pages 176r,179r.

Pourpoint is added. The actual text pertaining to the thieves has "il estoient arme ... villain de cuiries et de chapiaus boillis." I can't make out the word after arme. H. Oskar Sommer has it "il estoient arme comme vilain de quiries & de capiaus de quir bouli."
And for the sergeants it's "qui sont arme de chapia de fer & de cuiries boulies".

[Len Parker]

A different manuscript of the same material. I believe this is older. The difference is the word galeches being used after curiees. Could these be boots?

On left side at top of the large initial "de curiees galeches"
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6000109r/f604.item.r=fran%C3%A7ais+344.langEN

Top line "Si avoient cuiries Galeches"
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6000109r/f612.item.r=fran%C3%A7ais+344.langEN

The Duke of Clarence kills one of the sergeants by slicing through the panels of his shield and his cuirees "le lespee parmi la pane des escu 't parmi les cuiriees sus les os." Here it sounds like armour.

[Sean Manning]

Len, I don't have spoons for this right now but let me have a look when I get back to part 2 of the series on linen armour. Thanks for keeping up the search! Different MS and editions are problems, some of these early editions were very careful and others were badly printed.

While the Armour Archive is down the best way to contact me about medieval matters is https://ageofdatini.info/vocationes.html

[Len Parker]

I found this etymology dictionary of old French https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/deaf_g_index/0037/image,info
It has galeches meaning Galois, which is what the French called Wales. I don't know if this is proof of anything.

Sean, I appreciate the interest.

[Len Parker]

The Samuel N. Rosenberg translation looks good. I couldn't identify "made of wood edged with projecting horns" in the original. Of course, all of this centers around "curiees galeches" being Welsh leather breastplates.

"Seeing that the bridge was down and the gate open, Sir
Wain spurred his horse forward and raced into the yard. He
saw four of the thieves climbing up a [191] ladder to the
windows of the main house, and there were two inside,
holding the sister of the man in the tower and about to
push her out through the window to those on the ladder;
there were other thieves, too, almost a score, scattered
through the courtyard and the buildings. They were
wearing light armor?Welsh leather breastplates and
molded-leather caps?and carrying axes, swords, and Welsh
bows."


"Then she walked ahead and he behind her, until they
came to a very big, broad room, and from that room they
took a staircase down into an underground vault that had
heavy, strong doors. The damsel opened one and went in,
and the duke went after. Inside the cellar he saw four
extraordinarily tail and well-built men, three of whom were
brothers while the fourth was their father. For sport, the
four were fencing, and they were as skilled at it as anyone
could be. Their shields were wonderfully strong and tough,
made of wood edged with projecting horns and covered
with molded leather, and they had Welsh leather
breastplates and wore Welsh headgear; their weapons were
horn-tipped, with steel blade ground sharp and not too
heavy, but quite light and easy to wield."


"Then he held his shield up in front of his face, since
there was no threat from behind and, his helmet being very
strong, he was not afraid for his head. He deftly held them
off, and their many blows all missed him. His sword was
sharp and sliced neatly into their shields whenever he could
reach them with his eager thrusts, so that time and again
the sword cut through the panels of the shields and
through the leather breastplates right to the bones of his
foes."

Near bottom below 284 and 292
https://archive.org/stream/lancelot-grail-the-old-french-arthurian-vulgate-and-post-vulgate-in-translation-/Norris%20J.%20Lacy%20-%20Lancelot-Grail_%20The%20Old%20French%20Arthurian%20Vulgate%20and%20Post-Vulgate%20in%20Translation%2C%20Volume%202%20of%205%20%281993%2C%20Routledge%29%20-%20libgen.li_djvu.txt

[Dan Howard]

Galeshes refers to footwear in Old and Middle French. The singular is galoche. It was a hide overshoe meant to protect regular shoes from water/mud. The word hasn't changed much in meaning today.

[Len Parker]

I saw that too Dan. I'm not certain of anything yet.