[Regia-NA] Some Early Ornamented Leatherwork: Book Satchels and Bindings; Irish Shoes; Scottish/Irish Targes; A-S Bed

[rmhowe]

Since this is -out of copyright- as I understand the Berne
Convention and it took me six or so years to obtain an original
Journal for myself I will submit the following article for your
perusal. I have noted the citations of the plates, which
unfortunately I have no means of sending. It does however
contain a wealth of information about early medieval leatherwork
with additional notes below on other resources, including some
illustrations on the web which are pertinent:

Buckley, J.J. in:
Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland:
Series VI, Vol. V, Part IV, 31, December 1915:
Contents:
    Thomas Johnson Westropp, MA, Fellow, Prehistoric Remains
(Forts 	and Dolmens) in Burren and its South-Western Border, Co. Clare, 
Park XII: -North-Western Part- continued (illustrated)... page 249- 274. 

    Goddard H. Pripen, 	M.R.I.A, Member - The Normans in Tirowen and 
Tirconnell...275-88.
    H.Th. Knox, Fellow - Rath Brenainn (illustrated) 289-99.
    *** J.J. Buckley, Member - Some Early Ornamented Leatherwork -
(Illustrated) pp. 300-309,
    "The ornamentation of leatherwork, (1) [The technique of the 
ornamentation applied to the objects described in this paper consists
of - (1) simple tooling, as in modern bookbinding, or (2) softening
and impressing (cuir bouilli), or (3) incising with a sharp instrument.] 
classed in our day as one of the minor arts, held a relatively important 
  position in the domain of applied art in the early Christian and
mediaeval periods in Ireland.  There are, it is true, very few
examples surviving from those early times, a fact due of course,
to the perishable nature of the material. These survivors are,
however, of such a character as to indicate to us that even when
dealing with such a substance so commonplace as leather, the art
craftsmen of those days did not disdain to expend on it all the
resources of their artistic skill.  The beauty of the art products
of those old Irish craftsmen in metal and stone, and on vellum,
is now so well known and so widely recognised that there is not
any necessity to deal collectively with the objects which remain
to us, and it will, perhaps, serve some useful purpose to group
together in the Journal for convenient reference figures and 
descriptions of as many as possible of the known specimens.
     Satchel in Trinity College, Dublin, (Plates xxv - front, back,
and xxiv - top, bottom and sides) in Trinity College, Dublin.
“The Satchel associated with the Book of Armagh, in the Library of
Trinity College, Dublin, is the most elaborately ornamented of
the leather objects which have survived. It is formed of a single
oblong piece of leather, folded and stitched so as to form a
wallet-shaped receptacle about 12 inches high, nearly 13 inches
wide, and 2 1/2 inches in thickness.  The outer surface is
entirely covered with impressed ornament, consisting of bands
and medallions of inter-laced ribbonwork, medallions of single
and interlocked double and triple grotesque animal forms, and
two bands of debased spiral ornament. Petrie refers to one of
these bands as “triplicate pear-shaped ornament”;  the other
he describes as ’the cross formed between four segments of
circles within a circle.(1) [The Round Towers of Ireland]
One medallion contains a curious device in the form of a cross,
the details of which are suggestive of Gothic letters used as
Roman numerals. Were those intended as a date, or as an index
number for the contents of the satchel?
     The Book of Armagh, a manuscript containing copies of the
Gospels and other matter, is attributed to Ferdomnach, who
died in the early part of the ninth century.
(2)[Graves]
The satchel , which is probably a good deal later, was obviously
not made for the manuscript, the leaves of this measuring only
7 3/4 inches by 5 3/4 inches. Besides, the book is thicker than
the receptacle.(3)[Facilities for making the photographs of this
satchel were very kindly given by Mr. Deburgh, the Assistant
Librarian.
     Satchel Contained in the National Museum, Dublin (Plate xxvi
front and back with strap) The Satchel associated with the shrine
called the Breac Moedo’ig, in the Irish Antiquities Division of
our National Museum, like that associated with the Book of Armagh,
is an oblong piece of leather, folded and stitched. The flap is
missing. The ornament, whilst not so elaborate as that of the
Trinity College satchel, is more elegant in design, consisting
of two different schemes of bold interlacing on the back and
front, and ont the ends two bands of flowing tendrils. The design
on the front covers only about two-thirds of the space, the upper 
portion, which would have been hidden by the flap being plain.
The Strap by which it was carried still remains, but it is not 
decorated. The height of the satchel is about 9 inches, and the
width about 10 1/2 inches.
     As with the Trinity College satchel, there is not much
reason to doubt that it was originally made for the object
associated with it.  The shrine is of the cha^sse type - that
is, the form is that of a house or church with a high-pitched
roof; whilst the satchel, with its parallel lines, was
apparently intended to receive an object of a different
shape and size.(4)[The Council of the Royal Irish Academy
kindly granted permission to reproduce the photographs of this
satchel.]
     Satchel in Oxford (Plate xxvii patched front? with various
straps laced together) - In the Library of Corpus Christi College, 
Oxford, is an old Irish missal, enclosed in a satchel, which,
judging from the closeness of the fitting appears to have been
specially made for it. The missal is about six inches high and
about 5 inches wide, and is very thick consisting of 211 pages
of vellum. It fits snugly into the satchel, and although the
latter shows signs of having been a good deal used, the ornament
remains quite visible. This is a bold design of interlaced bands, 
running lozenge-wise in pairs, and having a closed ring made of
a single band interlacing each of the crossings, somewhat
resembling the design on the back of the satchel of the Breac
Moedo’ig. The sling strap, much broken and repaired with thongs,
still remains attached to it.
(1)[The authorities of the College, through the librarian, Mr.
Livingstone, kindly permitted the reproduction of a photograph
of this satchel.
     Bookbinding in the Franciscan Library, Dublin (plates xxviii
obvers / xxix reverse / xxx hinge end) - One of the many treasures
in the Library of the Franciscan Convent, Merchant’s Quay, Dublin,
is a seventeenth century vellum Life of St Columba, which, in all 
probability, first belonged to the Franciscan Convent in Donegal,
and was carried to the Irish Franciscan Convent of St. Antony of
Padua at Louvanin by Michael O’Cleary, who died there in 1643.
At the time of the French Revolution the collection at Louvain
was broken up, some of the manuscripts being taken to Brussels,
and others to the Francisan Convent of Sant’ Isidoro, Rome.
The Life of St Columba was probably amongst the latter.  At any
rate it was one of a number of Irish Manuscripts brought thence,
in 1872, to its present resting place, by permission of the
General of the Franciscan Order.
     This valuable manuscript is bound in a cover of dark brown
leather, tooled over the whole of the outer surface.  It measures
about 13 inches in height and about 9 inches in width. The front
design consistes of three horizontal bands of interlacing, with
two intermediate strips of what may, perhaps, be described as
debased fret ornament.  The other side is made up of twelve
squares each, enclosed with interlaced bands, and having closed
rings at the angles, somewhat resembling the design on the Oxford 
satchel and the back of the satchel of the Breac Moedo’ig. The
hinge is tooled with tooled with with a very simple fret pattern.
    (2)[Father O’Reilly, the Librarian, very kindly permitted the
cover to be photographed for this paper.]
     The design on the front, somewhat modified, was taken by the
late Dr. Abbot for the block used on the cover of his valuable
work, _Celtic Ornaments from the Book of Kells_.
     Bookbinding in Stonyhurst College (Plate xxxi, one view,
front and back well illus., spine curved in and obscured by
shadow - what‘s there looks like wrinkles) - There is in the
celebrated College of Stonyhurst, Lancashire, an interesting
binding on a manuscript copy of the Gospel of St John. It is
composed of two thin boards of lime-wood 5 1/2 inches high
and 3 1/4 inches wide, covered with dark crimson-stained leather.
On the front is a panel divided into three compartments
surrounded by a narrow border. The central compartment is
occupied by a foliated ornament in good relief, bearing traces
of colour.  The upper and lower compartments have interlaced
ornaments - the fine lines forming these being coloured blue
or yellow.  The border is formed of two fine lines arranged
en guilloche.  The other side has a plain wide border of two
fillets enclosing a trellis pattern, all done in fine incised
lines.
     According to an inscription on the first leaf of the
manuscript, it was found on the body of St Cuthbert (d. 687)
when his tomb was opened in 1105.  At the spoliation of the
monasteries in the 16th century the volume was annexed by Dr.
Lee, one of the Commissioners of Henry the Eighth.  It
afterwards came into the possession of the English Jesuits,
with whom it remains at present. In 1806 it was exhibited at
the Society of Antiquaries, London, when the suggestion was
made that the binding “was made in the time of Queen Elizabeth.”
In 1862 it was included in an exhibition at South Kensington
Museum, and the manuscript and the binding were described as
caeval/coeval (linked 2/3 letters)- i.e., seventh century.
To this opinion Mr. W.H.J. Weale inclined when cataloguing
the rubbings of bindings in the National Art Library in 1898.
He says the binding “stands quite by itself as the only known
specimen of ornamental binding anterior to the twelfth century.”
Count Plunkett, who has made a special study of bookbindings,
places it as late as the beginning of the 17th century.
Mr. H.S. Crawford, B.E., has noticed a similarity between the
ornament in the central compartment and a panel he calls the
“vine ornament” on the High Cross at Duleek.(1)[The president
of Stonyhurst College, Re. Wm. Bodkin, S.J., kindly supplied
a photograph at the instance of Re. Professor Browne, National 
University of Ireland.]
     Shield in the National Museum, Dublin - In 1908 an
extremely interesting shield of bull’s hide was dug out of a
bog near Clonbrin, Co. Longford, and was presented to the Royal
Irish Academy by Colonel W.H. King-Harman, D.L., on whose
estate it was found.  It was stated to have been embedded in
the peat at a depth of 9 feet below the surface. Slightly oval
in shape, it measures 20 inches by 19 inches approximately,
and bears in relief concentric rings, and studs in groups of
three, around a large umbo.   A Bronze shield from Loch Gur,
Co. Limerick, also in the National Museum, the ornamentation
on which likewise cosists of concentric rings and studs, has
been assigned to the Late Bronze Age, which in the British Isles
ended about the fifth century B.C..  And while it is difficult
to imagine that the leather shield is at all as old as the
bronze one, even making allowance for the antiseptic properties
of the peat in which it was found embedded, yet it is of
sufficiently great antiquity to cause us to marvel at its good
state of preservation.
     This shield has been fully described by one of our
Vice-Presidents, Mr. E.C.R. Armstrong, F.S.A., in the
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xxvii.
     Shield in the Collection of Mr. D.M. Bell (plate xxxii,
frontal full view only) - A very beautiful shield was lent
to the Art and Industrial Division of the National Museum by
Mr. David M. Bell, of Belfast, in 1914. Mr. Bell had obtained
it from a member of the Hamilton-Rowan family, in whose
possession it had been for many years.  It is a circular shield,
19 inches in diameter, approximating to that of the shield which
in Scotland is known as the targe. The material is deer-hide laid
down on two plies of thin board, arranged so that the grain of one 
crosses that of the other at right angles--to prevent warping.
It bears an elaborate scheme of impressed interlaced ornament, 
consisting of three broad concentric rings, each divided into
four equal parts by two lines running entirely across the shield
at right angles to each other, and thus dividing it into twelve
separate compartments of interlacing.  All the four panels into
which each is divided contain the same interlaced design : but
the design in each ring is different from that in the other two.
The whole scheme is very beautiful, and it has been very
skilfully worked out.  Rows of brass nails, many of which are
now missing, outlined the panels, thus making four complete
circles of nails, and four straight lines, running from the
outer edge towards the centre.  In addition there were two
groups of three nails each in each of the four panels of the
innermost ring.  There is no umbo, or boss, nor is there any
trace of anything of the kind being applied to the centre,
which is quite flat and undecorated, save for the crossing
of the impressed lines above mentioned.
     Shoes in the National Museum, Dublin - There is a numerous
collection of boots and shoes in the Irish Antiquities Division
of the National Museum, but only three of the later come within
the scope of this paper.
     One from Carrigallen Co. Leitrim, figured at page 284 of
Wilde’s Catalogue, and at page 74 of the R.I.A. Celtic
Christian Guide (1910) bears incised interlaced ornament on
the instep and fret pattern at the heel. It was evidently made
for a personage of good position.  Mr. Coffey places it
“probably not later than the eleventh century.”
     Two others -- not a pair, from Cragywarren Crannog, Co.
Antrim, have incised, spiral ornament, and are assigned to a
period not “later than the ninth century.” They are figured at
page 73 of the R.I.A. Celtic Christian Guide.
     Case of St Malachy’s Cup at Obrier - The following is
taken from O’Laverty’s _Down and Connor_, vol. v.pp. 130,131 :--
     “Father Patrick Fleming, the writer of the Collectanea Sacra,
wrote to Father Hugh Ward, then engaged in collecting the notices
of the Irish saints which were afterwards published by Father John 
Colgan, a letter which was published with a translation by Cardinal 
Moran in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for November, 1870.
     “ ’ Rev. Father, --I wrote to you from the Clairvaux . . .
We met another memorial of St Malachy in the monastery of Obrier,
which is about ten leagues distant from Clairvaux, that is, the
cup which he brought with him from Ireland, and from which we had
the privilege of drinking. It is made of wood, and its cover or
case is more precious than itself, being of leather wonderfully
embossed and adorned with intertwinings according to the Irish
style, of singular ornamentation generally used on the sheaths
of oblong knives. . . “ Lyons, 8th May, 1623.’
“The following is the original Latin description of the cup and
its cover : -- ’ Est autem ligneus, et cooperculum seu bursa sius
ipso practiosior est, ex corio multis nodis et pressuris varie
incisis more Hibernico in vaginis oblongorum cultrorum curiose 
decorandis servari solito.’ ”
    Mr. Charles M’Neill, our Hon. Gen. Secretary, who gave me the
above citation, note that Fleming speaks as if that style of
decoration were customary in his own day---”servari solito.”
     The Tanning of Leather - There is quite good evidence that
the Irish in very early times were acquainted with the use of
oak bark for converting hides into leather.  Two citations will
suffice.
One is from a manuscript in Trinity College relating to the
Brehon Laws.  It is quoted in O’Donovan’s _Irish Grammar_,
page 448, and is translated : “Bark for tanning [a pair of]
shoes, or a bridle, as told in the books : there in an inherent
right to strip it from a neighboring tree, so as it is not
exceeded.  If it is exceeded, however, if it be bark for tanning
a cow-hide that is stripped, the penalty is two women’s shoes
worth half a a screpall. . . .(1)[Screpul, screaball
(= scripulus .) .i. secht pinginne oir, seven pennies of
gold (Stokes, _Lives of the Saints from the Book of Lismore_,
p. 399).]
The other citation is from the “Life of St Colum Cille” in
the _Book of Lismore_’ (Stokes), P. 176).  It also describes
a penalty, but of another kind--namely, the penalty of Sacrilege.
“Now there was a great oak tree under which Colomb Cille dwelt
while he was in that place (Cennanus, Kells), and it remained
to these later times, when it fell through the crash of a
mighty wind.  And a certain man took somewhat of its bark to
tan his shoes withal.  Now when he did on the shoes he was
smitten with leprosy from his sole to his crown.”
    The material in the several objects described here has the
appearance of leather ; but it is not possible to say with any
degree of certainty that this appearance of having been
subjected to the process of tanning may not, at any rate in some 
instances, be attributed to the effects of time and use.
     Satchels - The references to book satchels are, as might
be expected, fairly numerous in the early writings describing
the doings of the Irish missionaries.  One of the most
interesting of these is indicated in a description by Miss
Stokes (Six Months in the Apennines, p. 158) of the sarcophagus 
containing the body of St Colombanus in Bobio.  Giving details
of the five compartments containing representations in
bas-relief of incidents in the life of the Saint she says --
“ The first represents the miracle of the Saint in the forest
of Bobio, when he commanded the bear to submit to the yoke
of the bullock.  Here it should be noted that the book satchel
is carried in the hand of St Columban, according to the custom
of his country-men.  This may be a representation, made in 1484,
of the very book-satchel which contained the Bobion MS. of the
Gospels of St Mark and St Matthew, now numbered G. vii in the
National Gallery of Turin, which is thus spoken of by Dr.
Worksworth : --
“ : The chief interest attaching to our manuscript arises
from the tradition which connects it to the life of St.
Columban, generally esteemed the earliest of those noble
Celtic missionaries who evangelized Central Europe. The
inscription still found in the volume declares that ‘
“ According to tradition that was the same book which the
blessed Abbot Columban was accustomed to carry about with
him in his satchel.”  It was, therefore, if this to be true,
the companion of those travels wich ended at Bobio in 613,
about two years before his death.’ ”
     The use of the strap attached to the satchel was two-fold.
The more obvious purpose related to the carrying of the book
from place to place outside the monastery.  But the strap
served another purpose, which is revealed in a couple of
passages in the Calendar of Oengus : -- “ In tan din ba marb
Longarad issed innisit eolaig tiaga, lebar Erenn dothuitim
inaidchesin : “
     Translated by Whitney Stokes --
“Now when Longarad was dead, men of lore say this, that the
book-satchels of Ireland fell down on that night.”
     And --
“No isiat natiaga irabutar liubair cechdanai isinaracul
iraibe Colum Cille rothuitset and 7 machtnaigid Colum Cillle
7 cach bui sintigsin 7 sochtait uile fri tairmchrith na lebar:“
     Translated -- Or it is the satchels wherein books of every
science, in the cell where Columbcille was, that fell then,
and Colombbcille and everyone in that house marvel, and all
are silent at the noisy shaking of the books.”
     It is somewhat difficult to realise that the usage
indicated in these passages, of suspending from hooks in the
walls the satchels containing the service-books, still
obtained in the nineteenth century amongst communities of
relgious men.  The Hon Robert Curzon in his interesting book,
_Visits to Monasteries of the Levant_(1)[London, 1849] has
described such an apartment as the one indicated above.
When visiting the Monastery of Souriani, on the Natron Lakes,
Abyssinia, he saw the monks carry suspended from a shoulder
strap, “a case like a cartridge-box, of thick brown leather,
containing a manuscript book.”  Their library contained,
“perhaps nearly fifty volumes.” “The room was about 26 feet
long, 20 feet wide, and 12 feet high ; the roof was formed
of the trunks of palm trees, across which reeds were laid,
which supported the mass of earth and plaster of which the
terrace was composed ; the interior of the walls was plastered
white with lime ; the windows, at a good height from the
ground, were unglazed, but were defended with bards of
iron-wood, or some other hard wood ; the door opened into
the garden, and its lock, which was of wood also, has been
used in Egypt from time immemorial.  A wooden shelf was
carried, in the Egyptian style round the walls, at the
height of the top of the door, and on this shelf stood
sundry platters, bottles and dishes for the use of the
community.  Underneath the shelf various wooden pegs
projected from the wall; they were each about a foot and
a half long, and on them hung the Abyssinian manuscripts,
of which this curious library was entirely composed.”
     “The books of Abyssinia are bound in the usual way,
sometimes in red leather and sometimes in wooden boards,
which are occasionally elaborately carved in rude and
coarse devices; they are then enclosed in a case, tied up
with leather thongs ; to this case is attached a strap
for the convenience of carrying the volume over the shoulders,
and by these straps the books were hung to the wooden pegs,
three or four on a peg, or more if the books were small;
their usual size was that of a small very thick quarto.
The appearance of the room . . . resembled less a library
than a barrack or guard-room, where the soldiers had hung
up their knapsacks and cartridge-boxes against the wall.”
     In the _Book of Lismore_  there are several references
to book-satchels.  The two following pages are taken with,
with the translations, from Whitley Stokes’ _Lives of the
Saints_ : --
     “Uair babes dosom crosa 7 polaire 7 tiagha leabur 7
aidhme eclusdai arcena [do denum].  Senais immorro .ccc.
cros 7 tiprat 7 .c. polire 7 .c. bachall 7 tiagh.”
     “For it was his wont (i.e. St Colomb-Cille’s) to make
crosses, and writing tablets, and book-satchels, and
other church gear.  Now he sained three hundred crosses,
and three hundred wells, and a hundred tablets, and a
hundred croziers, and a hundred satchels.”
     “. . . . co tuc-side Colum mac Crimhthain cona
theigh liubhar.”
“and (the guardian angel) brought Colum, som on Crimhthan,
with his book satchel” : (to St Findian of Clonard on his
death bed).
     The use of the word “ polaire “ above alongside “tiagh“
and “tiagha leabur“ is noteworthy.
Its later use as a synonym of “ tiagh liubair “ is curious.
The derivation seems to be from pugillar, a writing tablet.
     Irish and Scottish Shields - Edmund Spenser, writing
in 1597, describes the Irish as using “round leather targets.”
He also saw in use amongst the northern Irish and the Irish
Scots a long wicker shield that should cover their whole
bodies.  He did not see this shield in the southern parts
of Ireland.(1)[View of the State of Ireland. Henry Morley,
London, 1890. p. 100.
   There is in the collection of the O’Donovan of Lissard
a circular shield of deer-skin on a wood base about 19 inches
in diameter, which is reputed to have belonged to the last
Chieftain of the O’Donovan family, in the sixteenth century.
It is studded with brass nails arranged in a sort of sexfoil
design, and it has a bronze boss, or umbo, about an inch in
height in the centre.(2)[Journal of the Royal Historical and 
Archaeological Association of Ireland (1879-82, p. 443).
    Scottish Shields, a good many of which have survived, and
are preserved in public and private collections in Scotland,
are of three kinds---namely the buckler, about 12 inches in
diameter, used in the Lowlands; the target, about 3 feet in
diameter ; and the targe, a sort of compromise between the
other two, about 18 inches in diameter, used chiefly in the
Highlands."
- end of arcticle in its entirety sans plates -
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It might be worth noting here that Cumdachs and Polaires
have long been illustrated on the following webpage:
http://www.eskimo.com/~hmiller/cumdachs.html

Also that Waterer, John W. wrote the following article:
‘Irish Book-Satchels or Budgets’;
in Medieval Archaeology vol. 12, 1968, 	pp.70-82.
This is a complementary work on Book Satchels as described
in Buckley.

A similarly related work:
Wilson, David M., F.S.A: An Anglo-Saxon Bookbinding at Fulda
(Codex 	Bonifatianus); 	Antiquaries Journal 41, 1961,
pp. 199-217 and plates XXXV-VIII, including five figures.
Probably binding is Northumbrian of late seventh century /
eighth century date. Depicts metal mounts, schematic drawings
of both covers, the press-blech pattern (patterned metal foil
made on a matrix), photos of front and back, mounts, detail
of Hexham bucket (similar design), channel and cord inside
the back board, reconstruction of the lower cover with
mounts (this thing is tooled). several similar bookbinding
mounts from three other finds, an Anglo-Saxon bookbinding
stamp from Swanley, Kent (A round stamp with a short tang
and a celtic knot style cross design), disposition of the
stamps on the lower front cover, binding mechanism (channels
cut in the front and back boards) shown diagrammatically,
general and historical descriptions of the whole book.

And one which contains an early satchel:
Speake, G.: A Saxon Bed Burial on Swallowcliffe Down (Wiltshire)
English Heritage Archaeological Report, English Heritage,
London 10, 1989, vii, 135 pp, pls, figs, table, refs, index,
18#, paper, 1850742111, "A BA barrow had been excavated by
L. and F. de M Vatcher in 1966 had been reused in 7th C AD for
a richly furnished Anglo-Saxon inhumation of a female aged
18 to 25 years. She lay on an ash wood bed with elaborate iron
fittings, and was surrounded by high quality grave-goods
including an iron bound bucket, a maplewood casket containing
a sprinkler, a spoon, and personal items, an ornate satchel
with gold foil mounts of possible Christian significance,
and a bronze-mounted bucket. The burial’s significance is
considered in its local and national context. Documentary
and topographical evidence suggest the possible identification
of the barrow with Posses Hlaewe, recorded in a charter of AD 940."
OS report 10.  Publ: 1/1/89
ISBN: 01-85074-211-1  £22.20 PRODUCT CODE: XA13010
Price: Paperback £10 /  Customer Services on 0870 333  1181 or 
customers at english-heritage.org.uk Copies of the English Heritage
publications are available from Room 209, 23 Savile Row,
London W1X 1AB  http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
    A leather satchel of 800 AD. Remains of the satchel, satchel 
reconstructed; fancy satchel mounts with archaeological
comparisons to other jewellery.
	Looks a bit like St. Cuthbert's cross to me; Moylough,
Ireland belt reliquary. Ardagh Chalice fitting; various mould
fragments from the Mote of Mark.
	Big Bibliography.
.............
Several years ago I obtained from Unicorn Ltd
http://www.scotpress.com :
Drummond, James: Highland Targets and Other Shields;  70pp. pb.
"Full color, heavy paper reprint of the 1873 edition (which was
issued in a limited run of just 50), with additional material
by Drummond on shields. Many of you are familiar with Drummond's
work on Ancient Scottish Weapons; this is an additional, little
known work which concentrates upon the targets and other shields
used in the Highlands, with illustrations and text on them.
Such information always is difficult to locate, and this
invaluable study shows numerous shields and their designs in
great detail."
SP-197. $24.95 plus shipping from  http://www.scotpress.com/  2/02
It may now be available on CD-ROM as they are reproducing more
and more books that way that are out of print.
.............
On Irish Shoes one article in particular is the most extensive:
Lucas, A.T.: Footwear in Ireland;  Journal of the Archaeological
Society of County Louth, Vol. XIII, Number. 4,  pp.309-94,
(a lot of which involves making a sock style peculiar to the
Irish) 1956.  (Boston College - O'Neill Library).

They also appear briefly but less extensively for the number
of examples of these very handsome one-piece shoes in:
Hald, Margrethe: Primitive Shoes, An Archaeological-Ethnological
Study based upon Shoe Finds from the Jutland Peninsula; (Covers
also Eng.(York), Scotland, Faeroes, Ireland, Norway, Sweden,
Finland, Aaland, Estonia, Norway, and Iceland). National Museum
of Denmark, Copenhagen 1972. Publications of the National Museum
Archaeological-Historical Series I Vol. XIII, Printed by Bianco
Lunos Bogtrykkeri A/S, Copenhagen Copyright by the National
Museum, Copenhagen 1972, ISBN 87-480-7282-6
Prior to _Stepping Through Time_ this was the book to obtain for
early shoes.
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Master Magnus Malleus, OL, SCA; Regia.org; The Manx; Great
Dark Horde; mundanely a member of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries.
*****
Please do NOT resend this to usenet newsgroups like rec.org.sca.
- I don't need the spam or arguments this would generate. -
I avoid newsgroups like the plague.

However, you may resend it on to various subscriber based
email groups like your local medieval group; your kingdom,
barony, canton, shire, or arts list, friends, etc.
This is a non-profit service to the medieval reenactors at
large. Please respect that. Thank You.

Marc Carlson and Sandy Sempel may use this on their webpages
if they like. So may the http://www.Florilegium.org/ and
the Atenveldt A&S newletter.
*****

* I promised the Tournaments Illuminated editor some book reviews
a month ago but I have been out of town for nearly a month working
on my late parent's extensive estate. I will try to get to them.
Right now I am in a bit worse shape and pain than usual from the
activity.

I'm also over 500 emails behind and for some reason the filter
dumps some new ones in the trash doubling my load to find them.
If you wrote to me please don't think I have ignored you.

Magnus