Covenanter foot soldier

Watercolour on bristol board

Covenanters again, and an illustration of how a typical foot soldier might have looked at the time. Most of the Scots soldiers didn't wear any uniform as such, except for a blue bonnet. It was a case of using the cheapest means possible of outfitting an army, and that meant using undyed wool, or 'hoddin grey' as it was called, which was a mixture of white and black fleeces.

Of course, that didn't make the Scots soldier any less of a soldier - or any less of a man for that matter, as Robert Burns reminded us...

What though on hamely fare we dine, 

Wear hoddin grey, an' a that; 

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine; 

A Man's a Man for a' that.

(A Man's A Man For A' That, Robert Burns)