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HWS Medieval Scots (Gaelic) Woman Warrior Concept

Gambargin

Published: Mar 25, 2017

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femalewarrior gaelic historical medieval scotland scots scottish womanwarrior womenwarrior gambargin middleages historicallywrongsketch

Description

Banflath Beileag de macAelpín of Rìoghachd na Albannaich

Concept Drawing of a Scottish (Gaelic) Women Warriors in the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited, which is roughly based on the Middle ages covering 800s AD to 1400s AD. She represents the Kingdom of Scotland and also those of the Hebrides, especially from the 11th century onward.

Inspired by: A History Of Scotland OST - Mary Queen Of Scots

INTRODUCTION

The History of Scotland and its inhabitant is one which saw many changes throughout the ages. The land which occupies the northern half of British Isles is divided between the Scottish Lowlands and the Scottish Highlands, including the surrounding Islands, both of which, have been inhabited dating back as far as neolithic age around 4000 BC. First written record of the people living in this region were made by the Romans in the 1st century AD, who came in contact with people they refereed to as the "Painted ones" or Picti. The Picts and the other surrounding tribes whom the Romans refereed as Caledonians, are thought to be ethno-linguistically Celtic much like their Britons and Gaelic (Irish) neighbors. As far as historian could see, these northern tribes were warlike and hostile towards the Romans, so much so that any effort of expanding into their land were soon abandoned, leaving the tribes untamed. It wasn't until the late 4th century that the Romans main Legionaries garrisons eventually abandoned Britain, leaving raiders and eventually migrants from Ireland to fill the vacuum left by the Romans in the lowland region by the 5th CE AD. These Gaelic people from Ireland were called Scoti by the Romans, and it was the inter-mixing of Gaels and local Caledonians & Picts that laid the foundation of Kingdom of Scotland. Initially, the Gaels and the Pict were hostile towards each other, but successive Vikings invasion in the 9th century forced the two to unite, forming the Kingdom of Scotland. By the 11th century, it was thought that Pictish ceased to be spoken, making the Gaelic Scottish language a dominant language in the region. Series of Succession crisis prompted the English to launched military campaign against Scotland, resulting in the Scottish Wars of Independence from late 13th CE to earl 14th CE. Scotland eventual victory enabled them to secure their position as independent sovereign state, until the act of Union in 1707 which merged the Kingdom of Scotland and England into a unified state called United Kingdom of Great Britain.

DRAWING COMMENTARIES

Drawing a representation of medieval Scotland is somewhat straightforward, but many media seemed to get it wrong. Many representation, including the ones depicted in "Braveheart", portrayed the Scots as kilt wearing, tattooed barbarians, an image more related to the Picts (without the great kilt). Historically speaking, with the exception of several remote tribes in the highlands and Hebrides, the majority of Scottish warriors fought with Western European arms and armors, at least from the 12th century onward.

In this drawing however, I decided to portray lady Beileag (Elizabeth) in a stylized and rather archaic attires based on the 11th century effigy found in the western Isles. The figure bear similarities with the Lewis Chessmen of the 12th century, hence, the depiction of long gambeson/aketon coat over mail, with generic late 12th century sword and stylized single piece conical helmet with nasal guard. Normally, mail is worn over padded clothing for cushion against impact, but in this case, the aketon would reduce the damage on mail upon impact, since it was more expensive to repair damaged mail than padded jacket.

As for the drawing itself, I tried to diverge from the usual war depiction, but instead, more of a down to earth in nature, hence the lack of battle or any combat scene. The falcon is an artistic addition to show that the character is a Falconer. She is depicted with her retainers as well as another Scottish lord, fully dressed in western surcoat over mail armor. In the background, i wanted to portray the Scottish highland, including its famed "loch" but not sure if it came out as I wanted...

Either way, hope you enjoy the drawing