Scots Word of the Week: blue blanket
The Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL) records that the Blue Blanket was the banner of the craftsmen of Edinburgh. However, Edinburgh was not the only place to have such a banner. Stirling and Perth also have one and, under lockdown in 2020, the Stirling and District Embroiderers’ Guild took on the task of embroidering, “a replica of the Stirling Blue Blanket and a banner for the Incorporated Trades of the City of Stirling”.
An early citation in DSL comes from the Basilicon Doron of King James VI (1599): “The crafts-men think we should be content with their work how bad soever it be; and if they in anything be controlled, up goeth the blew-blanket.”
A later reference comes from Maitland’s History of Edinburgh in 1753. James III had been imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle and was allegedly rescued by the craftsmen of Edinburgh. “As a perpetual Remembrance of the loyalty and Bravery of the Edinburghers … the King [James III] granted them a Banner or Standard [1482], with Power to display the same in Defence of their King, Country and their own Rights. This Flag, at present denominated the Blue Blanket, is kept by the Convener of the Trades.”
In September 2016, The National reported from the Edinburgh Riding of the Marches that: “There is also now a new version of the Blue Blanket, the affectionate name for the Standard of the Crafts Within the Burgh of Edinburgh, which could be raised to summon all the craftsmen of Scotland to fight in support of the monarch”.
Scots Word of the Week is written by Pauline Cairns Speitel. Visit DSL Online at https://dsl.ac.uk.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here