A unit such as the one we play would not have a common level of armor, rather each of us would be equipped as well as we could afford, supplementing such equipment as was supplied to us by the army or regiment. At home, each of us would have whatever items we could buy or "acquire", plus items provided by the local laird or warden, if we were in such service. Illustrations such as those in Derrick's "The Image of Ireland". that show Border Horse, while key for dress and detail, should be taken with a grain of salt, as they show these troops identically dressed and armoured, right down(up?) to matching burgonet helmets. In time when regular army horse wore a variety of styles and quality of armor, it is very doubtful that Border Horse on active service actually showed such a uniform style. There is one drawing in Derrick, reproduced on page 42 of the Osprey "The Border Reivers" book, showing the army on the march, with five of the Border Horse riding in the fore, that shows more variety. On page 5 of the same book is reproduced one of the woodcuts from Holinsheds "Chronicle", showing 15 men, all with variations in dress and equipment.
We have members of this group able to work in all the various skills used to construct armor of the various types described below. All these items can be purchased from a variety of vendors, prices for armor are not cheap, being both labor and material intensive items. Make what you can, buy what you need to. Well made items will last a long time and good quality retains its' value.
Leather Jerkins: From simple vests, up to simple early "buffcoat" styles, would have been worn by the poorer sort of both infantry and horsemen. If worn alone, these would be of heavy full grain leather, as good as the user could afford. Lacing, buttons or ties are options for closures. High collars and shoulder "wings" to protect from sword cuts could be features of these garments, as well as more stylish models, in the style of civilian clothing. Common at this time were leather jackets or vests to wear under metal armor, to protect valuable clothing. These could be worn as a quickly donned light armor, or as a working garment. Some metal plates, rivets, studs or mail reinforceing could be attached to a leather jerkin or jacket, by laces or rivets.
Padded Coats:Starting with a simple sleeveless waist-length vest, up to a fully sleeved, neck-to-knees coat, this is a basic item of protection. Made of leather or heavy cloth, stuffed, then stitched to compress the padding and stiffen it up, such a garment would provide protection from both edge weapon cuts and heavy blows. Not much use against shot, but neither is plate or mail at this time. Arrows or crossbow bolts might be stopped or slowed, plate is a better bet. This is the basic armor item for our unit, each of us should have one of these. White, "natural" or muted colors, would be common, some of the darker colors, greens, browns,etc would not be out of place. Leather could be any common color, (black leather at this time would at this time be more of a dark gray) leather might be darkened by rubbing in oils to keep it supple. the yellow color associated with some buffcoats is due to a fish oil used for this purpose. The nicer varieties of padded coats could be in the style of a fashionable doublet, maybe tailored in the "peescod" style, decorated with buttons, trim, contrasting colors and piping. Quilting can be stitched vertically, or in squares of a various sizes, or in a diamond pattern. Horizontally stitched coats would be difficult to move around in. Padded coats can be reinforced with rivets, studs, plate applique and/or mail reinforcement. Mail sleeves, laced to he padded coat, could be removed as needed. Collars, shoulder pieces and various other reinforcements of leather can be added. This is an item of armor that takes a lot of abuse; sewn up rips, tears and slashes add texture and "color" to your look, there is no reason not to make repairs in "big" stitches or an obviously contrasting color of thread. Patches of different cloth or leather would also look good as repairs.
Brigandine: This is a padded coat, with the addition of reinforcing plates of metal or horn, between the layers of cloth or leather. At this period, this is a very common item. The plates are small, to provide flexibility as well as protection. These could be stitched in with cord or leather lace or riveted inside, often in a pattern of three small rivets. There are several surviving examples of these, some are frequently shown in books, there is no standard style. Some lace up the front, some the back, some the side. These item is usually no longer than crotch length. A reasonable replacement for horn plates on a modern reproduction might be thin pieces of delrin or nylon plastic. This is a serious piece of armor, more than a jerkin or padded coat, serious reinforcement of heavy leather, plate or mail can be added to this as well. There is a nice example, reproduced in the Osprey "Conquistadores" book, showing a riveted brigandine with full length mail sleeves, this is dead ringer for that worn by the hard-riding borderer in Almark's old book on the battle of Flodden. Somebody ready to make this one?
Chainmail: Metal "fabric". of interlinked small iron or steel rings, mail is flexible, strong and durable, resistant to slashes and able to disperse the force of some blows. Mail is not particularly resistant to arrows or shot and needs padding underneath to prevent trauma from stronger impacts. Although heavy, being, after all, comprised of a large quantity of metal wire, the weight is dispersed over the body and limbs, and can also be supported by a belt, holding up the slack between arms and waist. Leather jerkins and padded coats or jackets are worn beneath mail, as described above. Mail coats, sometimes still referred to by their older french name "hauberk", can be of several lengths, from short pieces, reaching only to the waist, to a full coat, neck to knees. Mail can have full or half sleeves, or no sleeves at all. Some coats are collarless, some have standing collars, tightened and secured by lacing, buckles, or hook-and-eyes. Coats can be open in front or back, and be have the hem or skirt split and front or rear or both, to facilitate sitting a horse. Mail is also still used in this period for protecting some openings in plate armor, and in place of gorgets or other pieces. Mail collars, known as "standards" are common, worn with or without other protection, under a breastplate or over a leather jerkin, for example. A larger collar, with a a large, spreading skirt that covers the shoulders and upper chest, known as a "bishop's mantle" is also . Mail sleeves are worn, laced to a padded coat or a brigandine. Mail is also sewn or laced to other "soft" armor for added protection or reinforcement at important spots. A mail skirt may be suspended at the rear of some older helmets, this is not common at this time and place. A mail hood, called a "coif", is more often used, this can extend to just the neck, or have a deep skirt, as on the mantle described above. A coif can be worn under, or as a replacement for, a helmet.
Plate Armor: In our unit, plate is mostly seen in pieces, not as full "suits", most often a "cuirasse", or metal back-and-breast, or just the breastplate, secured with buckled straps over a padded coat or jerkin. There are several different styles of breastplate in use at this period, depending upon the age of the piece. These styles range from old, "globular" styles originating a century prior to our time to up-to-date models copying the "peescod" doublets of fashionable gentlemen. The age of items worn is most often dependent upon the financial resources of the owner. Other possibilities: the well known illustration from Skelton's "Ballade of the Scottyshe Kynge" shows a bearded light horseman wearing full plate leg armor, including the foot defences, with but a brigandine, with mail shirt or mail sleeves above this. Plate arm defenses, of various ages and styles can be worn with a padded coat, or attached to a cuirasse as designed. Articulated plate gauntlets can be worn with these, or on their own, also heavy leather gloves can have metal cuffs riveted on. A steel gorget can be worn under the cuirasse, or by itself; this was originally a piece designed to cover the area between helmet and body armor, it has now evolved into a separate piece, and is beginning, at this time, to designate officers or NCOs. Mass-produced armor, soon to be called "ammunition" armors", has become common in this century. A style common for decades is known as "almain (german) rivet". This features articulated plates with slots that slide on fixed rivets. A great deal of this type of armor found it's way into Scotland and England. At the time of the Flodden, in 1513, the French imported over two thousand of these armors into Scotland. Parts of these are no doubt still kicking around the glens and hills until our time.
Helmets: Just about any variety of headpiece used by light horse in the 16th century might be seen in a unit such as ours. About the only types common to the time that we would not be using would be those that completely enclose the head, such as an armet or "close" helmet, these being rather more suited to heavy cavalry. The helmet most often thought of as being "typical" of the Border Horse is the burgonet, an open face helmet that fits close to and encloses the rest of the head, with a descending neckguard, sometimes articulated. There are many types of burgonet, from very fancy engraved models, to very simple mass-produced types, sometimes these are fitted with movable cheekpieces and visors, occasionally with a moveable or removeable face guard, some barred, an early example of the type of guard seen on English Civil War "lobster tail" helmets, or with a "buffe", a metal face shield extending down to the throat. Most burgonet type helmets seen have a crest or a keel hammered into the central fore-and-aft ridge, providing additional strength against blows to the top of the head. The other types of helmet most common to the time are the morion and the cabacete. These are similar, the main difference being that the bowl of the morion is somewhat lower and more "bowl" shaped. The cabacete is taller and often conical. Both have a ridge in many cases, fore and aft. The morion often has a tall crest or keel, raised by hammering from the original piece of metal or riveted on. The rim on both of these types can be deep, dipping at the sides to protect the sides of the face, raised at front and rear, or narrow and flat to moderately downsloping and just about every variation in between. One distinctive type of cabacete, having the metal at the top drawn into a point, facing to the rear and down, is known as a "pearstalk" cabacete. There are similar morions. As with the burgonet, these helmets come in many variations and leverls of quality and decoration. Many have survived to the present, and it is not hard to find a wide assortment of photos of these originals. Helmets are pretty durable items, some pieces being handed down from father to son or being retained in castle or town armories for decades. The sallet, pretty much "the" helmet of the preceding century, is still around in great numbers and variety. Some later styles of this are still being made by this time. The classic description of a sallet is "bowl-shaped, curving in to the neck at the rear and then out to form a neckguard". There are various styles of sallet, including some that are mainly just a bowl, with only a very minor rim or with the neckguard comprising of not much more than a lower rear edge to the helmet. Many of these simpler types of sallet were easily manufactured in castle armories and village forges, making them cheaply available to both local lords equipping a retinue or levy, and the common man needing a helmet for defense or for reiving. The kettle hat, also very common in the previous century, is pretty much out of style, but many examples are still around, some cut down or modified to bring these more up to current styles. Locally produced helmets might be of similar shape. A few types of barbutes, by this time very similar to sallets, are still being used, though out of style with the fashionable class by this time. Also very common are "skulls", a word describing both simple bowl-shaped helmets used by those able to afford nothing else, and, more commonly, a steel or iron cap, fitting close to the head, worn under a hat for protection against sword cuts. This might also be worn under a larger type helmet as additional protection. Helmets usually have a liner of padded cloth or leather, few examples survive. These would most likely be quilted and stuffed with feathers or hair. At the very least, a helmet would have a leather browband or straps to keep the metal away from directly touching the head. Chinstraps are a necessity, from period illustrations, buckles appear to be most common, but these could also be tied. Chinstraps often had plates or segments of metal to protect the ears and sides of the face. Modern reproduction helmets, mostly of pretty decent quality (and some pretty poor!) are available from a variety of companies. Some 20th century military helmets, turned up at yard sales, swap meets, gunshows, etc, can be modified to resemble some original hedpieces, especially the simpler types. Modern steel is tough stuff, but with the proper tools, it is possible to remove the unneeded parts. WWII and after U.S. & Brit helmets (among others) are resistant to punches and saws, happily these shapes are not of much use to us, or can be found on other models.