Figure 1.--This is a schoolroom at New Lanark in Robert Owen's time. The children dancing are both boys and girls. It certainly looks to be a well equipped school. The academic lessons were enriched with dancing lessons as seen here. I'm not sure what kind of dance was taught, but note the children are grouped rather than square dancing which I assume would be Scottis country dancing. One source says that the children wore uniforms which were dresses in Scottish plaid and kilts. The children here are wearing white tunics which appear to have been the outfit worn at school for classes and activities.

Uniforms were not common at schools in the early 19th century, with the exception of charilty schools like the hospital schools in England. I know of no Scottish schools at the time that had uniforms. Owen was, however, a believer in teaching children to conform to societal values. Thus the New Lanark school had uniforms. One observer reports, "Conformity in the children was further reinforced by a 'beautiful dress of tartan cloth, fashioned in its make after the form of a Roman toga'. However, like the kilt and plaid worn by older boys this was thought by some of Robert Owen's partners to encourage sexual promiscuity. According to Captain Donald Macdonald of the Royal Engineers, who like the laird, Archibald Hamilton of Dalzell, had become a convert to the New System and who accompanied Robert Owen on the visit of inspection to Harmonie in 1824-25, the New Lanark dresses and plaids were part of the baggage. Owen showed them to fellow passengers and apparently had them copied in New York to be displayed there and in Washington along with his plans and models of the Village Scheme. The dress code for the new communities was another subject about which Robert Owen said little about unless pressed to do so." [Donnachie] We have, however several questions about the uniform described.

Uniforms in Scottish Schools

Uniforms were not common at schools in the early 19th century, with the exception of charilty schools like the hospital schools in England. I know of no Scottish schools at the time that had uniforms.

Conformity

Owen was, however, a believer in teaching children to conform to societal values.

New Lanark Uniform

Thus the New Lanark school had uniforms. One observer reports, "Conformity in the children was further reinforced by a 'beautiful dress of tartan cloth, fashioned in its make after the form of a Roman toga'. However, like the kilt and plaid worn by older boys this was thought by some of Robert Owen's partners to encourage sexual promiscuity. According to Captain Donald Macdonald of the Royal Engineers, who like the laird, Archibald Hamilton of Dalzell, had become a convert to the New System and who accompanied Robert Owen on the visit of inspection to Harmonie in 1824-25, the New Lanark dresses and plaids were part of the baggage. Owen showed them to fellow passengers and apparently had them copied in New York to be displayed there and in Washington along with his plans and models of the Village Scheme. The dress code for the new communities was another subject about which Robert Owen said little about unless pressed to do so." [Donnachie]

White Tunics

A contemprary account reports thatb the children wore uniforms in the style of a Roman tunic. It was made from cotton cloth with a maroon band (also stated as tartan in some accounts) along the base. Such style allowed free movement when dancing. Other accounts state that the children’s dress was mixed. This may have varied over time. Some were well dressed and others bare footed and dressed in their working clothes. We are not positive just what age children wire the white tunics. Most of the children in the school were abour 2-10 years of age. There were also a few 11-12 year old. One observer suggests that the white tunics were worn by the younger children. There are other indications that all the children wore the white tunics regardless of age. They were, however worn by both boys and girls. A HBC reader believes that the white tunics were what they wore in the classroom - like smocks. Wearing just the tunics for dancing would just be like kids wearing a gym kit for P.E. now.The dancing wasn't for show but for the children's own recreation - visitors just used to show up to observe Owen's methods. A HBC reader writes, "The children in the classroom wore the sort of white tunic shown here with different colours on them. I think they were grouped by colour. These tunics are depicted in the print here, presumsably during the 1820s (figure 1). The teachers notes for modern day school trips has them described as plain with purple or tartan trim. Tunics were commonly wore by younger schoolboys in the early 19th century, but they were heacier garments, usually colores, and normally wore with long trousers. This in part leads us to suspect that the children did not come to school in just these tunics. They look fine for a warm summer day. They look totally unsuitable for even cool or rainy days let alone winter weather.

Tartan Dresses

There were also tartan dresses. A period observer describes "a beautiful tartan cloth. We are not sure just who wore these tartan dresses and the conventions involved. It seems likely that the artan dresses were worn by the younger children (Presumably boys and girls) as well as the older girls. We believe it was their formal outfits, comparable to the kilt outfits woirn by the older boys. I think the tartan dresses for the younger children and the kilt and plaid for older boys were what they wore for the military style parades with the fifes and drums mentioned. These would be worn outside the classroom. Either for special occassions or to and from school, but here we are not sure.

Kilt and Plaid

One observer reports that the kilt and plaid were worn by the older children. A HBC reader writes, "The plaid was worn for the military-style parades outside - which probably were more for show." We are not sure id kneesocks and shoes were worn with the outfit. Less clear to us is what the older boys wore at school. Did they wear the white tunics? Also were the kilt outfits just format dress or did the older boys wear them to and from school. Here we do not know if there was any age limit associated ith the white tunics. There is another complication associated with these kilt outfits. This raises a complication. The kilt was a boy's garment. Presumably at New Lanark it was a garmment worn by the older boys. It is notclear what the older girls wore, presumably the tartan dresses.

Design of the Uniform

Owen himself - according to the sources - hardly mentions the use of Scottish kilts abnd tartans. It seems to be of some importance and struck visitors at the time - very odd. What Own did discuss was the impoprtance of unrestrictive garments for children. The idea of the children wearing the tunics without pantalettes or drawers covering their legs reflected his idea that children should be as free as possible. This is of course a tenant of Enlightenment writers like Rosseau. Is was of course especially important in dance. This was part of the philosophy of the education at New Lanark - along with freedom to think and express themselves in the classroom - Owen wrote extensively on this.

Purchase

We have no information at this time, but we assume that working class parents did not have the money to buy the uniforms worn at the school. We assume that the Owen arranged for the clothes to be purchased for the children.

Kilts and Tartan

The English after the the defear of the Higland Rising of '45 at Culloden supressed kilts and bagpipes as part of an effort to destroy the power of the Highland tribes. The ban on kilts was eventually lifted in the 1770s. We have little information at this time as to how common the kilt was in Scotland during the early 19th century. We think that it was not very common, but we have few details. We believe that kilts were especially rare in the Scottish Lowlands. Thus the boys who wore kilts at the Lanark School probably did not normally wear kilts. There was in the early 19th century a Scottish revival, but we do not yet have details on precisely how this affected the wearing of the hilt. A Scottisj reader tells us, "I think wearing of the tartan was still frowned on then by the English establishment. It was only with the Victorians that it became fashionable again - but I couldn't be sure." HBC is less sure. We rather suspect that Owen would not have selected a style that would have offened English sensibilities. Romantic poems and stories appeared anout Scotland. The young Princess Victoria was caught up in the romance of the Highlands. King George IV even traveled to Scotland and wore the kilt. (1822). Thus Owen's choice of costume was in keeping with the temper of the times. We are not sure if he ever described in detail the inspiration for the outfits.

Prudery

Another question we have about the tunics shown here is the fact that as depicted in the print, they seem shorter than was common for dresses in the early 19th century. Also children commonly wore pantalettes to cover their legs. We note boys wore tunics of vary length, but normally in the ealy 19th century with long trousers. Now the 1810s and 20s were before Victoria became queen and the even more prudish Victorian era began. But still these tunics worn without pantalettes or drawers seem rather out of place. And this appears to have been noted by at least some contemprary visitors. This is a little difficult to assess as we are not precisely sure what age children wore the tunics or indeed if the older children ire them with pantalettes and stockings. Another factor is that these were working class children. Standards may have been different for poor families.

Modern School Group Tours

New Lanark is now a charitable trust operated as a museum. One of the special features is that school groups can visit and have an experience in the restored classroom. The modern school visits are suitable for primary 3 to secondary 2 - i.e. children aged 8-13 years. This is similar to the children in the school at the time. Ownen's chi;dren left the nursery school at age 506 and studied to about age 10 when they began working in the mill. Some children continued on at 11-12 years if age. Students dress up in the white tunics. This suggests that the white tunic was what the children wore in the classroom. They have tunics for 8-13year olds. They are obviously not cut like the original tunics! The reproduction tunics that the children wear for their visits now look to be white with purple trim. They slip them on like smocks - just to give them a feel of things The Museum send out this notice to teachers, titled "Owen's Schoolchildren"to prepare them to Visit the Historic Classroom in New Lanark’s School for Children and re-live schooldays of the 1820s when Robert Owen was manager of the mills. Owen’s Schoolchildren is a new role-play activity on offer to visiting school groups. Sessions are led by our Education Officer, or one of our experienced guides, who will spend an hour with your pupils in the Historic Classroom of the 1820s. A sample of short lessons will be covered, illustrating the broad nature of the curriculum offered at New Lanark. All pupils will start the session by putting on their tunic-style uniforms and taking part in some drill and dancing. This will be followed by some arithmetic, handwriting, geography, and natural history. All using slates and pencils of course! Throughout the session, it will be emphasised that the schools at New Lanark were special. Robert Owen was one of the first to offer a good education to working class children. The ethos in his schools was not dissimilar to that found in schools today – a positive learning environment in which children conversed at ease with their teachers, and learned through their experiences. This was quite different to the Victorian Board Schools which followed in the late 1800s.

Sources

Donnachie, Ian. "Education in Robert Owen's new society: The new Lanark Institute and schools," the Encyclopedia of Informal Education (Infed) website, last updated: 14 February 2004, accessed June 20, 2004

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Created: 1:30 AM 6/22/2004
Last updated: 5:42 AM 6/22/2004