Taigh nan Creaganan - "The House of the Little Rocks"

Description: Buy Tomorrow's Heirlooms Today. I am a maker of traditional and modern jewellery. I specialize in Sterling silver penannular brooches and kilt pins, which have their origins in Celtic, Roman and Scandinavian jewellery. Everything that you will see on this site has been hand-made by me on the Isle of Lewis, the most northerly of the Hebridean Islands to the west of mainland Scotland. Among the pieces that I make, you will find Penannular Brooches, Kilt and Blanket Pins, Ear-Rings, Necklaces, Hair Slides, Wrist Guards and Bracelets. The Assay Marks my jewellery bears are as large as each piece may carry because I am proud of what I make and of the tradition behind the pieces. I am proud to make them on a Hebridean island. I am proud to be a craftsman in the tradition of my ancestors. I hope that these pieces will be worn with pride. Penannular Brooches. For more than two thousands years, the form and function of these brooches has changed little. In Britain, examples have been found that pre-date the arrival of the Romans. The earliest images that we have of them being worn are in the Book of Kells, where they are worn by monks to fasten clothing. We can assume that their historic function has always been to fasten clothing. The historic forms ranged from the undecorated to the complexity of decoration seen on the Hunterston Brooch. Those I offer are decorated with the largest Assay Marks of Scotland that the piece can bear. These pieces, which are as decorative as they are functional, can be put to many uses:- holding up the tail on the long-plaid kilt, as a pin on the short kilt and as the means whereby a shawl or square might be kept in place. Of course, they can be worn for their beauty alone. The many uses to which these brooches might be put is the reason for so many different sizes being made and offered. For a better understanding of the history and form of these brooches, I have included an article on them. Kilt & Blanket Pins. The origin of these pins is from the time when the long plaid was a garment and a sleeping bag. The garment became the sleeping bag, when folded in three and the sides were pinned. No images of such usage exist, but it is assumed that the pins were used during the day to keep the front of the kilt closed. It must be assumed that the earliest examples were made from bone, wood and, even, feathers. Later forms were of metal and mine are made from silver. The origins of pinning the short kilt are reputed to have been in the actions of Queen Victoria, who had been affected by the sight of the kilt of her guard being taken by the wind. She is reputed to have sent one of her brooches to the guard to preserve his modesty and prevent her embarrassment. In time, the military created a variant of the blanket pin, whose deeper housing made for a pin that was almost impossible to come undone. I offer five types of pin:- The Plate, which is in the centre of the image, and which carries the largest possible Scottish Assay Marks; The Traditional Blanket Pin, which is at the top, might be better known as a Nappy Pin; The Military-type Kilt Pin, which is to the right, is a more secure form of the Blanket Pin; The Crofters' Pin, which is to the left, is a simplified version of the Military-type Pin; The Nessie Pin, which is at the bottom, is whimsy, although the Loch Ness Monster is integral to Scottish mythology. Wrist Guards. That our national costume includes a Dirk and a Sgian Dubh is a good indication of the violence of our past. Though no longer worn except by women, the Wrist Guards and the large Gated Bracelets that I make come from this past. Even the Tanged Wrist Guard, though now decorative, was both a defensive weapon and, in close combat, the ends of the tangs could with ease rip out an opponent’s jugular vien. An evidence of the ignorance of the history of the Tanged Wrist Guard is seen in the fact that I have never been prevented from boarding an aeroplane wearing one. Just as the Long Plaid has a history that goes back to our earliest history, Wrist Guards, Penannular Brooches and Kilt Pins evince both our long buried past and the violence of that past. I unashamedly assert both, as do the pieces that I make.

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Creaganan.com

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