Plaid brooches are the traditional method of fastening the plaid, cloak or shawl at the shoulder. Over a period of a few hundred years these became bigger and more ornate. Eventually in the early 18th Century, because of the excess size these ornaments were becoming, a law was passed in Scotland by the Scottish Parliament forbidding the Plaid Brooch to protrude beyond the shoulder!
The Highlander's Love of Ornamentation is a reflection of his lack of Confidence in paper money, which resulted in his embellishing much of his wearing apparel with silver, pewter and cairngorm stones, which are of intrinsic value. Thus he carried upon his person, most of his worldly wealth, rather than entrusting it to banks, which in retrospect seems not a bad idea!
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