The Buff Coat
Courtesy of the Taunton Garrison Facebook Page
With the amount of literature and research compiled about: plate armour, doublets, arming jackets and chainmail, it seems strange that the buff coat, such a widely used form of body defence in the 17th century should attract such scant attention. Especially surprising since the tanning industry in the 17th century was second or third in importance behind the wool and cloth trade.
The buff coat we will be discussing is the oil-tanned, leather garment either thigh or knee length which could be worn with or without armour. The process or tanning to create buff leather differs from the two other common methods of tanning. Vegetable tanning and alum tanning, the latter used to produce white leather for the military. There is little evidence of buff leather being used or produced before 1600, either in art or literature. One of the first mentions can be found in the state papers of Ireland in 1600. George Carew wrote to the Privy Council from Cork, “Captain Harvey received a shot on his morion, a blow with a pike in the back...but escaped killing by the benefit of his buff coat.”
During the latter stages of the Elizabethan period, archers were advised to wear buff jerkins, or chamois leather doublets to, ‘prevent metal plates of his jack chafing their skin.’
Perhaps not a buff coat, in our terms but during Sir Richard Hawkins’ voyage to the South Sea in 1593, he advised his men to wear a buff jerkin if they could not afford a corselet. These jerkins would probably be more of a waistcoat however. Around the turn of the century, as the decline of plate armour continued the buff coat not only made an appearance, but also began to protect arms and legs as well as the main body.
So the buff coat. It began with buffalo hides, hence the name. Buffalo hide proved thick and strong yet very expensive as most were shipped from Germany. To reduce cost and be more self-sufficient, England began using hides from cattle and deer. Even in the newly found lands in the Americas, especially Virginia, elk was used to create a form of buff coat. Even Elizabeth’s court reported that Czar Theodor sold good quality material, ‘…their elk, or buff hide is very faire and large.’
However, it is not only the thickness of the material that determines the strength of a buff coat, but how it has been tanned. Just look at a chamois leather. They are not thick, but they can take a lot of punishment and still hold together.
Tanning is the process where an animal hide is made into a more durable product making it less likely to decompose. To begin with, the skins would be soaked in vegetable matter, the tannins in which would cause the collagen proteins to become more water resistant. This could also be achieved by oxidation of marine animals or fish oils. Again, this would create a tough, durable product. The hides would now be washed in a stream to remove any dung, blood and curing salts. This would also rehydrate the material and remove the grainy surface to allow oils in. Workers would then fold piles together to let putrefaction set in which would loosen hair to make it easy to remove later.
The next step would be to add: beer, urine, dung, fermenting barley or to place the hides in lime. After a soaking, the fat would be scraped off and then the hide placed back into the concoction. After another bath, the hide would be washed and then, ‘infused,’ with bird droppings or dog faeces.
Once the hides have been allowed to partially dry so the pores could open, the hides were then kneaded and stretched to allow oils to be absorbed. It was crucial at this stage that the hide did not dry too much otherwise the finished product could become too hard. Even at this point, the hide would still be unusable. It must still be beaten with hammers, or trampled underfoot, scrubbed with brushes or stone blocks. After this process, the hide was smoothed using stone or metal slickers. It can be easily seen that the whole tanning process was a huge industry, even outside of wartime. In 1628 in the Minute Book of Curriers claimed London was, ‘the greatest concourse for tradesmen dealing in leather.’
The importance of leather production is also highlighted by reports that Norwich and Northampton were crucial leather manufacturing centres in the English Civil War. The English Civil War is perhaps the first conflict one thinks about when discussing the buff coat. Reenactors and historians have often argued about how stiff and, ‘dried out,’ buff coats are, in stark contrast to paintings of the period that show supple buff coats flowing over the body. But stiff and dry coats can be explained by poor modern replicas and authentic buff coats from the time having dried out over many centuries.
And finally, how effective were the buff coats in combat?
Tales can be easily found where a soldier reports that their buff coat stopped a pistol ball and / or a spent musket ball. Buff coats have also been reported time and time again to have stopped a pike thrust or a sword cut. In America, reports state that buff coats had stopped arrows during the Pequot War of 1634-1638.
One Captain Underhill wrote, “Captain Mason and my selfe entering into Wygwams, hww was shott, and receivd many arrows against his headpiece, God preserved him from many wounds, my selfe received a shotte in the left hippe, though a sufficient buffe coate, that if I had not been supplied with such a garment, the arrow would have pierced through me.”
They could protect the wearer but were not free from deficiency. On a hot day they could (and still do!) become very uncomfortable. When they got wet, they became extremely heavy and took an age to dry out. Even in the cold, a buff coat was no guarantee of keeping the wearer warm. Edmund Ludlow in Ireland, a former lifeguard in the Earl of Essex’s Horse complained he needed two extra layers over his buff coat to keep warm.
And finally the design. These were as different as the men who wore them. They could be sleeveless or with sleeves. They could be waist high, thigh high or even longer. The longer wide skirts of a buff coat were more practicable for horsemen. The sleeves need not be made of the same leather material as the buff coat. They could be made from: satin, silk or even velvet dependant on the wealth of the wearer and the availability of the materials. The vast majority of buff coats made for the simple soldier would have been plain with no decoration, but as can be seen below, some could be highly decorated. With more decoration would obviously come more cost. A quote from 1640 has often be used as a guide to price. “For your buff coat, I have looked after, and the price, they are exceedingly dear, not a good one to be gotten under £10, a poor one for five or six pounds.”
However, cheaper coats could also be found. In 1638, a report stated, “2 paire of sleeves & hose last all ouer case to £1 15s.”
A troop of horse raised by the Liberty of Watford was issued with 53 buff coats and 52 pairs of leather gauntlets for £100 9d. Sir Thomas Martin, part of the Eastern Association during the English Civil War stated that buff coats could vary from £7 to 13s 4d. It is clear, that even the cheapest buff coats were no small financial undertaking for most. Most ordinary men would have to rely on the purse of their commanding officer whilst cavalrymen were more likely to be able to afford their own.
The layout of the buff coat is also worthy of note as the separate sections which made up the coat were not overlapped but butted up against each other. This was called, ‘butt stitching.’
The colours were also not universal. Some could be a cream colour, a pale lemon, an ochre, grey or strong yellow. Some coats were known to be painted or stained with ochre (Iron Oxide III) though colour deviation can also be explained due to age or due to difference in the tanning process.
The buff coat may not be as exciting as other types of clothing or armour, but it was worn by and protected tens of thousands of men whilst on campaign. Its production, design and use is of immense interest and will be the subject of more research for this amateur historian.
