Scottish dresscode under Wallace?

Question

This might seem as a dumb question, but in Braveheart (I know the movie is very innaccurate) the Scottish doesn't have as advanced battle equipment as the English, instead they are wearing kilts and stuff (I know this is inaccurate too). The reason I think this is a bit strange is because William Wallace was not "barbaric" but a nobleman of the Kingdom of Scotland, and thus I thought that the Scottish might in reality have armor and battle equipment that was as modern as the English'. I mean this was as late as in the end of the 1200s This is just a question please correct me if I'm wrong.

Answer 1

While the question is strangely formulated, you are quite correct.

Among those who could afford it, armament among the scots was the equal of what could be found among the English.

A Scottish knight was quite likely to wear full chainmail, shield and sword, and, if the terrain allowed, to fight from horseback with a lance.

However, it was among the lower ranks of the army that the difference were most evident. In those times, princes or states did not fund their armies, equipment was the property of the individual man, to be bought and maintained as well as he could.

Scotland being poorer country than England (more northerly and with poorer land), and since wealth was mostly agrarian then, an ordinary clansman was not likely to be able to afford as good an equipment as a well off yeoman from the South. simple tunics, crude spears and great knives faced leather jacks, well made bills and swords.

Also, while the Scots fought as clans, where every man was a warrior, but discipline and military training were lacking, the English had carefully set a feudal system where free men owed military service and had to train, which enabled them to field a large and disciplined soldiery, as well as the dreaded longbowmen who were such terrors on the battlefield until gradual acceptance of the crossbow, and later the firearms, both granting reasonable accuracy with minimal training replaced them. The Scots might be a match in ferocity and fighting skill, but lacking discipline and firepower were the telling factors in their repeated defeats at the hands of the English.