The Highland targe was not simply a piece of military equipment, it was a masterwork of traditional craftsmanship that demanded skills in woodworking, leatherwork, and metalwork. Building a targe from raw materials to finished shield took weeks or even months of patient, skilled labour. The finest examples rank among the most impressive artefacts to survive from the Highland era, and they demonstrate a level of craftsmanship that would be challenging to replicate even with modern tools. Today, a handful of dedicated craftspeople continue to make targes using methods that would be recognisable to the artisans who armed the clansmen of the 17th and 18th centuries.
This article traces the entire process of targe construction, from selecting the raw materials to applying the final decoration. Whether you are a craft enthusiast, a history lover, or simply curious about how these remarkable shields were made, here is the full story of traditional targe-making.
Step One: The Timber Frame
The foundation of every Highland targe was its wooden base. This was the structural core of the shield, the element that had to absorb sword blows, deflect musket balls, and withstand the brutal shock of close-quarters combat. Getting the timber right was the first and most critical step in the entire process.
The base consisted of two layers of thin boards, typically between 5 and 8 millimetres thick, glued together with the grain running at right angles. This cross-grained construction was the key to the targe's remarkable strength-to-weight ratio. By alternating the grain direction, the craftsman created a composite material that was resistant to splitting in any direction. A blow that would have split a single layer of wood along the grain was absorbed and distributed by the cross-grained layer beneath it. The principle is essentially the same as modern plywood, though the targe makers of the 17th century arrived at it through centuries of practical experience rather than engineering theory.
The preferred timbers were oak, pine, or alder, all readily available in the Highlands. Oak offered the greatest strength and hardness but was heavier and harder to work with hand tools. It was the preferred choice for chiefs and wealthy tacksmen who could afford the extra weight in exchange for superior protection. Pine was lighter and easier to shape, making it the most common choice for targes intended for active battlefield use where every ounce mattered during the exhausting sprint of the Highland charge. Alder offered a good compromise between weight and durability, it was lighter than oak but harder than pine, and its fine grain made it particularly suitable for detailed carving.
The boards were cut to size using a frame saw, then planed smooth with a hand plane. The craftsman would select boards with straight, even grain and no knots or defects, any weakness in the wood could mean failure at the worst possible moment. The two layers were glued together using animal-hide glue, a strong, somewhat water-resistant adhesive made by boiling down scraps of leather, sinew, and bone. This glue was heated until it became liquid, applied quickly, and the two layers were clamped together using wooden wedges and lashed with cord until the glue had set, which could take 24 hours or more. Once the glue had set, the disk was carved to its final circular shape using a drawknife, and the edges were smoothed with sandstone or a piece of rough hide.
Step Two: The Leather Covering
The front face of the targe was covered in a single piece of cowhide, stretched tight and glued to the wooden base. The leather served several purposes: it provided additional strength and protection, it protected the underlying wood from moisture and impact damage, it added a slight flexibility that helped absorb blows without cracking the wood, and, most importantly, it provided a surface for the elaborate decoration that distinguished one targe from another and identified the owner's clan and status.
The leather was typically vegetable-tanned, a slow process using tannins extracted from oak bark. Unlike modern chrome tanning (which can produce a finished hide in hours), vegetable tanning took weeks or months, as the raw hide was gradually immersed in progressively stronger solutions of bark extract. The result was a firm, dense leather, far harder and more durable than the soft leathers we are accustomed to today. This firmness was essential for tooling: the leather had to be hard enough to hold a stamped or incised design without the pattern blurring or fading over time.
Before application, the finished hide was soaked in water until it became supple and workable. It was then stretched over the wooden base, pulled taut on all sides, and glued down with the same animal-hide adhesive used for the wooden layers. The edges of the leather were wrapped around to the back of the targe and tacked in place with small iron nails. As the leather dried, it shrank slightly, pulling even tighter against the wooden base and creating an extremely firm, drum-like surface.
Once dry, the leather was tooled with designs, a process that required both artistic vision and technical precision. The craftsman would first sketch the pattern lightly onto the leather surface, then use a combination of metal tools to create the design. Incising tools were used to cut shallow grooves that outlined the patterns. Stamping tools, small metal punches with shaped ends, were hammered into the leather to create textured areas within the outlined spaces. Background areas were often matted using a pebble-textured stamp, which lowered the surface slightly and made the raised design elements stand out in relief.
The patterns were drawn from Celtic decorative art: interlacing knots symbolising eternity, spirals echoing natural forms, zoomorphic designs featuring stylised animals, and geometric patterns combining precision with artistic flair. These were not merely decorative, they reflected the identity and status of the targe's owner. Certain motifs were associated with specific clans, and a knowledgeable observer could identify a warrior's allegiance from the tooling on his targe.
Step Three: The Brass Studs and Nailwork
The most visually striking feature of many Highland targes is their brasswork. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of individual brass nails and studs were hammered through the leather in elaborate patterns, creating a surface that gleamed golden in the light and projected both wealth and martial pride. The brasswork was not merely decorative: it reinforced the leather covering, helped distribute the impact of sword blows across a wider area, and added a layer of metal that could deflect a glancing strike.
The brass studs were typically made by hand, each one individually formed from brass wire or sheet. The simplest studs were made by cutting short lengths of brass wire, sharpening one end to a point, and hammering the other end flat to form a head. More elaborate studs were cut from brass sheet, stamped into domed shapes using a die, and fitted with hand-forged shanks. The most ornate targes featured studs in multiple sizes and shapes, small round-headed nails arranged in dense patterns alongside larger domed studs that created a dimensional, sculptural effect.
The arrangement of the studs followed precise geometric patterns, concentric circles, radial lines, spirals, and interlocking Celtic designs. The studs were hammered through pre-punched holes in the leather, with the points clinched on the back of the wooden base. More elaborate targes featured embossed brass plates, larger decorative elements hammered into shape over a former and riveted to the surface. Plate designs often depicted heraldic animals, clan crests, or Celtic ornamental motifs.
Step Four: The Central Boss and Spike
The centre of the targe was fitted with a steel boss, a raised dome, typically 8 to 12 centimetres in diameter, that served multiple purposes. It protected the grip behind it from direct hits. It provided an additional point of deflection for sword blows and thrusts. And it served as the mounting point for the targe's most distinctive, and most feared, feature: the removable spike.
The boss was forged from steel or iron, hammered into a dome shape over a rounded anvil. Many bosses were themselves decorative, featuring engraved patterns, pierced work (designs cut through the metal to create lace-like effects), or applied ornament in contrasting metals. The boss was attached to the targe with four or more heavy rivets that passed through the entire thickness of the shield, with large washers on the back to distribute the load.
The removable spike, typically 10 to 15 centimetres long, forged from hardened steel with a sharp point, screwed into a threaded socket welded or riveted into the centre of the boss. This spike transformed the targe from a purely defensive shield into an offensive punching weapon. During the close-quarters fighting that followed the Highland charge, a warrior could drive the spike into an opponent's body with a thrust of his left arm whilst simultaneously striking with his broadsword in the right. The spike was removable because it was impractical during marching, it could catch on vegetation, equipment, or the warrior's own plaid. Before battle, the spike would be screwed in; after battle, it would be removed and stored separately in the warrior's sporran or belt pouch.
Step Five: The Grip and Padding
The back of the targe was fitted with a leather grip and forearm strap that allowed the warrior to hold the shield firmly with his left hand whilst keeping his arm free to manoeuvre. The grip itself was a loop of heavy leather, typically doubled or tripled for strength, attached to the back of the targe with heavy rivets. The warrior's hand gripped the loop with the targe resting against his forearm, leaving his fingers free to hold a dirk beneath the shield.
A padded cushion, typically stuffed with deer hair, horsehair, or straw, was fitted to the back of the targe where the warrior's forearm rested. This padding served two purposes: it provided comfort during extended use (important during long marches and prolonged fighting), and it helped absorb the shock of blows to the front of the shield. Without padding, the impact of a heavy sword blow would be transmitted directly through the wooden base to the warrior's arm, potentially numbing or even breaking it.
The grip arrangement allowed considerable flexibility in use. The warrior could hold the targe close to his body for maximum protection, covering his left side from shoulder to hip. He could extend it forward on a straightened arm to block and deflect incoming attacks at a distance. He could angle it to present a glancing surface to musket balls. And experienced fighters could spin the targe to present different angles to incoming attacks, making it a dynamic, active component of their fighting technique rather than a static barrier. This versatility was crucial to the targe's effectiveness, it was not a passive wall to hide behind, but an active weapon in its own right.
Regional Variations
While the basic construction of the targe was consistent across the Highlands, regional variations existed that reflected local traditions, available materials, and the cultural influences of different areas. Targes from the western seaboard, influenced by Norse traditions that lingered long after the end of Viking settlement, tended to favour simpler decoration with fewer brass studs and bolder, more geometric leather tooling. These western targes, associated with clans like Clan MacDonald and Clan MacLeod, had a stark, powerful beauty that reflected the rugged landscape of the Hebrides.
Those from the central Highlands, Clan Cameron and Clan Stewart territory, were often the most elaborately decorated, with dense brasswork, intricate leather tooling, and larger, more ornate central bosses. The central Highlands were closer to the Lowland markets where brass and steel were more readily available, and the wealth generated by the cattle trade gave chiefs and tacksmen the resources to commission the finest craftsmanship. Northeast Highland targes, from Clan Gordon and Clan Forbes lands, sometimes featured silver inlay alongside brass, a mark of the region's relative prosperity.
These regional styles are valuable to historians and collectors, as they allow a targe's likely origin to be identified even when its specific provenance is unknown. The targe was, in effect, a clan ID card, a visual declaration of the warrior's identity, allegiance, and home territory.
Modern Targe Making
Today, a small number of dedicated craftspeople continue to make Highland targes using traditional methods. The process is essentially the same as it was three hundred years ago, hand-selected timber, vegetable-tanned leather, hand-hammered brass, and countless hours of patient, skilled work. A single targe can take 40 to 80 hours of labour to complete, depending on the complexity of the decoration.
Modern targe makers face challenges that their predecessors did not. The specific materials used in historical targes, old-growth oak from Scotland's ancient forests, hand-tanned leather from Highland cattle, locally smelted brass, are not always available. Modern makers must source equivalents that match the properties of the originals as closely as possible, often working with specialist suppliers of traditional materials.
Our own Highland Targes are handcrafted in Edinburgh by artisans who have studied the surviving originals in museums across Scotland. Each targe is designed to commemorate a specific chapter of Scottish history, from the Battle of Bannockburn to the Highlander design that celebrates the Highland warrior tradition. Every targe in the collection is a working piece of art, constructed to the same standards as the originals and decorated with designs that honour the traditions of Highland craftsmanship.
For the broader story of Highland weapons and warfare, see our pillar guide on Highland weapons and warfare. For the history of the targe itself, see our companion article on Highland targe history. And to understand how the targe was used in battle, read about the Highland charge, the devastating tactic that made the targe indispensable.
Conclusion
Every Highland targe is a testament to the skill, artistry, and ingenuity of its maker. In an age before mass production, before power tools, before synthetic materials, Highland craftspeople created objects of extraordinary beauty and functional excellence using nothing more than wood, leather, brass, and steel. The fact that examples survive after three centuries of hard use, deliberate destruction, and the passage of time is proof of how well they were made, and how much they were valued by those who carried them.
To hold a Highland targe, whether an original artefact or a modern reproduction, is to connect with a tradition of craftsmanship that stretches back through the centuries to the medieval Highlands. It is a reminder that the Scottish heritage we celebrate today was built, quite literally, by the hands of skilled artisans working with the materials the land provided, and that the things they made were not merely functional, but beautiful.