Classification?

[FierceKitty]

Do people envisage 15th-century Scots, such as you might have found in French armies, as dour, dogged, and sturdy, or impetuous wild Celts? Or a rabble of football supporter types? Or starving levies?

[Big Insect]

Generally, I'd view them as being more 'civilized' as they were the retainers of lowland and urban Scottish nobles that fought in France.

They should also mainly be either:
Armoured foot nobles - with assorted polearms
or
Scottish longbows
(no highland types and no lowland spearmen)

By the later C15th most lowland scots lower-status troops looked a lot like their northern English equivalents - with a thick doublet/coat and hose and a bonnet (cap), very little armour, but mainly clothes in very light grey or even white as the main colour - with the st.andrews saltire and the blue bonnet as a field sign. You see this trend progressing through to the Flodden early Tudor era armies in Scotland and Northern England.

There are line illustrations of highland type scots in later Elizabethan armies in the Lowlands - and the Irish (as shown on the Cowdray House mural) were still bare-legged and wearing their their traditional dress - but I think these are probably notable exceptions rather than the rule.

Welsh troops in later WotR armies and even early Henrician Tudor armies were dressed trhe same as the English, just differing in using a long spear rather than a bill.

[FierceKitty]

Ta. Your words make sense.

[DecemDave]

VERY definitely the first.
French Monarchs went to much cost and trouble to get repeated Scottish reinforcements.  See Ditcham's THE EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN MERCENARY TROOPS IN THE FRENCH ROYAL ARMIES 1415 - 1470 for the many embassies and logistics of getting thousands of troops from Scottish ports to French ones safely.  There is a much quoted passage below originally from the Acts of Parliament of Scotland (but here lifted from The History of Scots men at Arms and Life Guards in France by Stevenson).

Although the Scots were crushed at Verneuil they got a respectful AAR "press" for their efforts unlike the French and Spanish MAA.  They had a reasonable track record otherwise including a major victory .  Eventually one of the Charles used Scots to form a Royal Guard.  There are though some references to pillaging and their commanders tended to be just as prickly as their french counterparts regarding medieval self-importance and feuds with other nobles of all nationalities over titles, land and precedence.   There is also a fun bit of bending treaty rules at one stage when the English thought their agreement with James I (then prisoner) prevented Scots fighting the English.   Ho Ho Ho   

Perfect wargaming material.      if I didnt keep getting sidetracked to other periods my Verneuil army would be complete by now.

[Big Insect]

VERY definitely the first.
French Monarchs went to much cost and trouble to get repeated Scottish reinforcements.  See Ditcham's THE EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN MERCENARY TROOPS IN THE FRENCH ROYAL ARMIES 1415 - 1470 for the many embassies and logistics of getting thousands of troops from Scottish ports to French ones safely.  There is a much quoted passage below originally from the Acts of Parliament of Scotland (but here lifted from The History of Scots men at Arms and Life Guards in France by Stevenson).

Although the Scots were crushed at Verneuil they got a respectful AAR "press" for their efforts unlike the French and Spanish MAA.  They had a reasonable track record otherwise including a major victory .  Eventually one of the Charles used Scots to form a Royal Guard.  There are though some references to pillaging and their commanders tended to be just as prickly as their french counterparts regarding medieval self-importance and feuds with other nobles of all nationalities over titles, land and precedence.   There is also a fun bit of bending treaty rules at one stage when the English thought their agreement with James I (then prisoner) prevented Scots fighting the English.   Ho Ho Ho   

Perfect wargaming material.      if I didnt keep getting sidetracked to other periods my Verneuil army would be complete by now.

I agree that that covers the nobles, 'men-at-arms' and lesser noble types - but the bulk of the army was archers - armed with scottish longbow and were mainly unarmoured types.
They never used stakes (like the post 1415 English bowmen) an appear - from WotR descriptions to be armed with a sword or long knife and protectect only by their thick coats/doublets and the occasional 'pot' or scull-cap helmet.

[FierceKitty]

Anyway, clearly deserve a "disciplined" rating. Thanks for your opinions.