140-521: The Royal Stewart or Royal Stuart tartan is the best-known tartan retrospectively associated with the royal House of Stewart , and is also the personal tartan of the British monarch, presently King Charles III . The sett was first published in 1831 in the book The Scottish Gaël by James Logan . Officially, the tartan is worn by the pipers of the Black Watch , Royal Scots Dragoon Guards , and
280-830: A visual perception of depth. There is no set of exact colour standards for tartan hues; thread colour varies from weaver to weaver even for "the same" colour. A certain range of general colours, however, are traditional in Scottish tartan. These include blue (dark), crimson (rose or dark red), green (medium-dark), black, grey (medium-dark), purple, red (scarlet or bright), tan/brown, white (actually natural undyed wool, called lachdann in Gaelic), and yellow. Some additional colours that have been used more rarely are azure (light or sky blue), maroon, and vert (bright or grass green), plus light grey (as seen in Balmoral tartan, though it
420-556: A "clan" in legislation of the Scottish Parliament in 1384. Many clans have often claimed mythological founders that reinforced their status and gave a romantic and glorified notion of their origins. Most powerful clans gave themselves origins based on Irish mythology . For example, there have been claims that the Clan Donald were descended from either Conn , a second-century king of Ulster , or Cuchulainn ,
560-426: A "harmonious balance". According to Scarlett (1990): "The colours were clear, bright and soft, altogether unlike the eye-searing brilliance or washed-out dullness of modern tartans". The same tartan in the same palette from two manufacturers (e.g. Colquhoun muted from D. C. Dalgliesh and from Strathmore) will not precisely match; there is considerable artistic license involved in exactly how saturated to make
700-422: A balanced and traditional style: any basic tartan type of design should have for its background, a "high impact" colour and two others, of which one should be the complement to the first and the other a darker and more neutral shade; other colours, introduced to break up the pattern or as accents, should be a matter of taste. It is important that no colour should be so strong as to "swamp" another; otherwise,
840-400: A clan is the only person who is entitled to bear the undifferenced arms of the ancestral founder of the clan. The clan is considered to be the chief's heritable estate and the chief's Seal of Arms is the seal of the clan as a "noble corporation". Under Scots law, the chief is recognised as the head of the clan and serves as the lawful representative of the clan community. Historically, a clan
980-494: A clan. As noted above, the word clan is derived from the Gaelic word clann . However, the need for proved descent from a common ancestor related to the chiefly house is too restrictive. Clans developed a territory based on the native men who came to accept the authority of the dominant group in the vicinity. A clan also included a large group of loosely related septs – dependent families – all of whom looked to
1120-433: A colour key/legend . Some recorders prefer to begin a thread count at the pivot with the colour name (or abbreviation) that is first in alphabetical order (e.g. if there is a white pivot and a blue one, begin with blue), but this is actually arbitrary. Though thread counts are quite specific, they can be modified depending on the desired size of the tartan. For example, the sett of a tartan (e.g., 6 inches square –
1260-465: A commercial landlord, letting land to the highest bidder, was a clear breach of the principle of dùthchas . The Jacobite rising of 1745 used to be described as the pivotal event in the demise in clanship. There is no doubt that the aftermath of the uprising saw savage punitive expeditions against clans that had supported the Jacobites, and legislative attempts to demolish clan culture. However,
1400-404: A comparatively rougher and denser (though also thinner) material than is now typical for kilts. It was in common use up until the 1830s. There are extant but uncommon samples of hard tartan from the early 18th century that use the more intricate herringbone instead of twill weave throughout the entire cloth. While modern tartan is primarily a commercial enterprise on large power looms , tartan
1540-409: A constrained set of basic codes (but expanded upon the above traditional list, with additional options like dark orange, dark yellow, light purple, etc.). This helps designers fit their creative tartan into a coding scheme while allowing weavers to produce an approximation of that design from readily stocked yarn supplies. In the mid-19th century, the natural dyes that had been traditionally used in
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#17327985727781680-433: A defined sequence. The sequence of the warp colours (long-ways threads) is repeated in same order and size in the weft (cross-ways threads). The majority of such patterns (or setts) are symmetrical, i.e. the pattern repeats in the same colour order and proportions in every direction from the two pivot points. In the less common asymmetric patterns, the colour sequence repeats in blocks as opposed to around alternating pivots but
1820-550: A descendant through the maternal line has changed their surname in order to claim the chiefship of a clan, such as the late chief of the Clan MacLeod who was born John Wolridge-Gordon and changed his name to the maiden name of his maternal grandmother in order to claim the chiefship of the MacLeods. Today, clans may have lists of septs . Septs are surnames, families or clans that historically, currently or for whatever reason
1960-501: A firm but not harsh contrast and the overchecks will be such as to show clearly" on the under-check (or "background") colours. He summed up the desired total result as "a harmonious blend of colour and pattern worthy to be looked upon as an art form in its own right". Omitting traditional black lines has a strong softening effect, as in the 1970s Missoni fashion ensemble (top right) and in many madras patterns (see § Indian madras , below) . A Scottish black-less design (now
2100-417: A forgery, but despite this, the designs are still highly regarded and they continue to serve their purpose to identify the clan in question. A sign of allegiance to the clan chief is the wearing of a crest badge. The crest badge suitable for a clansman or clanswoman consists of the chief's heraldic crest encircled with a strap and buckle and which contains the chief's heraldic motto or slogan . Although it
2240-450: A halftone blend or mixture – when viewed from further back. (The effect is similar to multicolour halftone printing, or cross-hatching in coloured-pencil art.) Thus, a set of two base colours produces three different colours including one blend, increasing quadratically with the number of base colours; so a set of six base colours produces fifteen blends and a total of twenty-one different perceived colours. This means that
2380-1175: A hue. Tartan-generation software can approximate the appearance of a tartan in any of these palettes. The examples below are all the "Prince Charles Edward Stuart" tartan: Scottish tartans that use two or more hues of the same basic colour are fairly rare. The best known is the British royal family's Balmoral (1853, two greys, both as under-check – see illustration at § Family and individual , below ). Others include: Akins (1850, two reds, one as over-check and sometimes rendered purple), MacBean (1872, two reds, one as over-check and sometimes rendered purple), Childers Universal regimental (1907, two greens, both under-check), Gordon red (recorded 1930–1950 but probably considerably older; two blues and two reds, one of each used more or less as over-checks), Galloway district hunting/green (1939/1950s, two greens, both under-check), US Air Force Reserve Pipe Band (1988, two blues, both under-check), McCandlish (1992, three variants, all under-check), Isle of Skye district (1992, three greens, all arguably under-check, nested within each other), and Chisholm Colonial (2008, two blues, one an over-check,
2520-822: A legally recognised group, but does not differentiate between families and clans as it recognises both terms as being interchangeable. Clans or families thought to have had a chief in the past but not currently recognised by the Lord Lyon are listed at armigerous clans . Tartans were traditionally associated with the Highland Clans and following the end of the Dress Act of 1746 banning tartans from being worn by men and boys, "district then clan tartans" have been an important part of Scottish clans. Almost all Scottish clans have more than one tartan attributed to their surname. Although there are no rules on who can or cannot wear
2660-476: A particular tartan, and it is possible for anyone to create a tartan and name it almost any name they wish, the only person with the authority to make a clan's tartan "official" is the chief. In some cases, following such recognition from the clan chief, the clan tartan is recorded and registered by the Lord Lyon. Once approved by the Lord Lyon, after recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Tartan,
2800-607: A patrol leaders training course. In 1968, the pipes and drums of the 3rd battalion, Royal Australian Regiment , were also given permission to wear the Royal Stewart tartan. Theoretically, this tartan should not be worn without the express permission of the British monarch. However, the Scottish Register of Tartans observes that in practice, due to its popularity, it has become a universal tartan, which can be worn by anyone who doesn't have their own clan tartan. "In
2940-400: A pivot colour; this was typically done with pieces intended to be joined (e.g. for a belted plaid or a blanket) to make larger spans of cloth with the pattern continuing across the seam; if the tartan had a selvedge mark or selvedge pattern, it was at the other side of the warp. The term hard tartan refers to a version of the cloth woven with very tightly wound, non-fuzzy thread, producing
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#17327985727783080-406: A pole and used as a standard . Clans which are connected historically, or that occupied lands in the same general area, may share the same clan badge. According to popular lore, clan badges were used by Scottish clans as a form of identification in battle. However, the badges attributed to clans today can be completely unsuitable for even modern clan gatherings. Clan badges are commonly referred to as
3220-548: A range of measures on clan chiefs, designed to integrate them into the Scottish landed classes. Whilst there is debate over their practical effect, they were an influential force on clan elites in the long term. The Statutes obliged clan chiefs to reside in Edinburgh for a large part of the year, and have their heirs educated in the English-speaking Lowlands. Lengthy periods in Edinburgh were costly. Since
3360-493: A rare component of society. Historian T. M. Devine describes "the displacement of this class as one of the clearest demonstrations of the death of the old Gaelic society." Many tacksmen, as well as the wealthier farmers (who were tired of repeated rent increases) chose to emigrate. This could be taken as resistance to the changes in the Highland agricultural economy, as the introduction of agricultural improvement gave rise to
3500-469: A sense of shared heritage and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recognised by the Court of the Lord Lyon , which regulates Scottish heraldry and coats of arms . Most clans have their own tartan patterns, usually dating from the 19th century, which members may incorporate into kilts or other clothing. The modern image of clans, each with their own tartan and specific land,
3640-487: A short step for that community to become identified by it. Many clans have their own clan chief ; those that do not are known as armigerous clans . Clans generally identify with geographical areas originally controlled by their founders, sometimes with an ancestral castle and clan gatherings, which form a regular part of the social scene. The most notable clan event of recent times was The Gathering 2009 in Edinburgh, which attracted at least 47,000 participants from around
3780-420: A shorthand threadcount for simple tartans in which half of the half-sett pattern is different from the other only in the way of a colour swap; but this is not a common style of thread-counting. Various writers and tartan databases do not use a consistent set of colour names (see § Colour, palettes, and meaning , below) and abbreviations, so a thread count may not be universally understandable without
3920-434: A slight variation on weathered , dating to the 1940s and claimed to be based on 18th-century samples. A general observation about ancient/old , weathered/faded , and muted are that they rather uniformly reduce the saturation of all colours, while actual natural-dyed tartan samples show that the historical practice was usually to pair one or more saturated colours with one or more pale ones, for greater clarity and depth,
4060-706: A striped rather than checked appearance in some tartan samples. The predominant colours of a tartan (the widest bands) are called the under-check (or under check , undercheck , under-cheque ); sometimes the terms ground , background , or base are used instead, especially if there is only one dominant colour. Thin, contrasting lines are referred to as the over-check (also over-stripe or overstripe ). Over-checks in pairs are sometimes referred to as tram lines , tramlines , or tram tracks . Bright over-checks are sometimes bordered on either side (usually both), for extra contrast, by additional thin lines, often black, called guard lines or guards . Historically,
4200-454: A typical size for kilts) may be too large to fit upon the face of a necktie . In this case, the thread count would be reduced in proportion (e.g. to 3 inches to a side). In some works, a thread count is reduced to the smallest even number of threads (often down to 2) required to accurately reproduce the design; in such a case, it is often necessary to up-scale the thread count proportionally for typical use in kilts and plaids. Before
4340-410: A view to broad, general tartan use, including for fashion: "Color – and how it is worked – is pivotal to tartan design.... Thus, tartans should be composed of clear, bright colors, but ones sufficiently soft to blend well and thereby create new shades." James D. Scarlett (2008) noted: "the more colours to begin with, the more subdued the final effect", or put more precisely, "the more stripes to
Royal Stewart tartan - Misplaced Pages Continue
4480-519: Is a patterned cloth with crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming simple or complex rectangular patterns. Tartans originated in woven wool, but are now made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland , and Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns. The earliest surviving samples of tartan-style cloth are around 3,000 years old and were discovered in Xinjiang , China. Outside of Scotland, tartan
4620-491: Is a simple two-colour check of thick bands (with or without thin over-checks of one or more other colours). A variant on this splits one or more of the bands, to form squares of smaller squares instead of just big, solid squares; a style heavily favoured in Vestiarium Scoticum . A complexity step up is the superimposed check, in which a third colour is placed centrally "on top of" or "inside" (surrounded by) one of
4760-406: Is common to speak of "clan crests", there is no such thing. In Scotland (and indeed all of UK) only individuals, not clans, possess a heraldic coat of arms . Even though any clansmen and clanswomen may purchase crest badges and wear them to show their allegiance to his or her clan, the heraldic crest and motto always belong to the chief alone. In principle, these badges should only be used with
4900-502: Is commonly used to refer to tartan. Plaid , derived from the Scottish Gaelic plaide meaning 'blanket', was first used of any rectangular garment, sometimes made up of tartan, which could be worn several ways: the belted plaid ( breacan féile ) or "great kilt" which preceded the modern kilt ; the arisaid ( earasaid ), a large shawl that could be wrapped into a dress; and several types of shoulder cape, such as
5040-460: Is no longer limited to textiles , but is also used as a name for the pattern itself, regardless of medium. The use of tartan has spread outside Scotland, especially to countries that have been influenced by Scottish culture . However, tartan-styled patterns have existed for centuries in some other cultures, such as Japan, where complex kōshi fabrics date to at least the 18th century, and Russia (sometimes with gold and silver thread) since at least
5180-416: Is only recently created tartans, such as Canadian provincial and territorial tartans (beginning 1950s) and US state tartans (beginning 1980s), that are stated to be designed with certain symbolic meaning for the colours used. For example, green sometimes represents prairies or forests, blue can represent lakes and rivers, and yellow might stand for various crops. In the Scottish Register of Tartans (and
5320-467: Is recorded by counting the threads of each colour that appear in the sett. The thread count (or threadcount , thread-count ) not only describes the width of the stripes on a sett, but also the colours used (typically abbreviated). Usually every number in a thread count is an even number to assist in manufacture. The first and last threads of the thread count are the pivots. A thread count combined with exact colour information and other weaving details
5460-520: Is referred to as a ticket stamp or simply ticket . There is no universally standardised way to write a thread count, but the different systems are easy to distinguish. As a simple example: In all of these cases, the result is a half-sett thread count, which represents the threading before the pattern mirrors and completes; a full-sett thread count for a mirroring (symmetric) tartan is redundant. A "/" can also be used between two colour codes (e.g. "W/Y24" for "white/yellow 24") to create even more of
5600-566: Is sometimes also known as " plaid " (particularly in North America); however, in Scotland, a plaid is a large piece of tartan cloth which can be worn several ways. Traditional tartan is made with alternating bands of coloured (pre-dyed) threads woven in usually matching warp and weft in a simple 2/2 twill pattern. Up close, this pattern forms alternating short diagonal lines where different colours cross; from further back, it gives
5740-485: Is sometimes given as lavender). Since the opening of the tartan databases to registration of newly designed tartans, including many for organisational and fashion purposes, a wider range of colours have been involved, such as orange and pink, which were not often used (as distinct colours rather than as renditions of red) in old traditional tartans. The Scottish Register of Tartans uses a long list of colours keyed to hexadecimal " Web colours ", sorting groups of hues into
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5880-473: Is sometimes not a new colour but one of the under-check colours "on top of" the other under-check. A rare style, traditionally used for arisaid ( earasaid ) tartans but no longer in much if any Scottish use, is a pattern consisting entirely of thin over-checks, sometimes grouped, "on" a single ground colour, usually white. M. Martin (1703) reported that the line colours were typically blue, black, and red. Examples of this style do not survive, at least not in
6020-767: Is therefore quite correct to talk of the MacDonald family or the Stirling clan ." The idea that Highlanders should be listed as clans while the Lowlanders should be termed as families was merely a 19th-century convention. Although Gaelic has been supplanted by English in the Scottish Lowlands for nearly six hundred years, it is acceptable to refer to Lowland families, such as the Douglases as "clans". The Lowland Clan MacDuff are described specifically as
6160-419: Is unrelated to the superficially similar word tarlatan , which refers to a very open-weave muslin similar to cheesecloth . Tartan is both a mass noun ("12 metres of tartan") and a count noun ("12 different tartans"). Today, tartan refers to coloured patterns, though originally did not have to be made up of a pattern at all, as it referred to the type of weave; as late as the 1820s, some tartan cloth
6300-580: The Clan Mackenzie were prepared to play off territorial disputes within and among clans to expand their own land and influence. Feuding on the western seaboard was conducted with such intensity that the Clan MacLeod and the Clan MacDonald on the Isle of Skye were reputedly reduced to eating dogs and cats in the 1590s. Feuding was further compounded by the involvement of Scottish clans in
6440-646: The Clan Sweeney , Clan Lamont , Clan MacLea , Clan MacLachlan and Clan MacNeill , can trace their ancestry back to the fifth century Niall of the Nine Hostages , High King of Ireland. However, in reality, the progenitors of clans can rarely be authenticated further back than the 11th century, and a continuity of lineage in most cases cannot be found until the 13th or 14th centuries. The emergence of clans had more to do with political turmoil than ethnicity. The Scottish Crown's conquest of Argyll and
6580-503: The Heritable Jurisdictions Act which extinguished the right of chiefs to hold courts and transferred this role to the judiciary. The traditional loyalties of clansmen were probably unaffected by this. There is also doubt about any real effect from the banning of Highland dress (which was repealed in 1782 anyway). The Highland Clearances saw further actions by clan chiefs to raise more money from their lands. In
6720-600: The Highland clearances . The loss of this middle tier of Highland society represented not only a flight of capital from Gaeldom, but also a loss of entrepreneurial energy. The first major step in the clearances was the decision of the Dukes of Argyll to put tacks (or leases) of farms and townships up for auction. This began with Campbell property in Kintyre in the 1710s and spread after 1737 to all their holdings. This action as
6860-675: The Jacobite risings was the result of their remoteness, and the feudal clan system which required tenants to provide military service. Historian Frank McLynn identifies seven primary drivers in Jacobitism, support for the Stuarts being the least important; a large percentage of Jacobite support in 1745 Rising came from Lowlanders who opposed the 1707 Union , and members of the Scottish Episcopal Church . In 1745,
7000-547: The Low Countries , with which Scotland had extensive trade since the 15th century. Aged human urine (called fual or graith ) was also used, as a colour-deepener, a dye solubility agent, a lichen fermenter , and a final colour-fastness treatment. All commercially manufactured tartan today is coloured using artificial not natural dyes, even in the less saturated colour palettes. The hues of colours in any established tartan can be altered to produce variations of
7140-580: The Mar dress tartan) dates to the 18th century; another is Ruthven (1842, above ), and many of the Ross tartans (e.g. 1886, above ), as well as several of the Victorian–Edwardian MacDougal[l] designs, are further examples. Various modern tartans also use this effect, e.g. Canadian Maple Leaf (1964, at § Regional , below ). Clever use of black or another dark colour can produce
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#17327985727787280-464: The Middle Ages ; however, by the early modern period the concept of oighreachd was favoured. This shift reflected the importance of Scots law in shaping the structure of clanship in that the fine were awarded charters and the continuity of heritable succession was secured. The heir to the chief was known as the tainistear and was usually the direct male heir. However, in some cases
7420-615: The Outer Hebrides from the Norsemen in the 13th century, which followed on from the pacification of the Mormaer of Moray and the northern rebellions of the 12th and 13th centuries, created the opportunity for war lords to impose their dominance over local families who accepted their protection. These warrior chiefs can largely be categorized as Celtic ; however, their origins range from Gaelic to Norse-Gaelic and British . By
7560-776: The Scots Guards , as well as a select few civilian groups like the Glasgow Police Pipe Band and the Winnipeg Police Pipe Band. The 5th Bolton Scout Group and the 5th Potters Bar Scout Group wear the scarf ( neckerchief ) officially, with permission from the Queen, and the Queen's Bands (of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada) wear the tartan as part of their official uniforms. The tartan may also be worn by members who took part in
7700-534: The clan chief as their head and their protector. According to the former Lord Lyon, Sir Thomas Innes of Learney , a clan is a community that is distinguished by heraldry and recognised by the Sovereign . Learney considered clans to be a "noble incorporation" because the arms borne by a clan chief are granted or otherwise recognised by the Lord Lyon as an officer of the Crown, thus conferring royal recognition to
7840-456: The full plaid and fly plaid . In time, plaid was used to describe blankets themselves. In former times, the term plaiding or pladding was sometimes used to refer to tartan cloth. The Scottish Register of Tartans provides the following summary definition of tartan: Tartan (the design) is a pattern that comprises two or more different solid-coloured stripes that can be of similar but are usually of differing proportions that repeat in
7980-792: The tribalism that was found in Ancient Europe or the one that is still found in the Middle East and among aboriginal groups in Australasia, Africa, and the Americas. During the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms , all sides were 'Royalist', in the sense of a shared belief monarchy was divinely inspired. The choice of whether to support Charles I, or the Covenanter government, was largely driven by disputes within
8120-593: The 14th century, there had been further influx of kindreds whose ethnicity ranged from Norman or Anglo-Norman and Flemish , such as the Clan Cameron , Clan Fraser , Clan Menzies , Clan Chisholm and Clan Grant . During the Wars of Scottish Independence , feudal tenures were introduced by Robert the Bruce , to harness and control the prowess of clans by the award of charters for land in order to gain support in
8260-577: The 17th century, this had declined and most reiving was known as sprèidh , where smaller numbers of men raided the adjoining Lowlands and the livestock taken usually being recoverable on payment of tascal (information money) and guarantee of no prosecution. Some clans, such as the Clan MacFarlane and the Clan Farquharson , offered the Lowlanders protection against such raids, on terms not dissimilar to blackmail . An act of
8400-401: The 18th century, in an effort to increase the income from their estates, clan chiefs started to restrict the ability of tacksmen to sublet. This meant more of the rent paid by those actually farming the land went to the landowner. The result, though, was the removal of this layer of clan society. In a process that accelerated from the 1770s onward, by the early 19th century the tacksman had become
8540-575: The 1960s, the tartan became well known in motor racing circles, as three-time Formula One world champion Jackie Stewart from Scotland used a distinctive band of Royal Stewart tartan around his crash helmet. In the mid 1970s, Eric Faulkner of the Bay City Rollers began using the tartan for the many embellishments on his stage clothing. In the late 1970s, the Royal Stewart tartan became popular in punk fashion . Tartan Tartan ( Scottish Gaelic : breacan [ˈpɾʲɛxkən] )
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#17327985727788680-432: The 19th century, tartan was often woven with thread for the weft that was up to 1/3 thicker than the fine thread used for the warp, which would result in a rectangular rather than square pattern; the solution was to adjust the weft thread count to return the pattern to square, or make it non-square on purpose, as is still done in a handful of traditional tartans. Uneven warp-and-weft thread thickness could also contribute to
8820-544: The Church of Scotland. This was supported by many chiefs since it suited the hierarchical clan structure and encouraged obedience to authority. Both Charles and his brother James VII used Highland levies, known as the "Highland Host", to control Campbell-dominated areas in the South-West and suppress the 1685 Argyll's Rising . By 1680, it is estimated there were fewer than 16,000 Catholics in Scotland , confined to parts of
8960-543: The Highlands (like various lichens , alder bark, bilberry , cochineal , heather , indigo , woad , and yellow bedstraw ) began to be replaced by artificial dyes , which were easier to use and were more economic for the booming tartan industry, though also less subtle. Although William Morris in the late-19th-century Arts and Crafts movement tried to revive use of British natural dyes, most were so low-yield and so inconsistent from locality to locality (part of
9100-438: The Highlands were a largely non-cash economy, this meant they shifted towards commercial exploitation of their lands, rather than managing them as part of a social system. The costs of living away from their clan lands contributed to the chronic indebtedness that was increasingly common for Highland landowners, eventually leading to the sale of many of the great Highland estates in the late 18th and early 19th century. During
9240-532: The Highlands, others also show Lowland clans or families. Territorial areas and allegiances changed over time, and there are also differing decisions on which (smaller) clans and families should be omitted (some alternative online sources are listed in the External links section below). This list of clans contains clans registered with the Lord Lyon Court . The Lord Lyon Court defines a clan or family as
9380-585: The Lord Advocate (Attorney General) writing in 1680, said: "By the term 'chief' we call the representative of the family from the word chef or head and in the Irish [Gaelic] with us the chief of the family is called the head of the clan". In summarizing this material, Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw Bt wrote: "So it can be seen that all along the words chief or head and clan or family are interchangeable. It
9520-678: The Lowlands increased. This gave an advantage in speaking English, as the "language of work". It was found that when the Gaelic Schools Society started teaching basic literacy in Gaelic in the early decades of the 19th century, there was an increase in literacy in English. This paradox may be explained by the annual report of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) in 1829, which stated: "so ignorant are
9660-472: The Scottish Parliament of 1597 talks of the "Chiftanis and chieffis of all clannis ... duelland in the hielands or bordouris". It has been argued that this vague phrase describes Borders families as clans. The act goes on to list the various Lowland families, including the Maxwells , Johnstones , Carruthers , Turnbulls, and other famous Border Reivers ' names. Further, Sir George MacKenzie of Rosehaugh,
9800-608: The Scottish elite. In 1639, Covenanter politician Argyll , head of Clan Campbell , was given a commission of 'fire and sword', which he used to seize MacDonald territories in Lochaber , and those held by Clan Ogilvy in Angus . As a result, both clans supported Montrose's Royalist campaign of 1644–1645 , in hopes of regaining them. When Charles II regained the throne in 1660, the Rescissory Act 1661 restored bishops to
9940-668: The Western Highlands and the Hebrides. Many Highland estates were no longer owned by clan chiefs, but landlords of both the new and old type encouraged the emigration of destitute tenants to Canada and, later, to Australia. The clearances were followed by a period of even greater emigration, which continued (with a brief lull for the First World War) up to the start of the Great Depression . Most of
10080-576: The anti-clan legislation was repealed by the end of the eighteenth century as the Jacobite threat subsided, with the Dress Act restricting kilt wearing being repealed in 1782. There was soon a process of the rehabilitation of highland culture. By the nineteenth century, tartan had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, although preserved in the Highland regiments in the British army, which poor highlanders joined in large numbers until
10220-569: The appearance of new colours blended from the original ones. The resulting blocks of colour repeat vertically and horizontally in a distinctive pattern of rectangles and lines known as a sett . Scottish tartan was originally associated with the Highlands . Early tartans were only particular to locales, rather than any specific Scottish clan ; however, because clans lived in and controlled particular districts and regions, then informally, people could roughly identify certain clans and families through
10360-708: The aristocracy and Gaelic-speaking clans in the Highlands and Islands . When James was deposed in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution , choice of sides was largely opportunistic. The Presbyterian Macleans backed the Jacobites to regain territories in Mull lost to the Campbells in the 1670s; the Catholic Keppoch MacDonalds tried to sack the pro-Jacobite town of Inverness, and were bought off only after Dundee intervened. Highland involvement in
10500-441: The base under-check colours, providing a pattern of nested squares, which might then also have thin, bright and/or black over-checks added. Another group is multiple checks, typically of two broad bands of colour on a single dominant "background" (e.g. red, blue, red, green, red – again possibly with contrasting narrow over-checks). The aforementioned types can be combined into more complex tartans. In any of these styles, an over-check
10640-634: The blending of colours at the crossing will be adversely affected. ... Tartan is a complex abstract art-form with a strong mathematical undertone, far removed from a simple check with a few lines of contrasting colours scattered over it. Scarlett (1990) provided a more general explanation, traditional styles aside: Colours for tartan work require to be clear and unambiguous and bright but soft, to give good contrast of both colour and brightness and to mix well so as to give distinctly new shades where two colours cross without any one swamping another. Further, Scarlett (1990) held that "background checks will show
10780-416: The chief as a mark of personal allegiance by the family when their head died, usually in the form of their best cow or horse. Although calps were banned by Parliament in 1617, manrent continued covertly to pay for protection. The marriage alliance reinforced links with neighboring clans as well as with families within the territory of the clan. The marriage alliance was also a commercial contract involving
10920-470: The chief chooses, are associated with that clan. There is no official list of clan septs, and the decision of what septs a clan has is left up to the clan itself. Confusingly, sept names can be shared by more than one clan, and it may be up to the individual to use his or her family history or genealogy to find the correct clan with which they are associated. Several clan societies have been granted coats of arms. In such cases, these arms are differenced from
11060-450: The chief's, much like a clan armiger . Former Lord Lyon Thomas Innes of Learney stated that such societies, according to the Law of Arms , are considered an "indeterminate cadet". Scottish clanship contained two complementary but distinct concepts of heritage. These were firstly the collective heritage of the clan, known as their dùthchas , which was their prescriptive right to settle in
11200-708: The choice was rarely simple; Donald Cameron of Lochiel committed himself only after he was provided "security for the full value of his estate should the rising prove abortive," while MacLeod and Sleat helped Charles escape after Culloden. In 1493, James IV confiscated the Lordship of the Isles from the MacDonalds. This destabilised the region, while links between the Scottish MacDonalds and Irish MacDonnells meant unrest in one country often spilled into
11340-487: The clan tartan is then recorded in the Lyon Court Books. In at least one instance a clan tartan appears in the heraldry of a clan chief and the Lord Lyon considers it to be the "proper" tartan of the clan. Originally, there appears to have been no association of tartans with specific clans; instead, highland tartans were produced to various designs by local weavers and any identification was purely regional, but
11480-433: The clans to settle criminal and civil disputes was known as arbitration , in which the aggrieved and allegedly offending sides put their cases to a panel that was drawn from the leading gentry and was overseen by the clan chief. There was no appeal against the decision made by the panel, which was usually recorded in the local royal or burgh court. Fosterage and manrent were the most important forms of social bonding in
11620-435: The clans. In the case of fosterage, the chief's children would be brought up by a favored member of the leading clan gentry and in turn their children would be favored by members of the clan. In the case of manrent, this was a bond contracted by the heads of families looking to the chief for territorial protection, though not living on the estates of the clan elite. These bonds were reinforced by calps , death duties paid to
11760-464: The databases before it), colour inspiration notes are often recorded by a tartan's designer. However, there is no common set of tartan colour or pattern "motifs" with allusive meanings that is shared among designers. Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Scottish Gaelic clann , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred' ) is a kinship group among the Scottish people . Clans give
11900-455: The direct heir was set aside for a more politically accomplished or belligerent relative. There were not many disputes over succession after the 16th century and, by the 17th century, the setting aside of the male heir was a rarity. This was governed and restricted by the law of Entail , which prevented estates from being divided up amongst female heirs and therefore also prevented the loss of clan territories. The main legal process used within
12040-567: The droving of cattle to the Lowlands for sale, taking a minor share of the payments made to the clan nobility, the fine . They had the important military role of mobilizing the Clan Host , both when required for warfare and more commonly as a large turnout of followers for weddings and funerals, and traditionally, in August, for hunts which included sports for the followers, the predecessors of
12180-550: The early 19th century. Maasai shúkà wraps, Bhutanese mathra weaving, and Indian madras cloth are also often in tartan patterns, distinct from the Scottish style. The English and Scots word tartan is possibly derived from French tiretaine meaning ' linsey-woolsey cloth'. Other hypotheses are that it derives from Scottish Gaelic tarsainn or tarsuinn , meaning 'across' or 'crossing over'; or from French tartarin or tartaryn (occurring in 1454 spelled tartyn ) meaning ' Tartar cloth '. It
12320-426: The edge, 1–3 inches (2.5–7.6 cm) wide, but still fitting into the colour pattern of the sett; a few modern weavers will still produce some tartan in this style. Sometimes more decorative selvedges were used: Selvedge marks were borders (usually on one side only) formed by repeating a colour from the sett in a broad band (often in herringbone), sometimes further bordered by a thin strip of another colour from
12460-501: The emphasis of historians now is on the conversion of chiefs into landlords in a slow transition over a long period. The successive Jacobite rebellions, in the view of T.M. Devine, simply paused the process of change whilst the military aspects of clans regained temporary importance; the apparent surge in social change after the '45 was merely a process of catching up with the financial pressures that gave rise to landlordism. The various pieces of legislation that followed Culloden included
12600-647: The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle published by James Macpherson (1736–96). Macpherson claimed to have found poetry written by the ancient bard Ossian, and published translations that acquired international popularity. Highland aristocrats set up Highland Societies in Edinburgh (1784) and other centres including London (1788). The image of
12740-507: The entire clan. Clans with recognised chiefs are therefore considered a noble community under Scots law . A group without a chief recognised by the Sovereign, through the Lord Lyon, has no official standing under Scottish law. Claimants to the title of chief are expected to be recognised by the Lord Lyon as the rightful heir to the undifferenced arms of the ancestor of the clan of which the claimant seeks to be recognized as chief. A chief of
12880-524: The estate settled by their clan. This was known as their oighreachd and gave a different emphasis to the clan chief's authority in that it gave the authority to the chiefs and leading gentry as landed proprietors, who owned the land in their own right, rather than just as trustees for the clan. From the beginning of Scottish clanship, the clan warrior elite, who were known as the ‘fine’, strove to be landowners as well as territorial war lords. The concept of dùthchas mentioned above held precedence in
13020-523: The exchange of livestock, money, and land through payments in which the bride was known as the tocher and the groom was known as the dowry . Clan gatherings are a unique feature of Scottish clan culture, where members of a clan convene to celebrate their shared heritage, participate in Highland Games , and discuss clan business. These events serve as a focal point for clan members and help in preserving historical and cultural landmarks, as well as
13160-588: The fabric. The very rare total border is an all-four-sides selvedge of a completely different sett; described by Peter Eslea MacDonald (2019) as "an extraordinarily difficult feature to weave and can be regarded as the zenith of the tartan weaver's art", it only survives in Scottish-style tartan as a handful of 18th-century samples (in Scotland and Nova Scotia , Canada, but probably all originally from Scotland). The style has also been used in Estonia in
13300-412: The first phase of clearance, when agricultural improvement was introduced, many of the peasant farmers were evicted and resettled in newly created crofting communities, usually in coastal areas. The small size of the crofts were intended to force the tenants to work in other industries, such as fishing or the kelp industry. With a shortage of work, the numbers of Highlanders who became seasonal migrants to
13440-479: The idea of a clan-specific tartan gained currency in the late 18th century and in 1815 the Highland Society of London began the naming of clan-specific tartans. Many clan tartans derive from a 19th-century hoax known as the Vestiarium Scoticum . The Vestiarium was composed by the " Sobieski Stuarts ", who passed it off as a reproduction of an ancient manuscript of clan tartans. It has since been proven
13580-445: The latter type is cheek or cheeck pattern. Also, some tartans (very few among traditional Scottish tartans) do not have exactly the same sett for the warp and weft. This means the warp and weft will have differing thread counts (see below) . Asymmetric and differing-warp-and-weft patterns are more common in madras cloth (see § Indian madras , below) and some other weaving traditions than in Scottish tartan. A tartan
13720-467: The law was repealed in 1782, tartan was no longer ordinary dress for most Highlanders. It was adopted more widely as the symbolic national dress of all Scotland when King George IV wore a tartan kilt in his 1822 visit to Scotland ; it was promoted further by Queen Victoria . This marked an era of rather politicised "tartanry" and "Highlandism" . While the first uniform tartan is believed to date to 1713 (with some evidence of militia use earlier), it
13860-563: The law. After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the incidents of feuding between clans declined considerably. The last "clan" feud that led to a battle and which was not part of a civil war was the Battle of Mulroy , which took place on 4 August 1688. Cattle raiding, known as "reiving" , had been normal practice prior to the 17th century. It was also known as creach , where young men took livestock from neighbouring clans. By
14000-531: The legal right to outlaw anyone from his clan, including members of his own family. Today, anyone who has the chief's surname is automatically considered to be a member of the chief's clan. Also, anyone who offers allegiance to a chief becomes a member of the chief's clan, unless the chief decides not to accept that person's allegiance. Clan membership goes through the surname. Children who take their father's surname are part of their father's clan and not their mother's. However, there have been several cases where
14140-730: The legendary hero of Ulster . Whilst their political enemies the Clan Campbell have claimed as their progenitor Diarmaid the Boar , who was rooted in the Fingalian or Fenian Cycle . In contrast, the Clans Grant , Mackinnon and Gregor claimed ancestry from the Siol Alpin family, who descend from Alpin , father of Kenneth MacAlpin , who united the Scottish kingdom in 843. Only one confederation of clans, which included
14280-404: The longer term setting is occasionally used. Sett can refer to either the minimal visual presentation of the complete tartan pattern or to a textual representation of it (in a thread count ). Today tartan is used more generally to describe the pattern, not limited to textiles, appearing on media such as paper, plastics, packaging, and wall coverings. In North America, the term plaid
14420-421: The majority of clan leaders advised Prince Charles to return to France, including MacDonald of Sleat and Norman MacLeod . By arriving without French military support, they felt Charles failed to keep his commitments, while it is also suggested Sleat and MacLeod were vulnerable to government sanctions due to their involvement in illegally selling tenants into indentured servitude . Enough were persuaded, but
14560-416: The material is examined closely, is a characteristic 45-degree diagonal pattern of "ribs" where different colours cross. Where a thread in the weft crosses threads of the same colour in the warp, this produces a solid colour on the tartan, while a weft thread crossing warp threads of a different colour produces an equal admixture of the two colours alternating, producing the appearance of a third colour –
14700-399: The modern Highland games . Where the oighreachd (land owned by the clan elite or fine ) did not match the common heritage of the dùthchas (the collective territory of the clan) this led to territorial disputes and warfare. The fine resented their clansmen paying rent to other landlords. Some clans used disputes to expand their territories. Most notably, the Clan Campbell and
14840-410: The more stripes and colours used, the more blurred and subdued the tartan's pattern becomes. Unlike in simple checker (chequer) or dicing patterns (like a chessboard), no solid colour in a tartan appears next to another solid colour, only a blend (solid colours may touch at their corners). James D. Scarlett (2008) offered a definition of a usual tartan pattern (some types of tartan deviate from
14980-598: The most Gaelic part of Ireland, the Plantation of Ulster tried to ensure stability in Western Scotland by importing Scots and English Protestants. This process was often supported by the original owners; in 1607 Sir Randall MacDonnell settled 300 Presbyterian Scots families on his land in Antrim. This ended the Irish practice of using Highland gallowglass , or mercenaries. The 1609 Statutes of Iona imposed
15120-610: The national cause against the English . For example, the Clan MacDonald were elevated above the Clan MacDougall , two clans who shared a common descent from a great Norse-Gaelic warlord named Somerled of the 12th century. Clanship was thus not only a strong tie of local kinship but also of feudalism to the Scottish Crown. It is this feudal component, reinforced by Scots law, that separates Scottish clanship from
15260-407: The natural environment of Scotland. Clan affiliations aren't solely based on ancestry; people with no Scottish lineage can also be affiliated with a clan, commonly known as "Clan Friends." Rents from those living within the clan estate were collected by the tacksmen . These lesser gentry acted as estate managers, allocating the runrig strips of land, lending seed-corn and tools and arranging
15400-449: The next pivot, and will carry on in this manner horizontally. In diagram B, the sett proceeds in the same way as in the warp but vertically. The diagrams illustrate the construction of a typical symmetric (also symmetrical , reflective , reversing , or mirroring ) tartan. However, on a rare asymmetric ( asymmetrical , or non-reversing ) tartan, the sett does not reverse at the pivots, it just repeats at them. An old term for
15540-483: The ordinary clansmen rarely had any blood tie of kinship with the clan chiefs, but they sometimes took the chief's surname as their own when surnames came into common use in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Thus, by the eighteenth century the myth had arisen that the whole clan was descended from one ancestor, perhaps relying on Scottish Gaelic clann originally having a primary sense of 'children' or 'offspring'. About 30% of Scottish families are attached to
15680-412: The original markers were merely specific plants worn in bonnets or hung from a pole or spear. Clan badges are another means of showing one's allegiance to a Scottish clan. These badges, sometimes called plant badges, consist of a sprig of a particular plant. They are usually worn in a bonnet behind the Scottish crest badge; they can also be attached at the shoulder of a lady's tartan sash , or be tied to
15820-508: The other nearly blended into green). The practice is more common in very recent commercial tartans that have no association with Scottish families or districts, such as the Loverboy fashion label tartan (2018, three blues, one an over-check). The idea that the various colours used in tartan have a specific meaning is purely a modern one, notwithstanding a legend that red tartans were "battle tartans", designed so they would not show blood. It
15960-427: The other. James VI took various measures to deal with the resulting instability, including the 1587 'Slaughter under trust' law, later used in the 1692 Glencoe Massacre . To prevent endemic feuding, it required disputes to be settled by the Crown, specifically murder committed in 'cold-blood', once articles of surrender had been agreed, or hospitality accepted. Its first recorded use was in 1588, when Lachlan Maclean
16100-585: The parents that it is difficult to convince them that it can be any benefit to their children to learn Gaelic, though they are all anxious ... to have them taught English". The second phase of the Highland clearances affected overpopulated crofting communities which were no longer able to support themselves due to famine and/or collapse of the industries on which they relied. "Assisted passages" were provided to destitute tenants by landlords who found this cheaper than continued cycles of famine relief to those in substantial rent arrears. This applied particularly to
16240-404: The particulars of this definition – see below ): The unit of tartan pattern, the sett , is a square, composed of a number of rectangles, square and oblong, arranged symmetrically around a central square. Each of these elements occurs four times, at intervals of ninety degrees, and each is rotated ninety degrees in relation to its fellows. The proportions of the elements are determined by
16380-424: The patterns associated with their own locality. Like other materials, tartan designs were produced by local weavers for local tastes, using the most available natural dyes . The Dress Act of 1746 attempted to bring the warrior clans there under government control by banning Highland dress for all civilian men and boys in the Highlands, as it was then an important element of Gaelic Scottish culture . When
16520-478: The permission of the clan chief; and the Lyon Court has intervened in cases where permission has been withheld. Scottish crest badges, much like clan-specific tartans , do not have a long history, and owe much to Victorian era romanticism , having only been worn on the bonnet since the 19th century. The concept of a clan badge or form of identification may have some validity, as it is commonly stated that
16660-791: The reason for the historical tartan differentiation by area) that they proved to have little mass-production potential, despite some purple dye ( cudbear ) commercialisation efforts in Glasgow in the 18th century. The hard-wound, fine wool used in tartan weaving was rather resistant to natural dyes, and some dye baths required days or even weeks. The dyeing also required mordants to fix the colours permanently, usually metallic salts like alum ; there are records from 1491 of alum being imported to Leith , though not necessarily all for tartan production in particular. Some colours of dye were usually imported, especially red cochineal and to some extent blue indigo (both expensive and used to deepen native dyes), from
16800-450: The relative widths of the stripes that form them. The sequence of thread colours in the sett (the minimal design of the tartan, to be duplicated – "the DNA of a tartan"), starts at an edge and either reverses or (rarely) repeats on what are called pivot points or pivots . In diagram A, the sett begins at the first pivot, reverses at the second pivot, continues, then reverses again at
16940-529: The romantic highlands was further popularised by the works of Walter Scott . His "staging" of the royal visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the King's wearing of tartan, resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish linen industry. The designation of individual clan tartans was largely defined in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland
17080-747: The same tartan. Such varying of the hues to taste dates to at least the 1788 pattern book of manufacturer William Wilson & Son of Bannockburn. Today, the semi-standardised colour schemes or palettes (what marketers might call " colourways ") are divided generally into modern , ancient , muted , and weathered (sometimes with other names, depending on weaver). These terms only refer to relative dye "colourfulness" saturation levels and do not represent distinct tartans. Some particular tartan mills have introduced other colour schemes that are unique to that weaver and only available in certain tartans. Two examples are Lochcarron's antique , between modern and ancient ; and D. C. Dalgliesh's reproduction ,
17220-554: The same way that clansmen wear the tartan of their chief, it is appropriate for all subjects of the [monarch] to wear the Royal Stewart tartan." Colin W. Hutcheson attributes this universalisation to "commercialisation in recent times"; traditionally, the Black Watch (darkened Old Campbell ) and Hunting Stewart tartans were used as universal tartans requiring no permission. In addition to its use in clothing, such as skirts and scarves, Royal Stewart tartan has also appeared on biscuit tins for Scottish shortbread such as Walker's . In
17360-435: The sett and the more colours used, the more diffuse and 'blurred' the pattern". That does not necessarily translate into subtlety; a tartan of many colours and stripes can seem "busy". Scarlett (2008), after extensive research into historical Highland patterns (which were dominated by rich red and medium green in about equal weight with dark blue as a blending accent – not accounting for common black lines), suggested that for
17500-458: The sett or decorated in mid-selvedge with two thin strips; these were typically used for the bottoms of belted plaids and kilts, and were usually black in military tartans, but could be more colourful in civilian ones. The more elaborate selvedge patterns were a wider series of narrow stripes using some or all of the colours of the sett; these were almost exclusively used on household tartans (blankets, curtains, etc.), and on two opposing sides of
17640-489: The size and colour sequence of warp and weft remain the same. In more detail, traditional tartan cloth is a tight, staggered 2/2 twill weave of worsted wool: the horizontal weft (also woof or fill ) is woven in a simple arrangement of two-over-two-under the fixed, vertical warp , advancing one thread at each pass. As each thread in the weft crosses threads in the warp, the staggering by one means that each warp thread will also cross two weft threads. The result, when
17780-401: The tartan databases (there may be preserved museum pieces with such patterns). Some tartan patterns are more abstract and do not fit into any of these styles, especially in madras cloth (see § Indian madras , below) . There are no codified rules or principles of tartan design, but a few writers have offered some considered opinions. Banks & de La Chapelle (2007) summarized, with
17920-400: The territories in which the chiefs and leading gentry of the clan customarily provided protection. This concept was where all clansmen recognised the personal authority of the chiefs and leading gentry as trustees for their clan. The second concept was the wider acceptance of the granting of charters by the Crown and other powerful landowners to the chiefs, chieftains and lairds which defined
18060-527: The texture of the material to be woven. A thirty-Porter (which contains 20 splits of the reed) or 600-reed, is divided into 600 openings in the breadth of 37 inches. Twenty of these openings are called a Porter and into each opening are put two threads, making 1,200 threads of warp and as many of weft in a square yard of tartan through a 30-Porter reed. Splits are also referred to as dents , and Porters are also called gangs . Traditional tartan patterns can be divided into several style classes. The most basic
18200-595: The wars between the Irish Gaels and the English Tudor monarchy in the 16th century. Within these clans, there evolved a military caste of members of the lesser gentry who were purely warriors and not managers, and who migrated seasonally to Ireland to fight as mercenaries. There was heavy feuding between the clans during the civil wars of the 1640s; however, by this time, the chiefs and leading gentry preferred increasingly to settle local disputes by recourse to
18340-439: The weaver William Wilson & Son of Bannockburn sometimes wove bright over-checks in silk, to give some added shine (commercially around 1820–30, but in regimental officers' plaids back to at least 1794). Tartan used for plaids (not the belted plaid) often have a purled fringe. An old-time practice, to the 18th century, was to add an accent on plaids or sometimes kilts in the form of a selvedge in herringbone weave at
18480-410: The weaving of suurrätt shawls/plaids . Tartan is usually woven balanced-warp (or just balanced ), repeating evenly from a pivot point at the centre outwards and with a complete sett finishing at the outer selvedge; e.g. a piece of tartan for a plaid might be 24 setts long and 4 wide. An offset , off-set , or unbalanced weave is one in which the pattern finishes at the edge in the middle of
18620-417: The world. It is a common misconception that every person who bears a clan's name is a lineal descendant of the chiefs. Many clansmen, although not related to the chief, took the chief's surname as their own either to show solidarity or to obtain basic protection or for much needed sustenance. Most of the followers of the clan were tenants, who supplied labour to the clan leaders. Contrary to popular belief,
18760-536: Was described as "plain coloured ... without pattern". Patterned cloth from the Gaelic -speaking Scottish Highlands was called breacan , meaning 'many colours'. Over time, the meanings of tartan and breacan were combined to describe a certain type of pattern on a certain type of cloth. The pattern of a particular tartan is called its sett . The sett is made up of a series of lines at specific widths which cross at right angles and blend into each other;
18900-476: Was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria 's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral Castle as a major royal retreat from and her interest in "tartenry". The revival of interest, and demand for clan ancestry, has led to the production of lists and maps covering the whole of Scotland giving clan names and showing territories, sometimes with the appropriate tartans . While some lists and clan maps confine their area to
19040-469: Was made up of everyone who lived on the chief's territory, or on territory of those who owed allegiance to the said chief. Through time, with the constant changes of "clan boundaries", migration or regime changes, clans would be made up of large numbers of members who were unrelated and who bore different surnames. Often, those living on a chief's lands would, over time, adopt the clan surname. A chief could add to his clan by adopting other families, and also had
19180-436: Was not until around the early 19th century that patterns were created for specific Scottish clans; most of the traditional ones were established between 1815 and 1850. The Victorian-era invention of artificial dyes meant that a multitude of patterns could be produced cheaply; mass-produced tartan fashion cloth was applied to a nostalgic (and increasingly aristocratic, and profitable) view of Scottish history. Today tartan
19320-425: Was originally the product of rural weavers of the pre-industrial age, and can be produced by a dedicated hobbyist with a strong, stable hand loom . Since around 1808, the traditional size of the warp reed for tartan is 37 inches (94 cm), the length of the Scottish ell (previous sizes were sometimes 34 and 40 inches). Telfer Dunbar (1979) describes the setup thus: The reed varies in thickness according to
19460-399: Was promulgated by the Scottish author Sir Walter Scott after influence by others. Historically, tartan designs were associated with Lowland and Highland districts whose weavers tended to produce cloth patterns favoured in those districts. By process of social evolution, it followed that the clans/families prominent in a particular district would wear the tartan of that district, and it was but
19600-629: Was prosecuted for the murder of his new stepfather, John MacDonald, and 17 other members of the MacDonald wedding party. Other measures had limited impact; imposing financial sureties on landowners for the good behaviour of their tenants often failed, as many were not regarded as the clan chief. The 1603 Union of the Crowns coincided with the end of the Anglo-Irish Nine Years' War , followed by land confiscations in 1608 . Previously
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