Who invented clan tartan

The coins dated from between 83BC and AD, so it was considered safe to assume that the cloth was from the 3rd century when Falkirk was under Roman occupation.

But once again the questions arise. Was tartan design imported into Scotland by the Romans? Or was it already in use by the time they arrived? However, the time-span of their arrival in Kintyre, Lorn, and Cowal, is often disputed, and since Ulster is only a few sea miles distance across the North Channel, it seems only logical that there must have been constant earlier comings and goings through the centuries.

However, it is patently evident that their everyday attire, or lack of it, was employed for practical use, hunting and fighting, not for show. For this reason, the women are at great pains, first to give an exact pattern to the plaid upon a piece of wood, having the number of every thread of the stripe upon it.

It is the ingenuity of the thread count that gives a tartan its individuality, not so much the colours employed, and what makes this especially remarkable is that such a mathematically ingenious formula was being manufactured in remote communities which were largely dismissed as primitive by the more populous regions of the South. It furthermore indicates that a sophisticated tribal society was emerging and it would soon be possible to identify districts from the colour patterns manufactured from the plant dyes available locally.

And it was in this way, almost unintentionally, that clan tartans evolved. These were long and flowing but capable of being neatly gathered up at pleasure into folds. Over a gown reaching to the ancles, and generally embroidered, they wore large mantles of the kind already described, and woven of different colours. Their ancestors wore plaids of many colours, and numbers still retain this custom.

Their predecessors used short mantles or plaids of divers colours sundry waies divided; and amongst some, the same costume is observed to this day; but for the most part now they are browne, more near to the colour of the hadder heather ; to the effect when they lie amongst the hadder the bright colour of their plaids shall not betray them. Scottish Mercenaries of This serves them for a veil and covers both head and body.

Tartans and Highland Dress. Telfer Dunbar. Highland Soldiers of E: brian tartanambassador. Cookie Policy Site Map. Where did Tartan come from? Tartan — An amazingly complex design One of the problems with charting the birth and progress of tartan is that the very word itself is relatively modern and restricted to the English language. It is known that through the 16th and 17th centuries, tartan was exported from the Highlands to the south at prices fixed in order to prevent overcharging, the prices being determined by the number and shades of colour in the cloth.

It was after the Battle of Culloden in that the government in London attempted to purge the Highlands of all unlawful elements by seeking to crush the rebellious clan system. An Act of Parliament was passed which made the carrying of weapons and the wearing of tartan a penal offence. The Act was rigorously enforced. So much so it seems that by the time the Act was repealed in , Highlanders had lost all enthusiasm for their tartan garb, content to wear the same type of dress as other Scots.

By , tartan was a thing of the past, many of the weavers had died and with them the details of the old patterns were lost as their wooden pattern sticks had rotted away.

Fragments of the old tartans had also rotted and perished leaving little evidence for future generations. The great tartan revival started in , when George IV visited Edinburgh and suggested that people attending the official functions should wear their respective tartans. Today the confusion of the past has gained some semblance of order as tartans now require registration in the Registers at Lyon Court.

Several variations of one tartan may be worn and these tend to take their name from the purpose for which they were intended. Dress tartans — originally worn by the women of the clan, generally with a white background and lighter-coloured patterns.

Hunting tartans — dark in colour and worn for sport, especially suitable when a clan possessed a brightly coloured tartan, making it unsuitable for hunting. Tartan has now gained international popularity with people selecting and sporting a design of his or her fancy. A word of warning however, the Royal tartan is for the exclusive use of the royal family and woe betide anyone who dares to break with this tradition!