Tartans—a brief look
Sapphire Soleil for the Grove of Two Coasts
May 2, 2013

 

When I was nine, we went to Europe on sabbatical.  Since we were living in Manchester, England, it was easy to hop up to Scotland for a long weekend.  Scotland is grey and wet and wild in the early spring and reminded me very much of home. The hills and mountains were similar to Northern Idaho.  One thing that was not at all like Idaho was the sight of handsome (or not) men of all ages wearing a skirt.  My parents were quick to tell me, this was not a skirt, this was a kilt and it was the national dress of Scotland.  I’d never been to a place that had a national dress and instantly wished Idaho had one as cool as the Scots.

While the kilt, with its many pleats, sporran, and lovely little pin, was wonderful and I wanted one (and I got one, a female kilt shirt in the dress Gordon tartan) it was the variety of tartans that was most fascinating.  As I have “ne’r” a drop of Scottish blood in me, I have adopted the Gordon clan as my own since it was the tartan I liked best.  Since then I have discovered I am slightly connected to the Gunn clan through my Grandmother’s family name of Nelson.  It is a nice tartan too, so it works for me! (See below)

A tartan, to be considered a tartan, is a pattern of cloth in multi-colors that is crisscrossed into horizontal and vertical patterns called setts.   The patterns can be quite simple, such as the Blackwatch tartan which is quite famous consisting of bands in blue, green, and black (It is said that the dark colors only was great for soldiers keeping watch who didn’t want to be seen.) to the, umm, bolder tartans such as the Buchanan (Ancient and modern and weathered are all extremely colorful.) 

--Almost the Gunn tartan

Some are beautiful; some are just colorful (which is a polite way of saying awful.)     As with many things considered Celtic, one must remember that the Celts originated in central Europe.  The proto-type Celtic race started in what is now Austria and Hungary. From there they spread out into France, Spain, Germany and eventually over to the British Isles. Celtic is really central Europe if one goes back far enough.  Nevertheless, there is some evidence that a tartan-like fabric developed as early as 400 BCE.

In Britain, a tartan-like textile can be traced back to at least the 3^rd century CE.  These tartans are not the complex setts seen in later years, but they were checked with horizontal and vertical lines and thus fall under the broader definition.

A real history of what we consider to be tartan doesn’t start until much later. There is an account of a tartan being made for King James V of Scotland.  It reads—

            “Three ells of Heland tertane to be hoiss at four shilling and four pence to the ell”

Which I think translates to something like “three lengths of Highland Tartan to be priced at 4s 4p a length.”

The typical dress of the Highlands before the 1600 was quite unlike the dress of Scotland we think of today.  James Man in the introduction to his book A History of Scots Affairs 1637-41, described typical dress before 1600 as

1)      A plaid (which mean blanket or piece of cloth, not necessarily in tartan), possibly in tartan, but certainly of different colors.

2)      Linen shirt, for those who could afford it, it would be dyed in saffron.

3)      A short jacket—reaching about to the navel

4)      Trews (leggings) for winter use, otherwise stockings to the top of the calf of the leg.

5)      Raw leather covering for the feet.

The “plaid” or long piece of cloth was often in a tartan pattern. It would be used in lots of different ways as a cap, a skirt, tunic, a sari-like outfit, usually kirtled up with a belt.  The weather, the time of day, the person wearing the outfit would adjust it as they saw fit.  By the 1600’s the plaid became more stylized and the folks would wear it with more attention to detail.  The pleating started in earnest by then.  A tartan of that time would be about four to six yards long and 2 yards wide. They would place it on the ground and start pleating it until it was about 5 feet long with about a two foot section un-pleated that would go on the front of the body.  Then, the wearer would get down on the ground, adjust for length, flip the un-pleated part over his front section and roll up with the pleated part, securing it with a belt.  Whew.  They could then stand up again.  A length of tartan would be left hanging down and the fellow would artistically drape it over his shoulders, or arm, or where he wanted it to go and pinned to his shirt with a brooch or pin.

 

The Breacan ah feileadh or Great kilt

The Kilt progressed through time to become more stable. The long plaid was removed and the little kilt or Feileadh Beg but this was still a draped and belted affair.  Eventually, the pleats were eventually sewn in place and “pleated to the sett” meaning that the pleats were formed so the pattern of the tartan would still be visible even when pleated and the modern kilt was born.  It should be noted, if it isn’t already clear, the kilt is a man’s costume. While the women could certainly wear a tartan plaid, they usually wore it as a shawl or occasionally in a long skirt.  Nowadays, women may also where a shorter kilt skirt, but the design is slightly different than the man’s kilt.

The Tartan itself didn’t start to get regulated until the late 17^th century.  Before then, any crisscrossed pattern piece of cloth might be called a tartan. The idea of a tartan being used to depict a family is quite modern really.  It first came about because the weavers in a certain area would weave the same sett; therefore, all the people living in that area tended to have the same pattern of cloth.  One must remember that a clan is a group of families, not one family.  Since a clan usually lived in the same area, they all started wearing the same cloth.  When anyone would travel or a traveler would come into the area, it is readily apparent that they were from a different clan because their tartan was different.

It wasn’t until the 17^th century that the idea of using a tartan really show clan pride took off in earnest. One must remember that the Scots were in a war with England for sovereignty and wearing a tartan kilted up was a nationalistic thing to do. So much so, in fact, that the ruling party, the English, banned the use of tartan and the kilt in 1746.  With the exception of the Blackwatch tartan which was associated not with a clan or family but with military, no tartan could be displayed.  The Jacobites (Scottish supporters of King James of Scotland) were stymied in their attempt to unite the Scottish clans against a single enemy.  The act read:

  That from and after the first day of August, One thousand, seven hundred and forty-six, no man or boy within that part of Britain called Scotland, other than such as shall be employed as Officers and Soldiers in His Majesty's Forces, shall, on any pretext whatever, wear or put on the clothes commonly called Highland clothes (that is to say) the Plaid Philabeg, or little Kilt, Trowse, Shoulder-belts, or any part whatever of what peculiarly belongs to the Highland Garb; and that no tartan or party-coloured plaid of stuff shall be used for Great Coats or upper coats, and if any such person shall presume after the said first day of August, to wear or put on the aforesaid garment or any part of them, every such person so offending ... For the first offence, shall be liable to be imprisoned for 6 months, and on the second offence, to be transported to any of His Majesty's plantations beyond the seas, there to remain for the space of seven years.---excerpt from Highland Dress Act of 1749.

This ban lasted for 36 years and seemed to effectively eliminate the use of the tartan and the kilt by highlanders all over Scotland.  Many people had been displaced in Scotland by that time as a result of the Fuadach nan Gaidheal or the “Highland Clearance” a sort of ethnic cleansing of its day.   People were forced from the Highlands to the lowlands and to North America or Ireland.  People were moved out so sheep could be moved in. People were moved out because the government was still waging a war against the Jacobites.  New people came to rule, things lightened up and the Jacobean threat decreased to the point that England was able to think more clearly without feeling threatened.  Eventually the rather childish act was repealed in 1782.  Rather than be exiled into the realms of quaint history, the Scots reached into their cupboards and pulled out their tartans with joy and from small clannish groups of a plaid, the national costume of Scotland was born in full, tartan-glory.

Named Tartans

The idea that a clan had a specific tartan is quite a modern one.  As mentioned before, a clan of people often wore the same tartan because that was the cloth being weaved in the area. But just as Santa Claus is now dressed in Coca-cola red, it was industry that declared a tartan be considered “proper” if it had a name and an attachment to a clan or some group.  The tartan need not be associated only with a clan, but a town might have one, an event might have one, almost anyone can have their own tartan. They need not even be Scottish. Plenty of Irish and Welsh tartans exist.  Royalty have their own tartan and if a person is a new royal, they might have one made for them. Diana, Princess of Wales, had a lovely tartan created in her memory. Over 7000 different tartans are recognized.

The company of William Wilson & Sons of Bannockburn was the first firm to start a mass production of tartan cloth.  It was the only supplier of tartans to the Highland regiments and thus they had much say in early pattern development.   It was this company that really started the use of giving a tartan a name. By 1819, they had around 250 tartans from their own design and gathered from all over Scotland.  About 100 of those had names.

It is a fact that when a person leaves their country of birth, they become even more patriotic. This was the case of the Scottish who had been displaced but now made their homes in England, Wales, Ireland and North America.  As the tartan grew more “standardized” ex-pats would write to the homeland requesting their clan tartan from the clan chief or laird.  Many of these clan chiefs had no idea they had a family tartan and would contact Wilson and Sons for help. The company was happy to create a tartan or take an old tartan without a name and give it to the clan. To their credit they did try to look up historical references first to see if a clan and a tartan could be connected, still, the idea of a tartan being the same that the Celtic ancestors wore is pretty much a myth.

Types of Tartan.

When I was that wide-eyed nine year old falling in love with the Gordon tartan, I found myself confused when I saw another tartan called Gordon that didn’t look at all like the one I bought. Mine was green and white mainly with a line of blue and yellow. This interloper was green and a muted blue with yellow. Yet they were both Gordon tartans.

Almost every clan tartan has at least four different setts.  The Ancient, Weathered, Modern, and Dress. Some also have a hunting tartan, but it might be another name for a weathered tartan.  They can be quite different.  The Gordon Clan has those four and a few more: the Gordon red and the Gordon blue.  Each can have variations in and among themselves. The Gordon Red can be modern, ancient or muted (weathered).  Also, one must take into account that there may be many families now named Gordon and each might have its own tartan. It gets complicated.  The different tartans came from different ways to dye the wool. (And it is almost always wool, but can be in any fabric now.)

 

  Ancient Gordon      

   “My Tartan” Dress Gordon                                                 

The Ancient tartan is usually a lighter shade.  The Modern tartan shows the crisper color although the green, blues and blacks to tend to mush together. The Weathered or Muted tartan is quite modern, stemming back to only the 1970s or so. It was made to be a throwback to a time when only natural dyes were used; a simulation of a tartan that might have been made before the 19^th century, but it is mostly conjecture. 

Modern Gordon

Weathered/muted Gordon

 Within the tartan itself, the pattern has a name too. The larger squares are called the under-check and the smaller lines, the over-checks. Often just variations in the width of these lines will create an entirely new tartan.

Just as the St. Patrick’s Day has become nearly a national holiday in America, our country has also created national tartan day. April 6^th is the day to deck out in your favorite tartan regardless of Celtic blood or Scottish affiliation.

New York City Tartan Day Parade, April 6^th, 2013—

Many states also have their own tartan, but Idaho does not. Washington State developed a very nice Tartan.

The official Tartan of Washington State, adopted in 1991

And so the humble checked pattern cloth known as the tartan has become a worldwide phenomenon. The ancient Celts would no doubt be astounded at how their plain plaid as morphed into a colorful symbol of national pride.

 Sources:
Sir Thomas Innes of Learnery and Semple, William, The Scottish Tartans Johnson and Bacon Pub, 1975

Collie, George,   Highland Dress, Penguin Books, London, 1948

Scottish Tartan Authority. www.tartanauthority.com

Scottish Tartan Museum http://www.scottishtartans.org/tartan.html

Picture Sources:

Flower of Scotland/Gunn Tartan—Misty Isle Pipe Band http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f100/kilt-gunn-modern-ancient-58461/

Ancient Highland Dress  www.tartanauthority.com

Diana, Princess of Wales, tartan  http://www.staonlineshop.co.uk/category/78-diana-memorial-tartan-diana-rose-tartan.aspx

Main four Gordon Tartans http://www.lindaclifford.com/Gordon.html

Tartan Week http://www.tartanweek.com/new-york-tartan-day-parade/

Washington State Tartan http://woozle.org/~neale/tartans/wa.html