I have a tartan-related question for you that I hope you
can help me with. I'm trying to put together a list of tartans that have
been documented to have existed prior to Culloden. Right now, all
I know of is the MacLean Hunting, and perhaps the Campbell Hunting/Black
Watch. Can you help? I need the list to pass on to a merchant
that is putting together a small, but growing selection of true Great Kilts
(60 inch wide/heavy weight wool), and your help would aid not just him,
but also those trying to assemble period authentic reenactors costumes.
I'll be glad to help. I would suggest to your friend that if he
wants to put together an authentic selection of tartans for historic dress,
he should really be more concerned with the appropriateness of the color
selection than the specific design. It has been proven that prior
to the late 18th century no care was given to maintain specific setts or
regulated patterns of the tartans. So for historic dress purposes,
a tartan designed in 1998 would be just as appropriate as one designed
in 1598 as long as the colors used were authentic colors obtainable with
natural dyes.
That being said, there is nothing wrong with wanting to offer actual tartan
pattern that can be shown to date from prior to a given time. It's just a
bit of extra work
I'm curious as to how long your friend is planning on making these plaids.
No longer than 4 or 5 yards I hope? Is he weaving the material himself
or is he using commercially available material? This will limit his
tartan selection. Also, is he using double width material or is he
using two lengths of single width?
On to the tartans. You mention already the Hunting MacLean
and the Campbell or Black Watch (not Hunting Campbell as
you called it, it is the plain Campbell clan tartan).
Contrary to popular belief, the Hunting MacLean tartan is not
as old as it seems. It's first appearance was in the book Vestiarium
Scoticum by the infamous Sobieski-Stuart brothers published in 1845.
While that book claimed to be a reproduction of a 16th century manuscript,
it was later proven to be a hoax. The older evidence that people
site is from a 1587 granted to Hector MacLean, heir of Duart, the fue duty
payable in the form of 60 ells of cloth in white, black and green colors.
I'll quote D. C. Stewart from his book The Setts of the Scottish
Tartans on the matter:
"Much has been made of the documentary evidence for the antiquity
of the Hunting MacLean. While this establishes the production by
MacLeans of cloth, white black and green in colours, as early as the sixteenth
century, there is nothing in that evidence to indicate the nature of the
design, supposing the three colours to have been woven together into a
tartan. . . . Unfortunately, the first appearance of the design was in
the Vestiarium Scoticum, where the documentary evidence referred
to was also first quoted. It is open to suspicion that the tartan
was invented to support the evidence, and that the evidence was then produced
to support the tartan. Whatever the truth may be, the documentary
evidence, while certainly supporting the claim to antiquity made for the
tartan, equally certainly does not establish it. It would indeed
be wonderful to have an unquestionable clan or district tartan of as early
a date as 1587. For that very reason we would require more and better
evidence than the present case affords."
So, while the colors of black, green, and white are certainly appropriate
for cloth from the late 16th century in the western Isles, using this documentation
as our source, one would be incorrect and misleading to say that the actual Hunting
MacLean tartan can claim that early date. Your friend may still
sell his plaids in this tartan--indeed it is a very attractive one--but
he should not claim this tartan to be any older than the date we can claim
for it, and that is 1845.
The Black Watch also has a very complicated story. We know
the tartan was implemented for use by the Highland Companies in 1725.
Where it was derived from is up for debate. Some say it was an original
design, new at the time. Some say it was an older Campbell tartan.
Others argue that it was woven as the basis of several diverse tartans
already in use at the time.
For the first hypothesis, the tartan is said to have been invented by
Lord Crawford, who formed the Regiment. Uniform of dress was desired,
and not wanting to pick one clan over another, he designed a new tartan.
If this account is true, it upsets the Campbell claim that their clan first
used this tartan.
For the second hypothesis, we must consider that several of the original
battalion were commanded by Campbells, and since it was customary for regiments
to wear the tartan of their leaders, when a uniform tartan was desired
for the company, the Campbell was selected because of the prominence of
that name among the commanders. However, there is no evidence that
the Campbells wore this tartan or anything similar prior to this time.
The third hypothesis is based on the fact that a large number of tartans
have as their basis the "Black Watch" pattern. Without going
into too much detail, tartans exhibiting this pattern can be shown to date
back at least to 1715 (from a MacRae kilt worn at Sherriffmuir).
Other tartans with this design, such as Gordon and Forbes,
are known to date from later than the Black Watch and were based
on it.
So, as for the origin of this tartan, we simply don't have enough proof
to say. However, we do know it was adopted for use in 1725, and so
meets your friend's criteria for pre-Culloden tartans.
Those two tartans being discussed at length, I will now endeavor to
add to the short list of pre-Culloden tartans. As a cautionary note,
I will warn that the list is short. Tartan is almost unheard of in
the documentary record prior to the 16th century. References after
that date are usually imprecise. But they do indicate a wide variety
of design. For example, in the seventeenth century campaign of Viscount
Dundee, descriptions we have show Glengarry's men as wearing "scarlet hose
and plaids crossed with a purple stripe". Locheil is mentioned as
wearing a coat of three colors. MacNeil of Barra is said to wear
a plaid whose colors "rivaled the rainbow." In a 1635 portrait of
Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow, he is shown in a belted plaid of solid red,
not a tartan at all. George Buchanan wrote in Rerum Scoticarum
Historia in 1581 that the Highland Scots "delight in variegated garments,
especially stripes, and their favourite colours are purple and blue.
Their ancestors wore plaids of many colours, and numbers still retain this
custom, but the majority now in their dress prefer a dark brown, imitating
very nearly the leaves of the heather, that when lying upon the heath in
the day, they may not be discovered by the appearance of their clothes
. . ." In 1704 the Laird of Grant commanded that all of his tenants
were to be prepared to report to battle dressed in red and green tartan
of broad stripes (no specific pattern is mentioned).
So what about the specific tartan patterns for which we can claim a
pre-Culloden date? There are a few, and it should be stated that
just because a tartan pattern can be shown to exist at an early time, it
does not mean that the modern clan or district association existed then.
Also, not all of these tartans are produced by the mills today, and when
they are, it will be with modern dyes showing modern colors. We know
the colors used in the early nineteenth century and before were slightly
different.
We will begin at the beginning with what is called the
Falkirk
tartan or the Shepherd's Check. This is the oldest known piece
of tartan cloth to be found in Scotland. It dates from the mid third
century (some have it as late as 325) and consists of equal width stripes
of a light and dark natural wool in a twill weave.
After this design, there is a great chasm in dates, the next oldest
dating from the late sixteenth century. For most tartans, the earliest
we can hope to document them is from 1819 or slightly earlier, from the
pattern books of Wilson's of Bannockburn, first commercial producer of
tartan material.
The Dunblane tartan was first illustrated in 1850 by W. &
A. Smith. However, it was taken from a portrait at Hornby Castle in Yorkshire
of Peregrine, 2nd Viscount Dunblane, who died in 1729, thus the tartan
would date from prior to that year.
The Fraser tartan may be of pre-Culloden date. It is said
to come from a portrait of Robert Grant of Lurg (1678-1777). I'm
not sure of when the portrait was painted.
The Huntly tartan (same as the red MacRae) dates prior
to 1717. By 1745 it was in common use among many of the clans in
the Huntly area, MacRae, Gordon, Ross, Brodie, Forbes, and Munro.
A variation of it was worn by Prince Charles Edward Stuart when a guest
of the MacRaes in 1745.
The Lennox tartan dates to prior to 1600. It was reproduced
by D. W. Stewart based on a portrait of a lady supposed to be the countess
of Lennox, mother of Henry Darnley, second husband to Mary, Queen of Scots
and father of James VI.
A MacDonnell of Keppoch tartan (though not the one normally seen
today) was copied from a relic of 'the '45' that was given by Keppoch to
Prince Charles Edward.
The MacDonald of Kingsburg tartan has an interesting story.
It is taken from the only remaining fragment of a waistcoat given by MacDonald
of Kingsburg to Price Charlie after Culloden. Charles thought the
colors too bright, so he exchanged the coat with a Malcolm MacLeod.
MacLeod was later captured by Government forces, but he had previously
hidden the waistcoat in the cleft of a rock. More than a year later
he was released, and went to retrieve the coat, finding only a small portion
that had survived undamaged. This portion is now in the Advocate's
Library in Edinburgh.
The MacIan tartan may be of pre-Culloden date. A portrait
of Alastair Ruadh of Glengarry shows him in this tartan, and he was prominent
during the '45.
There is a MacKintosh tartan very similar to the one in production
now that was supposedly worn by Prince Charles Edward Stuart.
A version of the MacRae Hunting tartan comes from a fragment
of a kilt worn at the battle of Sherriffmuir in 1715.
The Murray of Tullibardine tartan is said by James Grant to have
been "adopted and worn by Charles, first Earl of Dunmore, second son of
the first Marquis of Tullibardine . . . in1679 [he] was lieutenant-Colonel
of the Royal Grey Dragoons. . ."
There are many many variations on record of the
Royal Stewart
or the Prince Charles Edward Stuart tartan. These are based
on a tartan said to have been worn by the Prince himself.
The Jacobite tartan is first illustrated by the Smiths in 1850,
but the pattern was taken from a silk scarf made in 1712.
There is a Robertson tartan (not the one normally seen today)
that currently belongs to the Clan Donnachaidh (Robertson) Society which
was given by Prince Charles to a Robertson during the '45.
This is almost identical to the MacDonell of Keppoch design mentioned
above.
D. C. Stewart lists at the end of his tartan list a few tartans that
were actually worn on the Culloden battlefield. Of these, one is
manufactured and sold today as the Culloden tartan. It was
taken from a coat worn by a member of the Prince's personal suite.
The Sutherland district tartan (very different from the Sutherland
clan tartan) dates from the early 18th century. It has the same sett
as the Black Watch, but is traditionally woven in lighter colors,
azure replacing the dark blue.
The Ulster district tartan dates from the late 16th or early
17th centuries. It was found buried near an Ulster farm in 1956,
worn as trews as part of a suit of clothes, dating from between 1590 and
1650. The colors had stained to various shades of brown, but it was
believed to have been a four-color tartan made of red, dull green, dark
brown, and orange or yellow. It is most often woven and sold today
in a distinctive brown and mustard color, reflecting the centuries it spent
buried. Sometimes one can find it in what are believed to be the
original colors.
Outside of these, there are a few tartans which may be of old date,
but more proof is needed. D. C. Stewart says, "Next to the Rob
Roy, [the Gow tartan] is the most primitive tartan we have."
By this he means primitive in design, not date. Although the simplicity
of these two designs, Rob Roy and Gow, does allow one to
speculate that they were in production at an early time, it cannot be proven.
The Rob Roy is simply the Falkirk tartan woven in red and
black.
The Dundee district tartan, though not woven as such prior to
1819, is similar in design to the tartan of a jacket that is said to have
been worn by Prince Charles at Culloden in 1746.
The Kennedy tartan may be of old date. D. W. Stewart (D. C.'s father), says, "the design has been accepted by the Kennedys in Carrick,
many of whom adopted it [in the eighteenth] century as an emblem of their
Jacobite sympathies." However the tartan was not recorded until 1847
by Robert McIan.
The Dress MacRae tartan is not of old date, but D. C. Stewart
affirms that it is an "indirect reconstruction of a tartan used for hose,
about 1715, by MacRaes of Conchra, Lochalsh."
The Montgomery tartan is another example that D. W. Stewart believes
to be old. He suggests that it was adopted by the Montgomeries of
Ayrshire about the time of the Union in 1707. His son, D. C., writes,
"If this is correct, it must be one of the earliest genuine Lowland tartans
we have." More proof is needed, however.
The Stewart of Atholl tartan is claimed to come from a relic
of the '45 but I am unsure of how convincing the proof is.
The Caledonia tartan, worn by any without a clan, was popular
in the eighteenth century, but no one is really sure how far back its origins
go.
Of course there are many many more tartans of old date that exist only
in museums and private collections, but have no clan affiliation or name.
This is to be expected as such affiliations are a modern notion.
One famous example is the Christina Young arisaide tartan woven
in 1721. Our own Scottish Tartans Museum in Franklin, NC, has a sample
of an unnamed tartan dating to 1725. There are more like these, none
of which are woven commercially today, however.
These are just the ones that I have immediate access to. Nowhere
have I seen so far an exhaustive list of which tartans can be said to date
from prior to 1746, but it would not surprise me to see such a list put
together soon.
In the meantime, if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate
to contact me.
Matthew Allen Columba Newsome
curator of the
Scottish Tartans
Museum, USA
Postscript added 6/18/04: In 1994 a
study was done of the portrait of Lord Mungo Murray that was painted by John
Michael Wright sometime between 1660 and 1680. A thread count was taken
from the tartan shown in the painting. For more
information on this tartan click here.
