The Military Origin of Clan Tartans

Matthew Newsome, GTS, ©2008

This past May saw the passing of one of the great figures in tartan studies, James D. Scarlett, MBE (1920–2008). Jamie was known and admired by many in the field of tartanology (a word of his own coining). He was in many ways the last living link between this present generation of Highland dress experts and those tartan scholars of the past, such as D. C. Stewart and John Telfer Dunbar.

Jamie’s many works on tartan included The Tartan Spotter’s Guide (1973), The Tartan Weaver’s Guide (1985), and his masterwork, Tartan: The Highland Textile (1990). This latter volume was a much needed reworking and updating of D. C Stewart’s benchmark work on tartan studies, The Setts of the Scottish Tartans, originally published in 1950.

His most recent publication before his death just prior to his 88th birthday was The Origins and Development of Military Tartans: A Re-Appraisal (2003). This thin volume (only 48 pages) is ground breaking in many ways. It represents a complete reexamination of what we know (and what we do not know) concerning the origins of the Scottish military tartans, most especially the Black Watch and those tartans derived from it.

In his prologue, Jamie begins by recounting what so many of us have heard regarding the origins of the Black Watch tartan. “The received history of military tartans, which varies somewhat with the teller, is that the Highland Independent Companies at first wore their Clan tartans and that when they were embodied into the new Highland regiment they were given a new tartan, the Black Watch, which is supposed to be an old Campbell pattern, chosen because the majority of the commanders of the Independent Companies were Campbells.”

However, as the author points out, we now know that there is no evidence at all that clans wore uniform, identifying tartan patterns prior to 1745. Therefore the “received history” as recounted above needs some rethinking. The interested reader is directed towards the book, but a summation here will suffice. Scarlett cites an order of General Wade dated 15 May 1725 as evidence that the Independent Companies at that time were wearing their own tartans, most likely of the dark blue/black/green variety differenced with some colored overcheck. These were not clan tartans.

By 1733 the Companies wore a single tartan, common to all. Scarlett writes, “There is no information on the pattern, save that is was not Black Watch.” He dates the origin of the unique (at the time) Black Watch tartan to about 1749 with the re-numbering of the Regiment. (See my article on the Black Watch tartan from The Scottish Banner, April 2006.)

Scarlett’s research indicates quite strongly that the distinctive pattern of the Black Watch tartan was a new one created at the time to be distinct from other Highland tartans. This would mean that other tartans that are variations of the Black Watch would have necessarily come after it, not before. This includes not only obvious Black Watch variants, such as the Gordon or MacKenzie tartans; but also other less-obvious variants, including MacLachlan, MacNab, and Hunting MacRae.

After learning of Jamie’s recent death, I was moved to go back and review my copy of Military Tartans. This brought to mind a thought that struck me initially the very first time I read the book. And that is the likely chance that the very concept of “clan tartans” originates in the military tartans Jamie details in these pages.

Most of us are familiar with the Black Watch or 42nd Regiment. And perhaps we recognize such regimental names as Argyll & Sutherland, Seaforth Highlanders, and the Gordons. However, in the past there has been a great multiplicity of regiments and independent companies. Less familiar to us now are the Loyal Clan Donnachie Volunteers, the Glengarry Fencibles, the Caithness Fencibles, the MacDonald Fencibles, et al. These companies, too, were identified with their own uniform tartans.

And isn’t it odd that our notion of “clan tartans” should be so much like a uniform? In what context could we imagine everyone of a particular clan decked out in matching clothing? It seems unnecessary and burdensome for use in day-to-day life. But for a military unit, uniform clothing is very much desired. And so it makes perfect sense to look to the military for the origins of named, uniform tartan designs.

We can look to tartans with a well documented history for some enlightening examples. For instance, the Gordon tartan is simply the Black Watch with a yellow overcheck on the green. Its origins as a military tartan, worn by the Gordon Highlanders, are well known. How it came to be regarded as a clan tartan is due to the close affiliation with the Gordon Highland Regiment and the Clan Gordon. The same can be said of the Seaforth Highlanders and the MacKenzie clan. The same close affiliation is why the Campbells, Grants and Munros all wear the tartan of the Black Watch.

Because of the close association between clan and regiment, one can easily imagine a connection developing between clan and tartan. Not only active soldiers, but also retired soldiers may continue to wear their old military tartan. And it is no huge stretch to suppose civilian clansmen might choose to wear the tartan of their allied regiment in much the same way that people from a particular city may wear the colors of that city’s major sports team. It is a way to show support and solidarity.

When we consider many of the smaller and lesser known military units, we see the same thing occurring. For example, the tartan worn by the Loyal Clan Donnachie Volunteers is now worn by the Clan Robertson as a hunting tartan (another Black Watch variant, by the way). According to Scarlett, the Colquhoun tartan began as a militia tartan; the Argyll tartan (now called Campbell of Cawdor) began as a tartan for an Argyll Fencible regiment; The Reay Fencibles wore the MacKay tartan, and so on.

With such a strong connection between regiment and clan, and that connection being marked in such a visible way by the use of the tartan, one can imagine clans and families with no strong regimental affiliation soon wanting to get in on the “tartan game,” as well. And thus the concept of the “clan tartan” was born, out of the uniform tartans used by the multiple regiments and companies of the Scottish Highlands.

Originally published in The Scottish Banner, July 2008.