Keeping Scotland in check

Article Added: 17/11/2009 11:56:27
We have recently received a fabulous article from our friend Jenny Lewis, who has been delving into the tradition that is the Scottish tartan:

With cold winter nights and blazing log fires, the mind turns to warmer clothes and the glorious comfort of tartans from the glens of Bonnie Scotland.

Whose heart isn’t stirred at the sound of a pipe band, with its players in full tartan dress? That nostalgic sound reminds us of how the tragedy of the battle of Culloden nearly stamped out the national dress of Scotland. Yet, tartan popularity never fades; it has withstood the test of time and like all great fabrics of the world it will always hold a place in our hearts.

Tartan is especially ’in’ this year, but this has not always been so as history attests. The motto of one clan is ’Dulcis ex esperis’ meaning ’Sweeter than difficulties’, while another is ’Ne Oublie’ – ‘Do not forget’. It is to the past we must turn in order to understand the fascinating history of this beautiful cloth and how it has affected the lives of the men and women of the Highlands of Scotland.

The conquering Celts were weavers of woollen cloth and also lovers of colour. When they landed and settled in Scotland they brought their talents with them. They wove a type of check pattern which was eventually adopted by local weavers. From Roman writings, we understand that people were amazed at the brilliancy and colour, as were later conquering tribes who tried to imitate it. The earliest tartans were simply blocks of colour and can be traced back to the 3rd century A.D. where a piece of cloth of this type was found in a Roman-built boundary wall near Falkirk.

Although most highlanders were very poor, they still produced warm, woven clothing. Like all ancient fabrics, the harsher aniline dyes of today were unknown and people were dependant on dyes obtained from the fruits of the earth; there is something very beautiful about the gentle, muted dyes obtained from them.

The most common dyes came from moss heather and bog myrtle and even a purple dye was made from lichens during the 1700s. Black wasn’t a stable colour and usually faded out to a light khaki.

These quiet dignified colours were written about by Neil Munro in the following:

This rather romantic rendering is pre-dated by a few hundred years with words less poetic, but just as beautiful written by George Buchanan in 1581:


It is probable that later, the checked cloth included lines and more diverse colours with each geographical area having its own pattern. This is widely disputed by many, but others believe that certain patterns called ’setts’ were adopted by clan chiefs and were then passed on to local weavers who made more individual designs. This can be observed in a painting of the battle of Culloden, where 23 different tartans can be identified, but no two are exactly the same.

Certainly some patterns are very ancient, as are the clans, but nobody can put a date as to when checks became tartans as we know them. There are references to clan tartans before the 16th century. The MacLean clan had to pay the Crown in 1587, sixty ells of green, white and black cloth; these are the exact colours of the MacLean’s hunting tartan.

The original clothing of the Scots was an ’all-in-one’ piece of material called ’Breacan-an-Fheille’ and was pleated around the waist and held in place with a leather belt, while the remainder of the material was thrown over the left shoulder and secured by a large brooch; this left the sword arm free. In many ways, it is almost reminiscent of the Indian sari which is wrapped around the waistband pleated and then draped over the left shoulder and chest. Some call this tartan, which measured approximately 5 metres, the belted plaid. During the same period, the woman’s dress was called the ’arisaid’, which was a warm piece of cloth that doubled as a long dress, shawl and headscarf in one piece.

For ease of wearing, the breacan fheille eventually became just the kilt, called the ’fheille-beag’ or little kilt, although there would be an overlap with both types being worn until the terrible battle of Culloden in 1746. Because the kilt didn’t have pockets, a purse called a sporran was hung around the waist. This allowed a man to carry all his necessities. He also wore hose, bonnet, brogues, dirk, pistols, buckles and brooches.

In 1471, King James’ treasurer was told to order some tartan, this being the first instance of it being worn by royalty. It was worded as follows:

’Aan halve of blue Tartane to lyne his gown of cloth of gold . . . Halve aan elne of doble Tartane to lyne riding collars to her lade the Quene.’

The cloth became much more distinctive during the next three centuries and patterns for weaving were easily interpreted. The beauty of the cloth was penned in poetry by Allan Ramsay 1686-1758 and he writes about the tartan:


Before 1745, the Jacobites had gathered for an uprising against the government. One wintry Spring morning in 1746 the armies of Prince Charles Edward were defeated by the hand of the Duke of Cumberland at the battle of Culloden. The Duke was a man without mercy and the clans were slaughtered in a dreadful fashion. The English government came to the conclusion that the Scottish kilt was a uniform of war, and in 1747 they passed as act called ’Abolition and Proscription of the Highland Dress’ which banned the wearing of the Highland dress.

This dreadful act banished everything dear to the Scots and denied every man and boy the right to wear any garment of any kind which in any way resembled a tartan. The penalty for disobedience was to be shot on sight, later to be mitigated to 6 months in prison. Women were excluded from the act, although they too soon gave up wearing the tartan. It was 35 years later in 1782 that parliament repealed the act. What a wonderful day that was for a nation that had literally been stripped of its national dress. After 1782 the kilt quickly regained its popularity and rather than being known by the district, a clan could now be recognised by its cloth and so could a man!

In 1770, the most notable tartan weavers, Wilson & Son of Bannockburn, kept a record of patterns. Most were given clan names although over 200 without official names were included in the book. Customers could look through the book and choose a pattern. Early tartans were Lennox, Old Lachaber and Glen Orchy. These ’setts’ influenced others such as the Campbells, MacDonalds and the lovely Ferguson.

The ’setts’ were only recorded in one direction and this set the number of threads for the warp. When the simple loom was set up with the striped warp, the ’sett’ was turned 90 degrees and the weft was woven in exactly the same pattern as the weft — simple, ingenious and effective. For example, a pattern of only four basic colours became 10 colours when finished, and six basic colours will show 21 in the finished cloth.

Only 40 years after the Proscription act was repealed, King George the 4th of England made a visit to Scotland in 1822, being persuaded by the romantic writings of the novelist Sir Walter Scott with his heroes of the wars and uprisings. The king attended dances, pageants and parades, and returned with a love for all things Scottish. So too did Queen Victoria several years later and the wearing of the Scottish tartan spread rapidly to Britain where it became very popular.

Today, there are more than 400 famous tartans and besides being worn as kilts, the material is found as dresses, school uniforms, carpets, tablecloths, skirts, trimmings, ribbons, curtains and wallpaper. It is also found on cards, dog leads, men’s socks, shirts, car rugs, buttons, diaries, ties, watch straps, handbags, cushions, spectacle cases and so on. Wherever one goes, one is certain to find something in tartan — place mats, wrapping paper, gift tags — the list is endless. It can even be found on the moon! Interestingly, Neil Armstrong during his flight to the moon carried a small piece of the clan tartan on his person. Whatever its history or interpretation, one things is certain – tartan is one of the most colourful, beautiful and fascinating textiles in the world. This famous toast attests to it:


HotHive Textiles would like to thank Bob Lawson for allowing us to use his photographs alongside this article.Jenny is available to write articles on a variety of subjects including embroidery and crafts, beadwork, textiles and carpets, and others. If you would like to commission Jenny to write for your publication please email her at jennylewis@maestro-music.co.uk.