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3 Celts & Company • "THE IRISH TARTANS"

Although not a traditional component of national dress outside Scotland, kilts have become recently popular in the other Celtic nations as a sign of Celtic identity. Kilts and tartans can therefore also be seen in Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany, Galicia in Spain, the Trás-os-Montes region in the North of Portugal, and Normandy, as well as parts of England, particularly the North East.
Though the origins of the Irish kilt continue to be a subject of debate, current evidence suggests that kilts originated in the Scottish Highlands and Isles and were adopted by Irish nationalists at the turn of the 20th century as a symbol of Celtic identity. A garment that has often been mistaken for kilts in early depictions is the Irish lein-croich, a long tunic traditionally made from solid colour cloth, with black, saffron and green being the most widely used colours. Solid coloured kilts were first adopted for use by Irish nationalists and thereafter by Irish regiments serving in the British Army, but they could often be seen in late 19th and early 20th century photos in Ireland especially at political and musical gatherings, as the kilt was re-adopted as a symbol of Gaelic nationalism in Ireland during this period.
Tartan was worn originally in Scotland as a fashionable type of dress. All tartan was, of course, hand woven and each weaver would take it upon him or herself to create unique and attractive designs based on the colors of dyes available. Certain colors may have been more common in certain regions, but there was nothing to prohibit someone with money from importing various dyes. Certain pattern schemes may have been more common in one area than another, but nothing approaching modern clan tartans could be said to have existed.
Imagine talking to a hand weaver of tartan, a craftsman and an artist, and telling that person that you wanted them to weave the same pattern of tartan in the same colors for everyone in the region (regiment, clan, etc.). That pattern was set in stone, could not be varied from and was to be the only pattern woven for that clan. Of course they would never have taken such commands! Tartan was and still is an art form and individual weavers created a wonderful variety of tartan designs.
By the 16th century, when we begin to see the earliest type of kilted garment (the belted plaid), tartan had become characteristic of Highland Dress. Gaelic speaking Highlanders wore tartan of bright and flashy shades to show off wealth and status. They also favoured darker, natural tones that would emulate the shades of the bracken and the heather so that they might wrap themselves in their plaids and be hidden. But the colors chosen had more to do with what dyes were available to them (either locally or that they could afford to import) and personal taste than any clan affiliation.

Irish Tartans: SAFFRON (Irish Brown), IRISH NATIONAL (Tara), ULSTER RED, SAINT PATRICK, IRISH BLACK, TARA DISTRICT

"Kilt". Wikipedia. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilt]. December 2013. web.

Newsome, Matthew. "The Early History of The Kilt". Albanach Archive. [https://albanach.org/early-history-of-the-kilt-e0c5b0101b5]. 2000. web.

The Scottish Register of Tartans (SRT). [https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=4071]. 31 December 2018. web.

keywords[x] tartan, wool, kilts, Irish, Celtic, Gaelic, nationalism

3 Celts & Company • "THE SCOTTISH TARTANS"

Julius Caesar and other early observers were much struck by, among other things, the Celts' love of Colour. To describe their cloth patterns rather baffled the soberly clad Romans (stripes, chequers or what?) but we may shrewdly guess one type conspicuous among those textiles. Except in one or two isolated villages of Europe, the Tartan design was preserved only in Scotland, and the word has now been credibly explained as a Pictish description. Here the 'weft-as-warp' stripings were applied not always to the same form of garment. The kilt began developing about 1600 from a large swathing plaid with a belt ['The Great Kilt'], into the shortened pleated form we now know. In Scotland a Plaid is a shawl or wrapping, with or without any distinctive pattern such as the once-famous 'Paisley Plaids.' Some exported Tartan plaids have by now caused variuos parts of the world to forget all others and employ the word Plaid to mean the Tartan colour-pattern or a coloured checking of similar style.
The Scottish Tartans as a system of popular Heraldry only developed fully after Culloden had crushed the Clan System itself from active politics. Like the flow of Jacobite songs, the Tartan provided an outlet for national sentiment, after the period 1748 to 1782 when the kilt and tartan alike were severely prohibited. Thereafter ensued a steady growth of tartans distinguishing the main Scottish clans and families, with a few of the earliest type which had attached rather to districts than to a particular clan. A list is added of the longer established tartans, out of about 500 currently registered with the Lord Lyon King of Arms.
Apart from its value as an emblem of clan, country or regiment, the Tartan has two main functions: as an inspiration expressed in colour, and also for camouflage on the heather moors. When the general Clan Tartan has been felt insufficienly effective for one of these objectives, a second one has appeared termed 'Dress' or 'Hunting' respectively.
A Scot by descent should wear the tartan of his father's clan or family, or sept associated with one: alternatively that of his mother, his wife, or of the district he derives from. Many names indisputably Scottish have not been associated with any recognised clan. For uncertain cases, as for our many friends of non-Scottish descent desiring to express some measure of compliment or guestly feeling, there are the Stewart and Jacobite tartans, and otherwise such clans as MacDonald or Gordon who have seemed generally to welcome such tribute.

Scottish National Tartans: PRIDE of SCOTLAND, SPIRIT of SCOTLAND

"THE SCOTTISH TARTANS." Scots Kith and Kin and Illustrated Map Revised Second Edition. Edinburgh, SCOT: Clan House, c.1970. p.84. Print.

keywords[x] tartan, wool, kilts, Scottish, Scotland, clan

3 Celts & Company • "REGIMENTAL TARTANS"

The first Highland regiment, the Black Watch was originally raised from clans openly loyal to the status quo to police the Highlands, which were deemed to be both rebellious and lawless by the contemporary British establishment. However, due to a pressing need for personnel in North America during the Seven Years' War, William Pitt the elder made the decision to raise new Highland regiments to fight in this imperial war. The war ended victory and among other things, Canada was secured as a part of the British Empire, while the British East India Company's position in India was consolidated and expanded, both at the expense of the French. These Highland regiments were disbanded after the war, but other Highland regiments were later raised and, like the rest of the British Army, saw service in various wars including in the British colonisation of India and the Peninsular War. By the Victorian era the loyalty of the Highlanders was no longer suspect. Moreover perhaps due to Queen Victoria's well-known love for all things Scottish, in particular things pertaining to the Highlands, as well as the celebrated role of Highland regiments in Victorian conflicts such as the Crimean War and the putting down of the Indian Mutiny, the Highland regiments earned a reputation which influenced the mindset of Scottish regiments which are thoroughly Lowland in origin. Among other things, this resulted in the wearing of tartan by Lowland regiments which previously wore uniforms not clearly distinguishable from their Irish, Welsh and English counterparts. Also the world-wide popularity of the Great Highland Bagpipe owes much to the regimental bagpipe band present all over the world due to the stationing of Highland regiments throughout the British Empire and their role in many wars fought by Britain. Many extant Highland regiments that are not in the armed forces of the United Kingdom have formed formal honorary affiliations with Highland regiments therein.

BLACK WATCH ('42nd'): The Royal Highlanders (Black Watch), 9th H.L.I. (Glasgow Highlanders), 1st N.S.W. Scottish Rifles, Black Watch (R.H.C.) of Canada.

CAMPBELL: 1st Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Lorne Scots of Canada.

DAVIDSON: 48th Highlanders of Canada.

DOUGLAS: Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).

GORDON: Gordon Highlanders, Cape Town Scottish, Victorian Scottish Reg. Austrailia.

LESLIE: King's Own Scottish Borderers (K.O.S.B.)

MACGREGOR: Essex Scots of Canada.

MACKENZIE: Seaforth Highlanders, Highland Light Infantry (H.L.I.), Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, Highland Light Infantry of Canada, Piton Highlanders.

STEWART (Hunting): The Royal Scots, Canadian Scottish.

STEWART (Royal): Pipers of The Royal Highlanders (Black Watch), The Royal Scots, The Scots Guards, The Cameron Highlanders.

SUTHERLAND (i.e. modified Black Watch Tartan): 2nd Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Royal Scots Fusiliers, 5th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, 91st Battalion Canadian Highlanders, Cape Breton Highlanders, Calgary Highlanders, Royal Scots Fusiliers of Canada.

U.S. ARMY (The North American Colonies): The colours were chosen to represent the uniforms - black for the beret, khaki for the summer uniform, light green for the original sniper and now part of the summer uniform, dark blue for the original dress uniform, olive for the combat uniform and gold for the cavalry.

U.S. NAVY (The North American Colonies): Holy Loch was the site of the United States Navy's Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) Refit Site One. It was the home base of Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 14, part of Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

LEATHERNECK (The North American Colonies): Designed by the U.S. Marine Corps Historical Foundation. Does not have the sanction of the Corps but is sometimes sold as the 'U.S. Marines.'

"REGIMENTAL TARTANS." Scots Kith and Kin and Illustrated Map Revised Second Edition. Edinburgh, SCOT: Clan House, c.1970. p.86,87. Print.

"Highland Regiments". Wikipedia. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_regiment]. January 2014. web.

The Scottish Register of Tartans (SRT). [http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails.aspx?ref=4182]. January 2014. web.

keywords[x] tartan, wool, kilts, Military, Regimental, clan