Family Tartans

By Terri Paajanen

I have to admit this article didn't turn out quite the way I expected. Though I have some Scottish and Irish history back about 8 or 10 generations back, this is not a heritage that I am familiar with. I thought it would be helpful or interesting to cover the family styles of tartans, possibly exploring the patterns and any meanings to the colours and styles.

Well, I learned something very interesting about Scottish history that didn't lend well to my article idea. Even so, I think this is something that all genealogists should know about when they are researching their Scottish ancestry.

The idea of tartan patterns being passed down through families and clans for many hundreds of years, is actually false. At least somewhat false. So if you are trying to find the ancient pattern worn by your distant ancestors, be aware that you might be wasting your time.

The existence of the unique striped patterns that we know as tartan has been documented to the 3rd century and possibly earlier. But the designs were more associated with particular weavers rather than the families that wore them.

In the 1700s, certain patterns were more common in different areas of Scotland, but that was the extent of the regionality of the designs. People would often wear tartans of various designs and didn't really stick to any one pattern.

It was the Battle of Culloden in 1746 when the history of the tartan took a turn. For 36 years afterwards, the wearing of tartan was banned by an act of British parliament in order to stamp out the rebellious culture of the Scottish highlands. During that time, many of the skills and background of the tartan was lost.

But just outside the area of the ban, one company thrived making tartans. The company was called William Wilson and sons of Banockburn. The mass production of tartan led to a wide supply of consistent patterns, and the marketing idea to name the patterns after Scottish towns, is what led to the notion that the tartan designs "belonged" to certain parts of the land.

In around 1815, the Highland Society of London decided that it should catalog the clan tartans in order to preserve their history. They too seemed to misunderstand the history of the tartan. Clan leaders were asked to supply samples of their tartans along with a seal to verify their authenticity. Many chiefs were unsure what to submit since they really had no knowledge of "their" tartan pattern.

The result was that the clan leaders usually chose a Wilson's pattern that they were familiar with, or one that was common in their area. They then sealed them as authentic, and these patterns have been "officially" been associated with their clans ever since.

So the reality is that common public misunderstanding of clan tartans led to the establishment of the custom. Not that helpful for us genealogists, but helpful to know nonetheless.

_{First published at Suite101}