INTERNATIONAL TARTANS

INTERNATIONAL TARTANS

A BRIEF HISTORY of TARTAN

Tartan is arguably the best known cloth in the world, and although it has been accorded its due as Scotland's national costume, occupying a unique place in the hearts and minds of millions of Scots around the world, it is not peculiar to Scotland.

From the times of the early clansman to the modern Scottish regiments, the kilt, plaid, trews and tartan have constituted the unmistakable costume of the Scot. The dress today remains attractive, distinctive and colorful. It has come to be linked with the virtues of courage and hardiness, with familiar love of an area )district, state, county, or shire), and the music, poetry and culture of a nation, Scotland.

However, many aspects of tartan and so-called 'Highland dress' are controversial, and the subject is surrounded by a number of myths. The word 'tartan' now associated by most people with the precisely patterned, intricately woven and multicolored cloth, is in itself a matter for debate. Some claim it derives from the Scots-Irish words 'tuar' and 'tan' meaning color and district, respectively. Others feel tartans derivation was from the Middle French 'tiretaine' which referred to the quality of a material of a thin coarse linen and wool blend, while there is also an old Spanish word of a similar root 'tartana', which means 'shiver' and refers to a very fine quality cloth. The Gaelic word for tartan is 'breacan' meaning checkered, variegated or speckled.

In Scotland, by the 16^th century the word tartan was being widely used by English and Scots speakers alike to describe the distinctly woven cloth. In 1538, James V, father of Mary, Queen of Scots, purchased 'three ells of heland tartan'. However the name seems to have applied to a type and quality of cloth rather than to a design, a usage that changed gradually by the 18th century. Similarly the original practice of making tartan from light rather than warm material was also steadily reversed over many generations.

Now tartan is generally defined as a fabric woven in bands of colored yarn that repeat in sequence, not only across the width, but across the length of the cloth. A new hue is formed wherever bands of different colors cross. It is sometimes said that the modern form of dress bears little resemblance or relationship to that worn in the past, but this is not the case! All national costumes evolve over the centuries and that which is seen in Scotland, and worn by Scots in the Diaspora, is a stylised version of ancient garb.

Although tartan is perceived as being 'Scottish', it is simply a particular form of woven cloth that derives from Scotland and should never be considered exclusive to Scots or people of Scottish descent.

Generally Tartan is accorded as being relative to 4 distinct types; clan, family, district, and corporate. For more about these and color variations, thereof, please click here.

Tartan is, in fact, a universal material which can, and should, be worn in any form and by anyone who finds it attractive. Tartan and the pleasure people get by wearing it is one of Scotland's great gifts to the world

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