There are two main schools of thought on the origin of tartans. One view is that way back in the mists of time every Scottish family had a distinctive tartan pattern, the colours of which were obtained from the plants which grew only in their locality. The opposing view states that clans, kilts and tartan were an early 19th-century invention which the Victorians developed into an enormous cult. Somewhere between these two schools lies the truth.

What is well recorded is that the Celts were noted for their exuberant sense of colour, Roman observers referring to their striped, variegated or chequered clothing and tattoos. The simple two-colour checks of two thousand years ago have evolved through a progression of cross-checks into a profusion of differing patterns which today themselves number well over two thousand. ‘Tartan’ itself is a word originally imported from Europe, the Gaels using the term breacan, meaning ‘speckled’ or ‘multicoloured’. The work ‘plaid’ is from the Gaelic word for blanket, being either a bedcover or a length of cloth perhaps 12 feet by 5 feet which was swathed around the wearer and belted at the waist, hence the term ‘belted plaid’. The essentially white-based, patterned household blankets which went with the early Scots settlers to North America evoked an admiration for the pretty ‘plaid patterns’, and in time ‘plaid’ itself became a synonym for tartan and of arguably older origin.

Gaelic poetry and recorded observations, back to at least the 16th century, associate certain setts of tartan with specific families, but no more than a handful. However, tartan was of sufficient importance by the time of the 1745 Rising that its aftermath saw a severely shaken government rush through an Act of Parliament in 1746 which banned the wearing of ‘tartan, kilt and plaid’ by all civilian men and boys other than landowners. That Act was not repealed until 1782, and in the ensuing period of restoration for Scotland’s shattered pride a series of cultural traditions were revived or invented which served to confuse the historical realities concerning what was to become the national dress for all Scotland.

Tartans and Highland dress were not regimented until the Scottish regiments themselves adopted standard-pattern uniforms, and quaint Victorian customs such as the wearing of ‘dress’ tartans after 6 p.m. do not detract from the venerable pedigree of non-military Highland dress, stretching back at least three hundred years.

It is an old Highland tradition to encourage quests to wear our unique mode of dress. We should regard it as a compliment. For the wearer who has no tartan associated with his surname, there are certain options available:

1. Wear that which is commected to your maternal or any other of your family lines.
2. Wear the sett appropriate to the district from which your family comes or in which your surname was known.
3. Wear the Jacobite or Caledonian setts, or even the Government or ‘Black Watch’ pattern if you are not pro-Stuart.
4. Wear whichever you prefer, but remember that when you sport a tartan you are proclaiming allegiance to that chief and his clan. Your loyalties may be tested!
   
   

   ABERDEEN

   ANDERSON

   ANGUS

   ARMSTRONG

   ATHOLL DISTRICT

   AUSTIN (and KEITH)

   BAIRD

   BALMORAL

   BARCLAY

   Dress BARCLAY

   BLACK WATCH (42nd Regimental)

   BLAIR LOGIE

   BRODIE

   Hunting BRODIE

   BRUCE

   BUCHANAN

   CAMERON

   CAMERON of Erracht

   CAMERON of Lochiel

   CAMPBELL of Argyll

   Dress CAMPBELL of Argyll

   CAMPBELL of Breadalbane

   CAMPBELL of Cawdor

   CAMPBELL of Loudoun

   CARNEGIE

   CHISHOLM

   Hunting CHISHOLM;,

   CLERGY

   COCKBURN

   COLQUHOUN

   CRANSTON

   CRAWFORD

   CRIEFF

   CUMMING

   Hunting CUMMING

   CUNNINGHAM

   DALZIEL

   DAVIDSON

   DAVIDSON of Tulloch

   DOUGLAS

   DOUGLAS (Grey)

   DRUMMOND (Same as GRANT)

   Old DRUMMOND

   DRUMMOND of Strathallan

   DUNBAR

   DUNBLANE

   DUNCAN

   DUNDAS

   DUNDEE

   DYCE

   EDINBURGH

   ELLIOT

   ERSKINE

   FARQUHARSON

   FERGUSON

   FERGUSON of Balquhidder

   FLETCHER

   FLETCHER of Dunans

   FORBES

   FORT WILLIAM

   FORTY-SECOND (BLACK WATCH)

   Dress FORTY-SECOND

   FRASER

   Hunting FRASER

   GALLOWAY DISTRICT

   Dress GALLOWAY (Red)

   Hunting GALLOWAY (Green)

   GLASGOW

   GLEN LYON DISTRICT

   GLEN ORCHY DISTRICT

   GORDON

   Dress GORDON

   Old GORDON

   GOW and MACGOWAN

   GRAHAM of Monteith

   GRAHAM of Montrose

   GRANT

   GRANT of Glenmoriston

   GUNN

   Old GUNN

   HAMILTON

   HAY

   HENDERSON and MACKENDRICK

   HOME

   HOPE-VERE

   HUNTLY DISTRICT

   INNES

   JACOBITE

   JOHNSTON

   KEITH and AUSTIN

   KENNEDY

   KERR

   LAMONT

   LAUNDER

   LEITH-HAY

   LENNOX

   LESLIE

   Dress LESLIE (Red)

   LINDSAY

   LIVINGSTONE

   LOGAN or MACLENNAN

   MACALISTER

   MACALPINE

   MACARTHUR

   MACAULAY

   Hunting MACAULAY

   MACBEAN

   MACBETH

   MACCALLUM

   Old MACCALLUM

   MACDIARMID

   MACDONALD of the Isles

   Dress MACDONALD of the Isles

   Old MACDONALD of the Isles

   MACDONALD of Sleat

   Dress MACDONALD of Sleat

   Old MACDONALD of Sleat

   MACDONALD (or MACIAN) of Ardnamurchan

   MACDONALD of Clanranald

   Hunting MACDONALD of Clanranold

   MACDONALD of Kingsburgh

   MACDONALD of Staffa (or Boisdale)

   MACDONNELL of Glengarry

   Hunting MACDONNELL of Glengarry

   MACDONNELL of Keppoch

   MACDOUGALL

   MACDUFF

   Hunting MACDUFF

   MACEWAN

   MACFARLANE

   MACFARLANE (Black and White)

   MACFIE

   MACGILLIVRAY

   MACGOWAN or GOW

   MACGREGOR

   MACGREGOR Rob Roy

   MACHARDY

   MACIAN (See MACDONALD)

   MACINNES

   Hunting MACINNES

   MACINROY

   MACINTOSH

   MACINTYRE

   Dress MACINTYRE (Red)

   MACINTYRE of Glenorchy

   MACIVOR

   MACKAY

   MACKENDRICK or HENDERSON

   MACKENZIE

   MACKINLAY

   MACKINNON

   Hunting MACKINNON

   MACLACHLAN

   Dress MACLACHLAN

   Old MACLACHLAN

   MACLAINE of Lochbuie

   MACLAREN

   MACLEAN of Duart

   Hunting MACLEAN of Duart

   MACLENNAN or LOGAN

   MACLEOD of Harris (and of Skye)

   MACLEOD of Harris (Black and White)

   MACLEOD of Harris (Black and Red)

   MACLEOD of Lewis (and of Raasay and Assynt)

   Dress MACLEOD of Lewis

   MACMILLAN

   Hunting MACMILLAN

   MACNAB

   MACNAUGHTON

   MACNEIL of Barra

   MACNEILL of Gigha (and of Colonsay)

   MACNICOL or NICHOLSON

   MACPHERSON

   Old ‘Hunting’ MACPHERSON (Grey ground)

   Dress MACPHERSON (White)

   MACQUARRIE

   MACQUEEN

   MACRAE (Green)

   Dress MACRAE (Red)

   Hunting MACRAE

   MACRAE of Conchra

   MACTAGGART

   MACTAVISH

   MACTHOMAS (Ancient and Modern)

   MALCOLM

   MATHESON

   Hunting MATHESON

   MAXWELL

   MELVILLE

   MENZIES (Red and White)

   MENZIES (Black and Red)

   MENZIES (Black and White)

   Hunting MENZIES

   MIDDLETON

   MONTGOMERY

   Old MONTGOMERY

   MORRISON

   MOUAT

   MULL DISTRICT

   MUNRO

   Dress MUNRO (Red)

   MURRAY of Atholl

   MURRAY of Tullibardine

   NAPIER

   NICHOLSON or MACNICOL

   OGILVIE

   Hunting OGILVIE (Green)

   OLIPHANT

   PAISLEY

   RAMSAY

   RATTRAY

   ROB ROY (MacGregor)

   ROBERTSON

   Hunting ROBERTSON

   ROSE

   Dress ROSE (Red)

   ROSS

   Hunting ROSS

   ROXBURGH DISTRICT

   RUSSELL

   RUTHVEN

   SCOTT

   Hunting SCOTT

   SCOTT (Black and White)

   SINCLAIR

   Hunting SINCLAIR

   SKENE

   SKENE (Yellow stripe)

   Royal STEWART (Red)

   Royal STEWART (White, Prince Charles Edward)

   Dress STEWART

   Hunting STEWART

   STEWART (Black ground)

   STEWART (Black and White)

   STEWART of Appin

   Old STEWART of Appin

   STEWART of Atholl

   STEWART of Galloway

   STUART of Bute

   STRATHEARN

   SUTHERLAND

   Old SUTHERLAND

   TWEEDSIDE DISTRICT

   URQUHART

   Old URQUHART

   WALLACE

   Old WALLACE

   WEMYSS

   Old WEMYSS

~ taken from Collins Guide To 'Scots Kith & Kin' A Guide to the Clans & Surnames of Scotland

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