An interesting early 19th century tartan coat

[figheadair]

Found this fine early-mid C19th tartan coat quite by chance.

The style of the coat is c1830. Notwithstanding the family tradition, I very much doubt that this was made by the original owner; the cloth certainly wasn't. The material is well dyed with evidence of high quality cochineal dyeing which suggests that it was produced on the mainland. Given the date it's possible that this is WoB material, or perhaps one of the smaller weaving forms working in the Borders at around the same time.

Although unique, the tartan is very similar to that from a narrow plaid I've examined and which is now in the textile collection of Herriot-Watt University in Galashiels. However, elements of that cloth, such as a herringbone selvedge mean that it is likely to be mid-late C18th.

[IsaacW]

Peter,

I have been waiting to hear your thoughts on this since you were asking about it on my Pinterest board! This jacket has been a favorite of mine for some time!

Isaac

[figheadair]

Peter,

I have been waiting to hear your thoughts on this since you were asking about it on my Pinterest board! This jacket has been a favorite of mine for some time!

Isaac

Ah! The penny drops . I have my finger is so many pies at the moment that I haven't realy had time to get around to this and do it justice. Pity it's just about as far aways as it can possibly be. It would be great to be able to handle the cloth, that would tell me a great deal.

As I said, the cloth was defnitely not made on Skye, of that I'm certain. The style reminds me of this one in the West Highland Museum.

[IsaacW]

Ah! The penny drops .

ith: Yup... that would be me.

Isaac

[The Q]

Having read the comments about the coat and owner on the web site and recently read a book on the highland clearances, I wonder if he the original owner was one of the lucky ones that received a new set of clothing and free passage as part of the landowners package to leave. The clothing maybe purchased in Glasgow before embarkation.

[figheadair]

Having read the comments about the coat and owner on the web site and recently read a book on the highland clearances, I wonder if he the original owner was one of the lucky ones that received a new set of clothing and free passage as part of the landowners package to leave. The clothing maybe purchased in Glasgow before embarkation.

Whilst that's possible I guess I think it unlikely. A coat such as this would have been an expensive item and I can't imagine a landowner opting to give the best to people he was evicting. Nor do I imagine that someone going to a new life overseas would have wanted something that was not of everyday/work use.