Vestiarium Scoticum - the tartan Pandora's box

[figheadair]

The Vestiarium Scoticum was the first book to be published dedicated to tartan, it opened the flood gates and one could argue that things have gone downhill since this was published.

[Mike_Oettle]

That is an interesting viewpoint. But when you consider that many (or most) of the tartans it includes were figments of the authors’ imaginations, I would suggest that later works are more reliable, even if not as accurate or as comprehensive as one might like.

[figheadair]

That is an interesting viewpoint. But when you consider that many (or most) of the tartans it includes were figments of the authors’ imaginations, I would suggest that later works are more reliable, even if not as accurate or as comprehensive as one might like.

Later works were certainly more reliable insofar as they generally included setts that existed prior to the VS although their accuracy was often wanting. This was often the result of early printing inconsistancies, bleeding of the plates' colours, that resulted in all sorts of variations that led to later confusion.

[NPG]

Despite its dubious nature, I've always found it as an interesting historical document. Not for its accuracy of course, but because it is an example of what I like to call "invented history". The fact that it a commercial document that filled a need/demand at the time makes it all the more interesting as it was a history people were willing and wanted to buy into.

[figheadair]

One of the interesting things about the VS, if interesting is the right word, is the fact that if one takes in the earlier Cromarty Mss into account then this masterpiece of deception took nearly 15 years to get off the ground. So far as I know, this was the first example of tartans being designed by non-weavers which goes some way to explaining some of the incosistancies and often garish designs.

[Jock Scot]

I am very far from a tartan expert in any sense, but as an interested observer I find the whole story of tartans rather amusing, particularly the shady antics of the two brothers. Personally I have no problem with their designs, from a technical point, they are what they are and well, someone had to design the tartans, so why not a brace of con artists? Scotland's tourist industry thrives on not so much "invented" history, but certainly an "adjusted" version of our history, so tartans are a continuation of that in my view. Strangely, I and many Scottish kilt wearers of our chosen tartan, whilst being mildly aware of some of our Clan tartans' dubious start in life are still very possessive of it nonetheless. I also think most are blissfully unaware of their tartan's-----any tartan---- origin! Which brings me to the questions Peter.

As I have never seen what is contained within those pages, how many designs are contained within and how many of the designs of tartans in those books are actually produced and worn today?

[Pleater]

I have heard that there were people employed by the early silent movie producers to throw in plot twists, escaped gorillas, runaway vehicles, men carrying unwieldy objects, to increase the pace of the storyline and make it more interesting to watch, even if entirely unlikely.

The VS was perhaps the equivalent of one of those introductions,

Anne the Pleater