Big announcement: new full Tartan Library showing all variant colourways

[Nick Fiddes]

Oh, and can I just add... if anyone does spot any variants where they believe the yarn shades allocated are wrong, or could be better, please just drop us an email and we can easily look at it.

Thanks!

Nick

[creagdhubh]

Oh, and can I just add... if anyone does spot any variants where they believe the yarn shades allocated are wrong, or could be better, please just drop us an email and we can easily look at it.

Thanks!

Nick

Nick,

Thanks for bringing this point to the fore, as I have never seen the Macpherson 'hunting' tartan with brown coloured yarn. Some of the older kilts within the Clan Macpherson, expecially those worn by Cluny, his extended family, and Macpherson Chieftains, do contain what appears to be a 'natural' coloured yarn, but perhaps these were areas that once were more white and became soiled through the years. I am not sure of this.

I do like the overall look of the brown being added to the Macpherson 'hunting' tartan in place of the widely seen and adopted lighter grey, or white areas, next to the darker grey/black areas in the sett. I have not seen this specific colour combination of the dark grey and brown anywhere else before, and as far as I'm aware, this specific colour combination is not registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority. Very interesting nonetheless.

Here are a few examples of older Macpherson 'hunting' kilts with an abundancy of the 'natural,' or beige colour (with the exception of the Macpherson of Pitmain tartan - shown in the third photo, far right - which contains larger amounts of blue and white, and other Macphersons that are obviously wearing the more common Macpherson 'hunting' tartan in the 'ancient' or 'modern' colours from Strathmore, Lochcarron, or House of Edgar.):







Cheers,

[Nick Fiddes]

I do like the overall look of the brown being added to the Macpherson 'hunting' tartan in place of the widely seen and adopted lighter grey, or white areas, next to the darker grey/black areas in the sett. I have not seen this specific colour combination of the dark grey and brown anywhere else before, and as far as I'm aware, this specific colour combination is not registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority. Very interesting nonetheless.

Thanks for these references, which we'll take a look at and see if adjustment is in order.

But such colour combinations wouldn't generally be recorded, either by the STA, or by its successor the Scottish Register of Tartans. With the odd exception such as corporate tartans who define precise colours, most tartans are only recorded as a set of typical colours, and historically have always been quite broadly interpreted when produced as cloth. Its mostly the sett pattern that actually defines the unique tartan. Weavers produce these recorded colours in various 'shifted' ways: variants like Modern, Ancient, and Reproduction styles are those weavers' interpretations. These seldom appear in the official records. But they're still the correct tartan as traditionally conceived.

[creagdhubh]

Thanks for these references, which we'll take a look at and see if adjustment is in order.

But such colour combinations wouldn't generally be recorded, either by the STA, or by its successor the Scottish Register of Tartans. With the odd exception such as corporate tartans who define precise colours, most tartans are only recorded as a set of typical colours, and historically have always been quite broadly interpreted when produced as cloth. Its mostly the sett pattern that actually defines the unique tartan. Weavers produce these recorded colours in various 'shifted' ways: variants like Modern, Ancient, and Reproduction styles are those weavers' interpretations. These seldom appear in the official records. But they're still the correct tartan as traditionally conceived.

You are correct Nick, thank you for the clarification!

Cheers,