Why Might A Clan NOT Have A Tartan?

[Guinness>water]

Most folks, when they think of Scotland, automatically think tartan, kilts and blue bonnets. I did this also before I learned that there is a big differance between the Highlands of Scotland and the Lowlands, two very differant cultures, dress, and language.

[PiperChick]

This is really helpful. Thanks to all of you. Like Guinness water, I had some big misconceptions about how this whole clan thing "works". My maternal grandmother was the one that had the Scots-Irish lineage, and I remember very little from in way of cultural education. I never saw a Creighton/ Crichton crest as a kid, or much evidence of anything much around that was Scottish at all, except for some occasional shortbread. I know her family settled in Pennsylvania, but know no surnames past hers, or that that family was even from the lowlands (though this might explain my favorites in Scotch!) I only remember how excited she was when I began to learn to play pipes as a teenager.

Is it the "norm" for a woman who marries into another clan (in this case, Douglas) to still wear her "maiden" tartan? Or perhaps a clan crest kilt pin on a Douglas tartan?

[creagdhubh]

Most folks, when they think of Scotland, automatically think tartan, kilts and blue bonnets. I did this also before I learned that there is a big differance between the Highlands of Scotland and the Lowlands, two very differant cultures, dress, and language.

Precisely.