Black Watch Tartan 1750's

[Orvis]

Check out Peter's/Figheadair's research papers on tartan color and the tartan of Lord Loudoun's Highlanders (1745-48) at https://www.scottishtartans.co.uk/ . Based on his decades of research on 18th c. tartans, you will find him the most knowledgeable person on that subject. I would listen to what he has to say. If you decide to take him up on his offer of assistance getting custom Government tartan woven in correct shades, he can be of great help in choosing yarns of the correct shades to make your tartan correct. Additionally, if you plan to used the tartan to make a double-width joined plaid (correct for the 1750-60 period), Peter can assist by advising the weaver on setting up the web for an off-set weave with correct herringbone selvedge and a selvedge mark. Again, see his research papers to learn more about these features. Peter can also advise you on how to get tartan that resembles the "hard" tartan of the 18th c., although it is not possible to recreate it today.

As far as government tartan of the mid-18th c., which was worn by the 42nd/Black Watch as well as the other newly raised regiments needed for the Seven Years/French & Indian War, I am of the opinion that the colors were somewhere between what is termed "modern" and "ancient" shades today. Because of the tremendous amount of tartan required by all of the Highland regiments, and because this was produced by many hand-dyers and weavers contracted in Scotland, and because the dyeing was being done by hand using plant-based dyes, there were bound to be variations from one batch to another. With regard to the weavers, there were also probably variations in the size of the set, and even in the sett design, from one weaver to another. This situation started to be stabilized when the firm of William Wilson and Sons was organized in the 1750's as an umbrella group for the many tartan producers, until Wilson's eventually took over all government tartan contracts and came up with a process to uniformly dye woolen yarns from one batch to another. If you read Peter's book on the Wilson firm ("The 1819 Key Pattern Book: One Hundred Original Tartans"), the fact is revealed that the tartan for the 42nd RHR was woven in three qualities (varying degrees of fineness): Privates (least fine), Sergeants (medium fine) and Officers (most fine), as well as in a red-based musicians tartan. Granted, the Wilson's records from which this information was extracted was from the early 19th c., but it should be borne in mind that tartan weaving was a very conservative craft and not much would have changed between the 1750s and 1819, particularly with tartan woven for Army contracts.

Anyway, there is some information to consider, but I believe Peter will have the final word on what you're asking about.