Tartan of the month - November: What do yo see?

[Nick the DSM]

No progress??

I'm stumped as well.

[Gregmc]

It's that time again. Try this one.

Weeeeellllll, Montgomery or Cameron of Erracht.

Sorry, but the graphic is kinda poor. I put it on my graphics program and tried to pull some more color out of it, but . . . The thread count as is though looks very similar to those I've named.

[figheadair]

Weeeeellllll, Montgomery or Cameron of Erracht.

Sorry, but the graphic is kinda poor. I put it on my graphics program and tried to pull some more color out of it, but . . . The thread count as is though looks very similar to those I've named.

Unfortunately the photographic possibiltities were limited and that's the best I could do throught glass standing on leg

If you look at my previous post you'll see that this item pre-dates both Montgomery and the Erracht by at least 50 years. This is an asymmetric sett as mentioned elsewhere. The cloth is also very coarse suggesting homespun and locally dyed, woven and made.

[Cygnus]

Figheadair, like many others here, I'm not any good at this game (yet), but I wanted to chime in and say thank you for presenting us with these puzzles. I don't contribute to them often, but I follow them quite closely in the hope of learning a thing or two.

That said, I'll take a stab.

If it was worn at Culloden, it wasn't worn by anyone of great importance; though a well-tailored tartan coat probably wouldn't have been worn by any of the general rabble. With this in mind, I'd guess (based on my impression that the average highlander wore very simple clothing) that it was a coat/doublet worn by the 18th-Century equivalent of a non-commissioned officer - a low-level leader with some means but not enough to be leading a significant number of men.

Would the double-vented back imply that it was intended to be worn by someone while riding a horse?

You keep hinting at the quality of the cloth and the dye, saying that it was home-spun and -dyed... hmmm...

It seems I'll have to keep observing these threads a bit longer.

[figheadair]

There's really not much more that can be said about this but it does raise some important general historical points. If the labelling of the piece is correct, and the quality of the cloth suggests that it is, then we have a mid-C18th Highland jacket.

It would be wrong to assume that this was a middle ranking clansman’s coat as opposed to a chief/chieftain. Not all chiefs were wealthy, even those of large clans. Look for example at the clothing owned by John MacDougall in 1737 - http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...luation-63965/. If the West Highland Museum is open over Christmas I hope to be able to visit and find out some more information about the source of the coat which I suspect came from the Carmicheal Collection but little more may be on record that the Culloden claim.

I agree that the two vent style suggests that it could have been an equestrian style but that does not of course mean that it was worn as a Riding Coat. Again, we know so little about the use of various styles in the rural Highlands at that time and it’s entirely possible that this was worn with either a feileadh beag or trews.

With no owner or regional source identified the tartan remains an Unnamed C18th sett. Comparison of the quality of this jacket compared to the Coat from Culloden - http://www.scottishtartans.co.uk/Culloden_Tartan.pdf shows this to be a much rougher and all together poorer quality piece which to me implies that this one was a comparatively cheaper item. If only we could go back in time with a camera. What is remarkable is that this piece has remained in obscurity until recently and offers hope that there are other Culloden era items yet to be discovered. I hope to be able to photograph the piece in detail later this month.

Figheadair, like many others here, I'm not any good at this game (yet), but I wanted to chime in and say thank you for presenting us with these puzzles. I don't contribute to them often, but I follow them quite closely in the hope of learning a thing or two.

That said, I'll take a stab.

If it was worn at Culloden, it wasn't worn by anyone of great importance; though a well-tailored tartan coat probably wouldn't have been worn by any of the general rabble. With this in mind, I'd guess (based on my impression that the average highlander wore very simple clothing) that it was a coat/doublet worn by the 18th-Century equivalent of a non-commissioned officer - a low-level leader with some means but not enough to be leading a significant number of men.

Would the double-vented back imply that it was intended to be worn by someone while riding a horse?

You keep hinting at the quality of the cloth and the dye, saying that it was home-spun and -dyed... hmmm...

It seems I'll have to keep observing these threads a bit longer.

[creagdhubh]

December is fast approaching...so Peter, what tartan is this!!!

[creagdhubh]

Wonderful read, thanks Peter!

[turpin]

So, for now we call it the Gan Anim tartan?

[figheadair]

So, for now we call it the Gan Anim tartan?

Gu dearbh. Aon eile.

[KenB]

Peter, thanks again for providing such interesting challenges and great historic insights on the intricacies of tartan. Can't wait until you post your next challenge.