The History of Tartan.....Illustrated.

Art work on this page is in the public domain.
Artist Robert Ranald McIan.....1803-1856.

Tartan is very symbolic of Scotland and has been used by the Scots for hundreds of years, all over most of the world people who see tartan immediately associate it with Scotland.

It is as deeply embedded in our culture as the heather covered mountains which surround us.

It's origins go way back to the time of the Celts, the early inhabitants of the Scottish Highlands. These people helped to develop the Clans of Scotland and their associated tartans.

Attempts by England, were made to outlaw it, but like the rest of Scotland, it survived.

A full generation passed where it was "illegal" by English standards, to wear tartan, the reason for this, was in the most part, due to the support the Highland Chiefs had shown in the Jacobite rebellions.

You can find more on that subject on other pages in my Scottish section.

This ban continued until the British Empire had grown and required greater numbers of soldiers for defence.

The English government did an about turn and as a bid to recruit the mad savages from the Highlands ( or so they thought), agreed that these soldiers could wear their tartans.

As time progressed and various Kings and Queens had ruled the country, the notion that the Highlanders were a savage bunch of barbarians gave way to a much more romantic view, portraying them as they were, in truth, the descendants of The Celts and the keepers of the beautiful colours and patterns these ancient people had loved to use.

As to why the Celts used tartan, is more difficult to establish. It is probable that they used it to identify the importance of an individual. The more stripes, the more important the person.

In the early days tartan was not made into kilts as we see them now.
It was made into a Plaid.

At this point it might be helpful to point out that the words plaid and tartan are not interchangeable.
Tartan is the design woven into the cloth.
Plaid is a length of this cloth used as a garment.

Plaids were at this point in history a single piece of cloth, worn over a tunic or shirt, gathered up and fastened round the waist with a belt, and secured at the shoulder by a brooch.

Here is our Highlander dressed in his Plaid.
Does he look like a savage to you:-)

Very easy to get in to.
Just lay your belt on the ground, spread out your Plaid, arrange it into nice pleats, lie on top of it, have a wee roll about, secure your belt and that's you dressed for the day:-)

Very versatile, the Plaid was also used as a blanket at night, unroll yourself and there you have an instant bed in the heather.
Puts a whole new meaning on the word "sleeping bag".

These Highlanders are pretty smart, wear your bedding and leave your hands free, to hang onto your Claymore in case a Redcoat should try to molest you.

Woman also wore Plaid, but not as either of the ways the men wore it.....remember we don't have Womans's Liberation yet:-)

They wore it over another garment as a shawl known as an Arisaid.
This often covered nearly all of the lady in question, covering her head and dropping to ankle level.

Here she is, looking very respectable.
Later on long dresses were made from tartan and later still the Kilt as we know it now, appeared.

This is an early version of the Kilt.
He still has his Plaid but worn as a separate garment.
A variation of this is what you see, most often, when you look at a Scot playing the Bagipes in public.

By the 18th century Trews began to appear.
Trews are simply trousers made from tartan material, or perhaps simple is not the term to use as these Trews were often very elaborate, with gold braiding and other decorative features.

As to why, some of the Highlanders chose to wear them, is not really known.
More comfortable? Warmer? Less "barbaric looking" when visiting south of the border? You choose:-)

Ready to see a real Scot in his kilt??

You are sure???

Ok then, click next to find him....enjoy:-)

Jeaney