A Scottish Tartan Links More Than a Clan

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I was married in a tartan kilt and sensed the tradition and stature it symbolized. It's a McDonald tartan as my mum's families were Donaldson and Hay. "Mac" is the Gaelic "Mhic," signifying "son."

Until my wedding day, I had kept clear of kilt-wearing although my relatives spoke of our family tartans and I had visited Armadale Castle, the clan seat of McDonald, Lord of the Isles.

I can't remember ever seeing a photo of my father in a kilt other than his regimental uniform when he served with the Gordon Highlanders during the war. He was a tank driver in India. My brothers, as far as I am aware, have not worn the kilt. When going to weddings and the like, my father wore a suit, shirt, and tie.

My mum regularly wore tartan skirts and brooches and even had fridge magnets of her family's coat of arms.

It seems you cannot have tartans without clans, as the two are historically intertwined. However, according to the official Web site of Scotland’s national tourism organization, “The use of different patterns and colors of tartan to identify different families and clans is a very contentious issue amongst historians."

A Brief History

“In the absence of any real evidence to the contrary, it seems that this practice dates back only as far as the early 19th century. Prior to this, clansmen of all standing seemed to have worn a mixture of tartans without any sense of a standardized 'clan' design,” reads the organization's Web site, Visitscotland.com.

Tartan probably comes from a French word ‘tiretaine’ or ‘tiretane,’ and would not refer to the pattern but to a particular type of fabric, part wool, part linen.

Brian Wilton, on the Tartan Authority Web site, writes, "'Clan' is the Gaelic for 'family' and clans belonged to the Highlands. … Each clan had its own land-owning chief who leased it out to 'tacksmen' who then rented it to the tenant farmers within the clan who, when called upon, would turn out to fight in the chief's private army.”

This system changed when King Malcolm III (1058–1093) married the Saxon Princess Margaret, granddaughter of English King Edmund Ironside. She was a strong Catholic; the Celtic church‘s influence waned and English feudalism was adopted.

Clans dispersed, deportations were enforced, and their members became scattered around the world.

Wiltson says, “Clanship as such was often replaced with a wider, more fervent and often melancholic love of their birthplace. … Their values, their enthusiasm, their work ethic, all helped them thrive and the landscapes of their adopted countries are liberally sprinkled with names to remind them of their homeland.”

My father is from Aitken and Massie. Although Aitken is from the Viking times, it was in existence when the tartans were being linked to names.

Tartan Registry  

If you look at the Scottish Register of Tartans, whose Web site launched this February, you will see that clans, family, and names are but a small part of the classification of tartans. Others are district, company, or organization, any branch of the armed services, including volunteer regiments, and tartans with a direct Royal connection. There are also tartans taken from illustrations or artifacts or worn for a particular occasion and fancy tartans for the fashion trade.

For a fee, and if it passes certain criteria, you can register your own tartan. At present there is a short list of 10 new designs from nearly 100 entries from fashion and design students in Scotland for the Bringing Home the Tartan competition.

The Register of Tartans is a government offshoot. It intends to include all tartans by combining The Scottish Tartan Authority and the Scottish Tartans World Register.

Everyday Tartans

Men from different clans are unlikely to quarrel because of tartan identification, but there can be great warmth between two people when they find they are from the same clan.

There is no hierarchy of clans, but the Campbells are sometimes frowned upon as they fought on the side of the British redcoats at Culloden and in the massacre of Glencoe. However, most of that is recognized as being in the past and remains only as a distasteful history lesson.

In the 1960s and 70s there were still some tartan traditions in the highlands and islands, but now they remain excuses for a celebration, tourist attractions, or affirmations of a landowner's status.

The highland games bring out tartan-clad Scots to take part or simply dress up for the occasion. There are many of these contests all over Scotland. The Braemar Games, regularly attended by the royal family, are the most widely recognized.