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The Story of Tartan

 

 

Discover the ancient history of tartan with the Worlds leading manufacturer, Lochcarron of Scotland. Weaving over 500 authentic tartans, we have a whole library of information on the traditional craft of weaving tartans to share with you.

 

As the World’s Leading Manufacturer of tartan, weaving over 500 authentic tartans since 1892, we have lots of information about tartan its patterns and its history. It is believed that the iconic piece of Scottish heritage originated in the Highlands of Scotland in the 1600s, where Scottish Highlanders used natural resources such as plants, roots, berries and trees to the dye wool used to weave simple checks. With the exception of a couple of lichen dyes that were only available on the west coast, most of the natural dyestuffs used were found throughout Scotland and the Highlands. However, by using different amounts of dyes lighter or darker colours could be created and by weaving different colours in different proportions each weaver could create their own unique tartan pattern.

 

For several centuries, tartan was used as everyday attire to cope with the everchanging Scottish weather conditions, keeping the wearer cool on a hot summer's day and shielding them from the harsh winds, rain and snow of winter. Overtime, tartan development continued to grow, to the point where wearing the pattern became a symbol of a specific geographical area and clan kinship. There was however a period in history where Highland clothes disappeared. In an act of rebellion against the English, Jacobitism formed and the Jacobite Rising, the attempt to restore the House of Stuart to the throne. Following the defeat of the Jacobite’s at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 to the House of Hanover, The Act of Proscription, the Dress Act came into law banning the wearing of Highland Clothes.

 

As a result of this the use of tartan declined and in the decades that followed many tartan patterns were lost however, the desire for tartan to rise again remained strong and the Act was Repealed in 1782. The weavers Wilsons of Bannockbane began collecting, designing and making tartans publishing their own Key pattern Book by 1819 and in 1815, the Highland Society of London would also set out to collect and record tartans. However, it was King George IV’s visit to Edinburgh in 1822 that popularised the wearing of tartan. In events choreographed by the famous Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott dignitaries, guests and even the King himself were encouraged to wear their tartans creating a spectacle of pattern and colour that brought tartan to the fore.

 

Centuries later, tartan is ever present in fashion and always extremely popular as Highland dress at weddings and formal events. There is a huge interest in clan and identity still to this day, with people all over the world researching their Scottish Heritage and purchasing a piece of their family clan tartan, or even registering their own place in Scottish History by using our Tartan Design Service to design their very own clan tartan.