It is a common North American misperception that the Celts are the original inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland. Period. Hence we have the Boston Celtics (the name admittedly Americanized to “Sell-tics”) reflecting the community’s Irish heritage.
Some of us may go so far as to recognize a Celtic (pronounced Kell-tic) affiliation to the Welsh and the Brits, but few, it seems, realize that the Celtic civilization originated in the heart of continental Europe, so that many Europeans rightly claim Celtic heritage.
Archaeological evidence puts the first Celts, deemed Proto-Celts, in Austria. By the time the Romans reached and conquered Britain, Celtic cultures had spread to the British Isles; the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal); much of Central Europe (where they were termed Gauls; today, Gaul approximates France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, parts of northern Italy and parts of the Netherlands and Germany ); and as far east as Galatia (modern Turkey). Yep, that’s right – Celts in Turkey!
Recently, the people of the French Atlantic island of Ouessant had a tartan designed and registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans (reference no. 10236) to reflect their Celtic heritage. It is, in fact, the eleventh Breton tartan to be registered.
Ouessant (in Breton, the island is called Enez Eusa; in English, Ushant) lies about 30 kilometres off the coast of Brittany, a region occupying a large peninsula in northwest France. The Eusa tartan is a district tartan, for which the thread count is K32 Y32 R32 G6 B14 W14 K14. The Register states the red, yellow and black represent the flag of the Isle of Ushant; and the black, green and white check represent Brittany.
According to regional counsellor Jean-Yves Cozan, the blue and green elements honour the robes of ancient Celtic druids and bards, and the tartan takes it colours from those of the Eussf clan, “an ancient family that gave its name to Ouessant.”
Lest you think the tartan is a tourism promotion ploy, Cozan stipulates: "This tartan is not a gimmick; it's an act of cultural identity to assert that we have roots.”
Who are those crazy Celts? They’re Scots, and Irishmen, Welshmen and Brits, and Frenchmen, Germans, the Spanish, the Swiss, Italians and Turks – and people from points in between. And in the 21st century, they’re Canadians, Americans, and Japanese.
If you feel you can claim a Celtic heritage but not an affiliation with a Scottish clan, there is a tartan just for you.
Designed by American kiltmaker Jared Hammond , woven by Fraser & Kirkbright of Vancouver, B.C., this “one tartan fits all” or universal tartan is appropriately called Celtic Pride.
The thread count for this fashion tartan (STA reference no. 6267) is LO8 G86 K44 G16 K4 WW4 GO6 G20. It is available from TartanHouseCanada.com.
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