When is a tartan, a plaid? A plaid, a tartan?

The Tartan Weaver's Guide

Prior to receiving this question I had maintained that a tartan was a design registered with the Court of Lord Lyons in Britain, representative of a Scottish clan, a military regiment, a corporation, even a fashion design (such as Burberry). To me, everything else was just plaid.

It turns out I wasn't wrong, but it wasn't the whole story either.

Historically, a plaid is a garment, and originates in the Gaelic word for blanket. Ancient Scots wore belted and unbelted plaids, or large blankets gathered around the waist or as large shawls. As modern Highland dress, plaid refers to any tailored or untailored garment about the shoulders. Regardless of the pattern or colour, plaid traditionally refers to clothing.

Plaids, the garments, were often of a pattern, including tartan patterns. Tartans are representations of clan membership. The combination of colours, the pattern in which they are woven and thus intersect, and the resulting pattern of colour tones and half-tones make up a tartan. Typically tartans are symmetrical, the pattern repeating in setts or at regular intervals, although some tartans, and in particular old unnamed tartans, can be asymmetrical.

Thefreedictionary.com describes a tartan as "any of numerous textile patterns consisting of stripes of varying widths and colors crossed at right angles against a solid background, each forming a distinctive design worn by the members of a Scottish clan."

While accurate, this definition isn't complete. There are also Irish tartans and tartans designed and produced for military, corporate and national purposes. Irish clans did not typically have clan tartans, unless they emigrated to Scotland and either established a clan there or came under the protection of a Scottish clan.

The Irish tartans available commercially were commissioned by a U.K. weaving company, are named after the Irish counties and not registered with any tartan authority.

In North America, any textile in a pattern of criss-crossing lines of varying colour and width, that is not a tartan, and thus not registered as representative of membership in a Scottish clan, is called a plaid. But this is a North American term, not a historically correct term for either a plaid or a tartan.

"The Eagle" portrays early Scots

Let's start at the ending, so that I can say I liked almost everything about this movie... except the ending.

 

I wasn't dismayed by the fact that there were no CGI or 3-D or other extra-special effects. I am of the generation for whom British novelist Rosemary Sutcliffe's book The Eagle of the Ninth (published 1954) was required reading in elementary school. So, just as it is it is a much-better representation of that story than would have been available before now.

The Eagle of the Ninth is a childrens book, and the first of a fiction series that depicts the Roman occupation of Britain in the second century AD. The movie, The Eagle, is rated PG and intended as family entertainment with just enough blood and gore to amuse 12-year-old boys in these early years of the 21^st century. (To wit, the meal of a raw dead rat; one obvious decapitation resulting is a rolling head; several bloody battles and two off-screen throat-slittings.)

For the most part, the film was true to the original work. There were a reasonable number of Celts, Druids, and Picts portrayed battling a beleaguered, smaller number of Roman military and Romans-turned-Caledonians, rather than hordes of any of these races. No gratuitous love story or female characters were added, and in that it was faithful to history as well. There were few if any Roman ladies present in northern England and men posted there generally took local "wives" to bed and fathered mixed-race children who were abandoned when their dads were recalled to Rome.

Pictavia, as the Romans called the land occupied by a tribe they named Picts, is said to have merged with another northern tribe to form the Kingdom of Alba, which we now call Scotland. The Picts never called themselves such; Rome gave names to the people and places they conquered. We don't know what the Picts called themselves but in the movie, they are referred to as the Seal People.

The "seal people" are a reference to an ancient folkloric tale about shape-shifting inhabitants of the Orkney Islands who were said to be able to change their shape from that of a seal to human, so as to mate with human females. These "silkies" or "selkies" were the inspiration for the far-northern inhabitants wearing seal furs and coated in bluish mud that the movie portrays as having devastated the ninth Roman legion.

There were a few token ginger-haired Picts and Caledonians, but if you were looking for a lot of red-haired wives and bairns you would be mistaken, as the red hair for which the Scots and Irish are famous was the result of the Viking blood introduced violently into their cultures some time later.

Most of the action scenes appear to have been shot in Hungary, while the panoramic scenes Esca and Marcus view after they travel past Hadrian's Wall were shot in Scotland. Unfortunately the time of the year portrayed appears to be early spring, as there was still snow on the ground in places and the rain was incessant. So if you are hoping to see green and purple Scottish Highland vistas in the film, you will be disappointed. The film does the Scottish tourism folks no favours.

As was Sutcliffe's intent, screenwriter Jeremy Block's words deliver a message: Rome is bad, freedom is good and Romans are mean, old men who take away the freedom of the poor Britons. At one point, Roman Marcus is reduced to the position of slave, while Esca becomes his supposed master and all manner of behaviour and acts are inflicted upon Marcus with the end result that the young Roman comes to appreciate the plight of Esca and all Roman slaves everywhere.

All in all, I have two major criticisms of this movie.

First, I was expecting British accents for the Roman characters. Maybe I am just conditioned to expect Brit voices when it comes to Romans, having watched and loved all 22 episodes of the BBC television series, Rome. But I just couldn't get past the American and Canadian accents (nod to Donald Sutherland) whenever the "Romans" spoke.

As for the ending... blah. Marcus the Roman and Esca the Briton walk off into the sunset as equals, after Marcus delivers a snipe to a snot-nosed Roman in a toga about his former slave's better understanding of freedom and honour. I pictured Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo. It was lame. And it set up the audience for a sequel that will never be filmed.

Despite its many good qualities, this movie will never make enough at the box office to justify the expense of shooting the next book in Sutcliffe's series. But as for depicting a realistic picture of ancient Scotland, it didn't do badly at all.

There are so many tartans listed for my clan. What is the difference?

Royal Stewart

A clan may have one or more setts and, to confuse things even more, may have variations on colours within a sett.

Generally, there is a BASIC sett, such as Royal Stewart (shown at the left, top). There may be a DRESS Stewart, (below) in which white replaces the red, that is typically work on formal occasions or for evening wear. Dress tartans generally employ more white as they are based on a ladies version of the tartan.

Dress Stewart

A HUNTING sett were supposedly developed as a darker alternative that could be worn as "camouflage" while hunting, thus we have the Hunting Stewart (shown to the right, bottom).

Then we have the ANCIENT tartan in which the colours are supposed to replicate the way the tartan would have look when 18th-century or older yarns would have been dyed using vegetable- and mineral-based dyes. The MODERN versions employ more modern yarn-dying techniques that allow for more vibrant colours,

Stewart Hunting

If you're not confused enough, let me tell you about REGIONAL tartans, such as MacLeod of Lewis and MacLeod of Harris. Both are within the MacLeod clan, but have distinctively different tartan setts indicating that there members originated in one region under the control of the MacLeod clan.

What is a sett?
A sett is the unique pattern of colour blocks and lines that make up a distinctive tartan. One "repeat" of the pattern is called the sett. The width of the repeat makes no difference, so long as the pattern within the sett is accurate and consistent. On our listings we indicate the width of the sett, or the measurement from the first colour line of the pattern to the last, where it starts to repeat, in inches. 

If you have other questions, feel free to contact me at vicki@tartanhousecanada.com

What if I can't find a tartan I am "entitled" to wear?

Honestly, there is no "tartan police." In Canada, where 4,709,850 Canadians, or 15% of the population, listed themselves as of Scottish origin in the 2006 census, the claims to entitlement to wear one tartan over the other become irrelevant.

If you're one for exactitude, however, there are a number of tartans anyone can wear - so-called "universal" tartans. Some of the older universal tartans include: Hunting Stewart, Black Watch, Caledonian, and Jacobite. More modern tartans that can be worn universally are Scottish National, Brave Heart Warrior, Flower of Scotland and Pride of Scotland.

Many of these newer tartans include purple, because there were designed with the global Scottish wedding market in mind. Another universal tartan is Celtic Pride, designed by an American kiltmaker who registered the pattern with the intent that anyone of Celtic origin - Scot, Welsh, Irish or Brit - would have a tartan they were "entitled" to wear with pride.

You can see the wide range of tartans available from Tartan House Canada by clicking here.

How Canada came to celebrate Tartan Day - April 6

From a letter written by Mrs. Jean L. MacKarcher Watson, past- president of Federation of Scottish Clans In Nova Scotia:

"I have read different articles on Tartan Day and frankly although many are delightful I wish to clarify once and for all how Tartan Day started.

At a meeting of the Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia in the courthouse rooms in the town of Antigonish, (pronounced; Anti-go-nish) a discussion arose as to how few heroes we have in this day and age and who should our children look to as a hero or a person who could be held up as someone you would like to pattern yourself after.

Many names of Scots who helped settle this country were mentioned. After much discussion it was felt that many young people did not have much interest in their history or backgrounds. It was felt the Scots who came to Nova Scotia to settle and all of Canada as well showed what hard work, determination and faith in God could do.

We felt we should have a day strictly in remembrance of these people.

Our minutes read as follows: March 9, 1986 Motion by Bill Crowell, President of Clan Cameron and seconded by Jean Watson, President of Clan Farquharson... "that we establish a day known as Scot Day". Following discussion this was amended to read 'Tartan Day'". "This to be a day chosen to promote Scottish Heritage by the most visible means. The wearing of Scottish attire especially in places where the kilt is not ordinarily worn, i.e.; work, play or worship... in honour of our forebearers."

I was asked to find a date that would start the Scottish events for the year. April 6th was chosen. Not because it was the same date as the Declaration of Arbroath but because this date stood for the things we felt important to all.

I was given the job to publicize the date. I wrote to every Legislative Assembly Member across Canada individually and to all the Scottish Societies and Clans I could find asking their support. This was a labour of over ten years work.

In ten years Tartan Day spread from coast to coast thanks to all the various organizations Canada-wide who got behind this worthwhile day.

Following the establishment of the day in Ontario word started to spread across the U.S.A. and we were delighted to have them take up the cause.

Tartan Day is celebrated on April 6th and has been legislatively recognized by all provinces except Newfoundland and Quebec."

Canada's tartans - official and traditional

ALBERTA provincial tartan was designed by Alison Lamb and Ellen Neilsen, two ladies from the Edmonton Rehabilitation Society for the Handicapped - a voluntary agency providing work for handicapped students learning to operate handlooms. Lamb was the society's Executive Director and Neilsen, its weaving instructor. It was given official recognition by an Act of the Legislature assented to March 30, 1961. The predominant colours are green for the province's forests and gold for its fields of wheat. Other attributes of the province are represented by blue for the skies and lakes, pink for the wild rose, and black for the mineral resources of coal and petroleum.
International Tartan Index number: 2055 Category: district


BRITISH COLUMBIA It was originally suggested that Canada´s westernmost province be called New Caledonia, indicative of its Scottish heritage. But, as there was an island in the South Pacific already known by that name, the name British Columbia was confirmed by official proclamation in 1858. The tartan was designed by Earl K. Ward of Victoria, B.C., in 1967 as part of the 1966-67 centennial celebrations marking the creation of the province as a colony. In 1974, it was officially adopted as the provincial tartan. The Pacific Dogwood is the official flower of the province and is represented by white in the tartan. Green is for the forests which cover an area twice as big as all of the New England states and New York state; the blue signifies the Pacific Ocean; the red, the maple leaf; the gold of the crown and sun in the provincial arms. The tartan was entered in the Lyon Court Book No.18 on January 8, 1969.
ITI number: 808 Category: district


CAPE BRETON Cape Breton Island lies off the southeast shore of the province of Nova Scotia, and is a part of that province. But like most Easterners, Cape Bretoners are an independent lot who take pride in their unique heritage. In 1907, Mrs. Lillian Crewe Walsh, of Glace Bay, Cape Breton, wrote a poem in praise of Cape Breton. She gave that poem to a Mrs.Grant in 1957 who designed a tartan that reflected the poem: Cape Breton Island tartan - Grey for our Cape Breton Steel - Gold for the golden sunsets shining bright on the lakes of Bras D'or - Green for our lofty mountains,our valleys and our fields - To show us, God's hand has lingered - To Bless Cape Breton's shores.
ITI number: 1883 Category: district 


MANITOBA Hugh Kirkwood Rankine, who was born in Winnipeg of Scottish parents, designed Manitoba´s official tartan. It's said that during a leave in Scotland during the Second World War, he became interested in tartan, on his return to Canada learned how to weave and, in time, produced this 'history in cloth' which was given Royal Assent in 1962. Manitoba provincial tartanThe red squares represent the Red River Settlement; the green squares signify the natural resources of the province; the azure blue squares represent Lord Selkirk, the founder of the Red River Settlement; the dark green lines are for Manitoba's multi-cultural population which has enriched the life of the province; the golden lines signify the grain and other agricultural products of Manitoba.
ITI number: 144 Category: district


MAPLE LEAF tartan is an 'unofficial' Canadian tartan, in that no legislation has been passed by the Canadian parliament pronouncing it to be an officially recognized emblem of Canada. However, in 2008, it was registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority when national Tartan Day was instituted. This asymmetrical tartan was designed by David Weiser in 1964 in anticipation of the centennial celebration of Canada's confederation in 1867. According to Heritage Canada: "The colours of the maple leaf through the changing seasons became the basis for the tartan designed by David Weiser in 1964. Known officially as the Maple leaf tartan, the pattern incorporates the green of the leaves' summer foliage, the gold which appears in early autumn, the red which appears with the coming of the first frost, and the brown tones of the fallen leaves."
ITI number: 2043 Category: district


NEW BRUNSWICK provincial tartan was named in honour of King George III, who was from the House of Brunswick. Designed by the Loomcrofters company in Gagetown - a village on the Saint John River - the tartan was adopted as the official tartan by a provincial Order in Council in 1959. The tartan is registered at the Court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms of Scotland. The colours are forest green for the lumbering; meadow green for agriculture; blue for the coastal and inland waters; and an interweaving of gold, symbol of the province's potential wealth. The red blocks signify the loyalty and devotion of the early Loyalist settlers and the New Brunswick Regiment. The brown band commemorates the 'beaver' from Lord Beaverbrook, the press baron who commissioned the first weaving. Although not born there, he published his first newspaper in the province at the age of 13 and always regarded it as home.
ITI number: 1880 Category: district


NEWFOUNDLAND and LABRADOR Two names are associated with the official Newfoundland tartan: Louis Anderson and Sam Wilansky. The first is said to have designed it, while the second is said to have 'developed' it, or first marketed it as Newfoundland's tartan. Heritage Canada says: "The tartan has the colours of gold, white, brown and red on a green background. The gold represents the sun's rays; the green represents the pine clad hills; the white represents the cloak of snow; the brown represents the Iron Isle and the red represents the Royal Standard for which our fathers stood." In 1972, the Minister of Provincial Affairs for the province petitioned Lord Lyon to record the tartan, which was done on the 3rd of September, 1973.
ITI number: 1543 Category: district


NOVA SCOTIA The first official provincial tartan of Canada, the Nova Scotia tartan, was designed by Mrs. Bessie Murray in 1953 for the Truro Agricultural Exhibition, and first produced by she and her friend, Mrs. Isobel MacAulay. It was registered in the books of the Court of the Lord Lyon on March 7, 1956, and adopted as the official tartan of the province under the authority of the Nova Scotia Tartan Act in 1963. Nova Scotia provincial tartanThe blue represents the sea and sky, the dark and light greens commemorate the evergreen and deciduous trees that cover the province, the white connotes the rocks and coastline surf, the gold represents the Nova Scotia Royal Charter, and the red symbolizes the lion rampant on the Nova Scotia crest.
ITI number: 1713 Category: district


NORTHWEST TERRITORIES According to Heritage Canada: The official tartan of the Northwest Territories designed by Mrs. Janet Anderson Thomson was unveiled at the 48th Session of the Territorial Council in January of 1973. The new tartan is in the traditional design with colours of green and brown and shades of red. Anderson Thomson first proposed the idea of an NWT tartan after attending an RCMP ball in Yellowknife in 1966, at which the official piper was dressed rather badly. Mrs Thomson enlisted the help of Hugh MacPherson of Edinburgh to design the tartan. She chose the colours and MacPherson produced three draft designs from which this one was chosen by an official committee.
Green represents the forests, white the frozen Arctic Ocean, blue the Northwest Passage, gold the mineral wealth of the NWT and the red-orange, which she describes as 'autumn colours' represents the barren lands or 'Arctic prairies.' The tartan also contains a thin black line representing the northern treeline. The tartan was officially unveiled at the 48th Session of the Territorial Council in January of 1973.
ITI number: 662 Category: district


ONTARIO It is said to be based loosely on the tartan of Sir John Sandfield Macdonald, the first premier of the province (not to be confused with Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada's first prime minister). Ontario provincial tartanUp until 2000 the accepted - but unofficial - tartan for the province was the Ensign of Ontario - a fairly simple sett designed back in 1965. In 2000, member of provincial parliament Bill Murdoch was successful in having legislation passed that pronounced a new design, by Jim MacNeil, chairman of Scottish studies at the University at Guelph, to be Ontario's official tartan. It consists of four main different blocks containing the colours red and white with three shades of green and two shades of blue. The green shades symbolize the forests and fields of Ontario while the blue colours depict the water found in the province. The First Nations of Ontario are symbolized by the colour red and the sky over the province is depicted by the colour white.
ITI number: 6627  Category: district



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND lies just north of Nova Scotia. Home to Anne of Green Gables and famous for its rich, red earth, its population is predominantly of Scottish extraction. In 1960, an official tartan design competition was held which was won by Mrs. Jean Reid of Covehead. The colours she chose were described as follows: Red for the warmth and glow of the fertile soil, green for the field and tree, yellow and brown for Autumn and white for the surf or a summer snow.
ITI number: 918  Category: district 



QUÉBEC The province of Quebec also has no official tartan. However, according to Heritage Canada, its unofficial tartan: "owes its inspiration to the provincial coat of arms which in turn reflects the history of the province. The colours of the tartan are taken from the three horizontal divisions of the shield. The blue is for the field of the upper division containing three fleurs de lys. The green is for the sprig of maple leaves on the lower division. The red is for the background of the centre division. The gold is for the lion rampant in the third division and also for the crown of the crest. The white is for the scroll with the motto "Je me souviens" (I remember)." The 'Plaid du Quebec' is not registered with Lord Lyon but is said to have been 'patented' in 1965 but is still referred to as the 'unofficial'. Scottish immigrants first settled in Quebec over 400 years ago and are regarded as one of the founding peoples of the province. Patented in 1965 by textile manufacturer Rotex Ltd., it is considered a corporate tartan by the Scottish Tartans Authority.
ITI number: 1949  Category: corporate



SASKATCHEWAN Designed in 1961 by Mrs F.L. Bastedo, wife of the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan tartan was registered with Lord Lyon on October 6, 1961. Saskatchewan is half forest and half farmland, with over 100,000 lakes, rivers and marshes. The tartan has seven colours, the predominant gold representing prairie wheat; brown for summer fallow; green for the forests; red for the provincial flower (the prairie lily), yellow for rapeseed flower (grown widely in the lower half of the province) and sun flower; white for snow; and black for oil and coal. (Summerfallow is a practice used to conserve soil moisture and consists of leaving land fallow over a growing season, keeping it free of vegetation for 18-20 months. It has been used in the Canadian Prairies for over a century.)
ITI number: 1817  Category: district

YUKON According to the Scottish Register of Tartans: The Yukon Tartan Act was passed in 1984 and this tartan - designed in 1965 by Janet Couture of Faro - was fully accredited as the official provincial tartan. Faro is a tiny village of 400 population situated in the 'overwhelming wilderness of the Campbell Region' in country where 'in winter, ice bridges replace ferries. The symbolism of the colours has been lyrically described: "The crystalline blue background represents Yukon's sparkling, glacier-fed waters and its clear mountain skies. Magenta reflects the colours of the Yukon's floral emblem, the firewood of late summer. Green is symbolic of Yukon's great expanses of wilderness forest and purple symbolises the majestic thrust of mountains into the northern sky. White represents the purity of the winter snow that crowns the peaks and blankets the alpine meadows. The yellow represents the long, soft evenings of the midnight sun and the Yukon's famous deposits of gold."
 ITI number: 1713 Category: district

The Wearing of the Kilt

What is a kilt?
First, there was the Great Kilt, or great plaid (elsewhere on this site you will find information of the terms tartan and plaid). This was and is a large piece of woven fabric that is draped around the body and over the shoulder, belted and/or pinned. Originally, the great kilt was worn by men only while women would wear a large shawl or sash in their clan tartan. 

The modern kilt is a knee-length pleated skirt with overlapping front aprons, that comprises as much as eight yards of fabric. It is worn by both men and women. The middle of the kneecap is the commonly accepted length for a modern kilt. Women's wear manufacturers have also produced calf-length and floor-length 'kilted' skirts but these are not correctly termed kilts.

Formal, modern kilt dress includes the Prince Charlie jacket with vest, garter flashes, sporran - a fur or leather pouch worn in front of the kilt, suspended by a belt or chain - knee-length hose, gillie brogues (footwear) and a ceremonial knife tucked into the hose of one leg, called the 'sgian dubh'.

What does a Scotsman wear under his kilt? 
Ah, yes, an age-old question. And there are many humorous answers, including "My Scottish pride!"

In 2002, Scotch whisky manufacturer The Famous Grouse conducted a survey in honour of St. Andrew's Day and found that in the 21st century, most true Scotsmen still prefer to wear nothing under their kilt. Sixty-nine per cent of the men surveyed indicated that they 'go commando' in the time-honoured tradition. (You thought William 'Braveheart' Wallace wore undies?)

Of the remaining respondents, 14 per cent preferred boxers, 10 per cent wore briefs and a mysterious 7 per cent answered 'other'. Hmmm - you have to wonder what that could mean. (I wonder what Mel Gibson wore under his Great Kilt in Braveheart?)

Turns out the occasion for which the kilt is being worn has a bearing on what is worn underneath, as well. For more formal events, such as a wedding, underwear is worn. On less momentous occasion, though, such as rugby, kilts-men will often go 'au naturel'.

Got a question? Contact me at vicki@tartanhousecanada.com.