Stewart by any other name?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Matt,

Is the old Stewart #319? The reason I ask is that the STA says this tartan dates to 1819.

And is the Stewart Hunting #1916? The reason I ask is that STA suggests that an alternate name for the Old Stewart #319 is "Stewart of Appin" and then they list a Stewart of Appin htg--#430.

My ITI software that I have loaded on the computer here gives a "pre-1745" date for the Old Stewart tartan, though I don't think that can be substantiated. 1819 is likely the earliest date we have hard evidence of for the tartan -- dated from its inclusion in Wilsons of Bannockburn's pattern book of that year. However, we know that the tartan is much older than that. The question is, how much older?

D C Stewart, in his landmark book The Setts of the Scottish Tartans, in 1950, commented that his father, D W Stewart (author of Old & Rare Scottish Tartans) stated in 1893 that, "The use of this design as Stewart tartan for a period extending back to 1745 at least, is vouched by the records of manufacturers and collectors alike." D W further claimed to have seen a plaid in the possession of Mrs. Stuart of Dalness dating back 200 years in a tartan that differed from the Old Stewart only in a few minor details.

Being a very old clan tartan for the Stewarts, it is not surprising that it has, at times, been associated with particular Stewarts and so you will sometimes find it referenced in the past as Stuart of Bute, Stewart of Appin, Stewart of Grandtully, etc. Today, however, and for quite some time, it has been considered the general tartan for the clan.

Stewart of Appin hunting is a tartan quite distinct from Hunting Stewart, and unrelated. Hunting Stewart has always been considered a general tartan (as opposed to a clan tartan). Hunting Stewart was also included in Wilsons' 1819 Key Pattern Book, so is another old tartan. No one seems to know for certain why it should be regarded as a general tartan, but there you go.

The Stewart of Appin Hunting tartan also dates back at least to the early nineteenth century and is quite an attractive tartan, as well.