Kiltmakers Edinburgh

[fluter]

Thanks, aye I'd say I'll go for either the County Derry or the Ulster tartan, or I might even treat myself and get one of each

The Ulster tartan is lovely, either in the weathered colors (brown and tan predominating) or the red and green which approximate what the old tartan would have looked like originally. It is based on an artifact garment found in 1956.

For Derry, there are two---both of recent design and no "official" standing, but nice tartans.

one in the Marton Mills County Crest line: http://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartan/Derr...ty-Crest/16515

and Londonderry, from House of Edgar's Irish Counties line: http://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartan/Londonderry/20399

Your kiltmaker will be able to tell you what's available from the mills, what would have to be special-ordered, cost and quality info. With luck s/he will have swatches that you can see and feel. One consideration is the size of the tartan sett in a given fabric, which affects the look of the kilt and its pleats. IIRC most of the House of Edgar county tartans have a rather small sett, and the Marton range may be similar.

As for the clan tartans, there are many opinions. If you feel a particular kinship to a clan, or join a clan association, you may want to pursue it. Otherwise, there are lots of good-looking generic tartans to be had. Irish National, Scottish National, Caledonia, Holyrood (which commemorated HM QE2's silver jubilee; now here we are at the diamond jubilee). The list goes on.

For myself, i'm not Scottish; and most of my forbears had moved to Ireland before 1700 and to North America before 1800. Nonetheless, my mum was a Wallace, her gran was a MacGregor, and her gran was a Colquhoun. I wear the Wallace, but I also have plans for the Carolina tartan (see my avatar) adopted by my home state.