Tartan of the Month - Jun 12: What do you see?

**Dangerdean** · 28th June 12, 12:44 PM

I found reference online:

http://www.tartansauthority.com/tart...r-clan-tartans

to "townsfolk (perhaps particularly the ladies)...expressing their political opinions by the wearing of tartan. It is perfectly possible that individual Lowland families were adopting favourite patterns which became identified with them, later to become their "clan tartans". Is it reasonable to expect those clan tartans to be identical to the ones of the same names which we know today?"

Could this be an example of a tartan woven to wear as a political statement?

**figheadair** · 28th June 12, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Dangerdean

I found reference online:

http://www.tartansauthority.com/tart...r-clan-tartans

to "townsfolk (perhaps particularly the ladies)...expressing their political opinions by the wearing of tartan. It is perfectly possible that individual Lowland families were adopting favourite patterns which became identified with them, later to become their "clan tartans". Is it reasonable to expect those clan tartans to be identical to the ones of the same names which we know today?"

Could this be an example of a tartan woven to wear as a political statement?

It's of course possible but there is nothing to support this in this particular case and unlikely given the origin of this specimen.

**Dangerdean** · 28th June 12, 02:40 PM

Well, hold off on this until I'm in Fort William in August.

**figheadair** · 28th June 12, 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by Nick the DSM

Black is the main color with yellow stripes.

Actually it's dark green not black.

**MacGumerait** · 28th June 12, 11:47 PM

My brain keeps going back to the size of the piece 2" x 6 " ( very small ) fringed on all four sides and the brooch seems rather small by comparison to the cloth .

Given the previous posts , this piece is old , possibly expensive for it's time , a museum piece part of a collection ( which could mean a lot of things ) and possibly related to female use ( maybe not ).

Once again , given its size , could it have been used as a badge of some sort ? In other words , a way of pinning a piece of a tartan to your clothing to indicate who you are .

On a side note , is it possible that the brooch and the tartan piece come from the same collection but are not really used together , just displayed that way . Just a thought .

Lastly , have you ever thought about changing your avatar to Sherlock Holmes !

Best Regards , Mike

**figheadair** · 29th June 12, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by MacGumerait

My brain keeps going back to the size of the piece 2" x 6 " ( very small ) fringed on all four sides and the brooch seems rather small by comparison to the cloth.

Yes, the brooch is only about 1.5 inches wide.

Once again , given its size , could it have been used as a badge of some sort ? In other words , a way of pinning a piece of a tartan to your clothing to indicate who you are .

Unlikely.

On a side note , is it possible that the brooch and the tartan piece come from the same collection but are not really used together , just displayed that way . Just a thought .

Absolutely possible and something I mentioned in an earlier post.

Lastly , have you ever thought about changing your avatar to Sherlock Holmes !

**figheadair** · 29th June 12, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by figheadair

Ah, at last someone has asked

. West Highland Museum, Fort William. And so.....?

Come now. What do we know about the WHM Collection?

**figheadair** · 1st July 12, 06:35 AM

Well, it's the end of the month and time to close this one down.

The West Highland Collection in Fort William, as its name suggests, comprises a collection of west coast related material so it's a fair assumption that this piece is from that area although exactly where is more difficult to say.

Unless one is familiar with the Museum then it would not be apparent that it houses the collection of the late C19th folklorist Alexander Carmichael, he of Carmina Gadelica. He is known to have collected a number of early samples in the Hebrides and Outer Isles and this is quite possibly one of them.

Plain weave is structurally less dense than twill and so no so good for making clothing designed for durability and warmth such as plaids. It is however ideal for things like women's dresses, shawls etc. I mentioned in an earlier post that there are a number of women's related items that are plain weave and whilst it cannot be proved for certain in this case it is likely that it was originally part of some piece of women's clothing.

Dating such a small piece is extremely difficult and without other evidence then a broad date of c1700-1800 is a reasonable best guess.

**dh20318** · 31st August 12, 09:58 AM

removed as in wrong thread

**figheadair** · 1st September 12, 12:45 AM

Mods - this is off topic and appears to have been posted into this thread in error. Request that it is removed and the poster ask to re-post as new topic 'Help identify this tartan'.

Originally Posted by dh20318

I acquired two pieces of wool off eBay and have not been able to identify or determine if in fact the plaids are actually a known tartan or just a plaid. I am in the process of sewing a kilt from both of them and even though they were originally acquired in Peru South America several years ago, and would be most pleased if they were actually a specific tartan. I really like both and hope that the dred comes through in the pics and the gold stripe in the gray/green plaid. Thanks for any insight anyone may wish to offer.

https://plus.google.com/photos/11564...66?banner=pwa&

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z...strips%2B2.jpg