Tartan Etiquette

[MacLowlife]

This topic is as reliable as any to spur conversation. I would say that it almost never leads to much enlightenment, but I think over time I have reasoned out a position that has been refined by comments on these perennial threads. X Markers tend to be easily divided into two large groups, what we might call the "One Kilters" and the "More than one kilters". I can think of several honorable and generous and knowledgeable members in each faction. With a few exceptions, the One Kilters tend to concentrate a great deal of meaning into their single kilt, whilst the MTOK gang tend to be less so. Having seven kilts in seven tartans might make you less doctrinaire about the strength of your ties to each one. MIGHT, mind you, as one might be named Campbell, hail from Canada, reside in the Carolinas, trace your lineage to Caledonia, vacation in Cape Breton, feel deeply about Culloden, and preach as a member of the Clergy. If all of those things are true, but your mother-in-law spends a lot of money to buy you a "Loud MacLeod" kilt to welcome you into her family, what are you going to do? I'd don the yellow and black and preserve the peace is what I'd do.

I'd like to put a finer point on that first category, though. I worry that "legitimate claim" gets stretched and hedged to allow just about anything. If you want to be strict about legit claims, shouldn't it be "Wear the one that has your name on it"? All of these septs and distaff connections are mighty close to marketing tricks and plain old excuses. They do not wash under any laws of inheritance. And, once we start getting "creative" we may well be closer to group 2 than we'd like to think.

So, here is my refined p.o.v. on this allnighter topic: Be generous in your expectations of others. Be conservative in your demands on others' tolerance. Be prepared to justify your actions, or at least be entertaining.
M'll

[Phil]

From a purely Scottish perspective, the natural thing to do is to wear the tartan that bears your surname. It is not something that is discussed in the earnest way contributors here enjoy but, then, most Scots don't own a kilt, never mind a "kollection"!
I wouldn't regard the choice of tartan in any event as a matter of etiquette, however, and, like any other fabric it is the personal choice of the wearer as to which one he or she chooses, name being an invaluable aid in that process but not necessarily the deciding factor.
Then there is the continuing conundrum raised by the significant proportion of Scots who do not actually have Scottish names. Yes it does happen and my understanding in such cases was that the Royal Stuart red tartan was appropriate for such circumstances. But then sites such as this came along and introduced a whole new set of problems about "who had the right to do what, and with which, and to whom" as the limerick goes and what used to be a simple choice i.e. wear the tartan with your name on it or at least one you like has now become a complex one, subject to endless earnest discussion.

[Grum]

Hey Nathan,

Can I ask a question on what you've said. I'm a Rennie Sept of MacDonald. I know this because of my family tree. But I'm not a registered member of the clan here in Australia yet. As a MacDonald do you think it would be acceptable for me to wear the MacDonald tartan?

Cheers,

Graham.

[Father Bill]

Hi Grum!

It's impossible to "register as a member of a clan." A clan is family. You're either related or you're not. The only other way to join according to the Lord Lyon, is to offer your allegiance to the chief, assuming that he does not reject it.

You may be referring to the "Clan Association" which is a club for members of the clan. Different thing altogether, and has no authority whatever to confer anything other than your name on their mailing list and a lot of fun when the family gets together.

Meanwhile, welcome to the "Great Rabble." You may want to post an introduction here: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f108/ You'll be pleasantly surprised at the warm welcome you'll receive from this "online family!"

Bill+

Hey Nathan,

Can I ask a question on what you've said. I'm a Rennie Sept of MacDonald. I know this because of my family tree. But I'm not a registered member of the clan here in Australia yet. As a MacDonald do you think it would be acceptable for me to wear the MacDonald tartan?

Cheers,

Graham.

[Nathan]

Hey Nathan,

Can I ask a question on what you've said. I'm a Rennie Sept of MacDonald. I know this because of my family tree. But I'm not a registered member of the clan here in Australia yet. As a MacDonald do you think it would be acceptable for me to wear the MacDonald tartan?

Cheers,

Graham.

It is absolutely acceptable by any level of tradition for a Rennie to wear MacDonald tartan. There are Rennies associated with the MacDonalds of Clanranald as well as MacDonnell of Keppoch. The first MacDonald of Clanranald kilt I ever wore was loaned to me by a Rennie.

You can wear the generic MacDonald modern or if you know the region your family is from you can determine whether it is Keppoch or Clanranald.

As I understand it, "Rennie" is a diminutive of Ranald (Raognall) and as I understand it, the Rennies are MacDonalds just as Donaldsons, MacDonells, Ronaldsons, Reynalds, Ranald, Ronalds, MacDaniel, MacConell etc...

[Grum]

Thanks for the quick reply gents. It's very much appreciated as is your welcome. Nathan I understand we are Rennie's Sept of The MacDonald's of Keppoch. Thank you for the information though mate. That gives me a little bit more to look into. Father Bill thanks for the reply also. I will put my details on the Newbie page. Thank you also for clearing up my misunderstanding re: Clan Association.

Cheers guys,

Grum.

[O'Searcaigh]

This topic is as reliable as any to spur conversation. I would say that it almost never leads to much enlightenment, , as one might be named Campbell, hail from Canada, reside in the Carolinas, trace your lineage to Caledonia, vacation in Cape Breton, feel deeply about Culloden, and preach as a member of the Clergy. If all of those things are true, but your mother-in-law spends a lot of money to buy you a "Loud MacLeod" kilt to welcome you into her family, what are you going to do? I'd don the yellow and black and preserve the peace is what I'd do.


So, here is my refined p.o.v. on this allnighter topic: Be generous in your expectations of others. Be conservative in your demands on others' tolerance. Be prepared to justify your actions, or at least be entertaining.
M'll

Aye -- or be a veteran of both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, or U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps as well as being a member of a law enforcement agency with an adopted tartan (yes, I personally know such people) and have a Scottish surname, be a member of the clergy (already mentioned), reside in a state with an official tartan, graduated from an university with an official tartan, drink a whisky with an associated tartan ... the associations can go on and on and on and just about anyone (I would wager, everyone) can find some tartan to wear to which they are "legitimately" related -- as if there were any kind of rules for any of this other than a sense of personal respect for oneself, others, honesty and common sense.

[David]

One of the questions that I've had in getting started wearing kilts is which tartans should someone wear.

In the research I've done, I haven't come up with a definitive answer so I wanted to post it here and see if I can at least come to some conclusion by popular vote if nothing else.

The answers I have found to this question so far are these:

1. If you don't have a legitimate claim to it, don't wear it.
2. If you can buy it, you can wear it.
3. For casual events or everyday, wear whatever you want. For formal events, wear what you represent.

So, I now present this question to you, XMTS community: Which tartan(s) should a person wear (and when).

There was a time Jason when I would have said wear your family/clan tartan and thats all you can wear. My surname is Baxter, so i got my kilt made up in ancient hunting MacMillan. Recently i have traced my family tree back to the mid 1500's (a GGGG...... Grandfather on my tree and possibly the same man on another persons tree is still to be confirmed). From this research i found that all this lineage is on the East Coast of Scotland, from Lanarkshire through Fife to just north of Dundee; and its all through the male line. This area where my ancestors are from is no where near the West Coast MacMillans, I know the MacMillans branched east to Perthshire, but that was to around the west end of Loch Tay and still about 80/90 miles from where my (probably weaving ancestors) lived. I suppose my point is that if you need to go back to the time of Galileo Galilei, to get a "legitimate" claim to wear a clan tartan, you really are stretching the point.

As was seen on a recent BBC TV programme, it is probable that it was a couple of Welshmen that invented / popularised the whole tartan cult anyway. So, given your details, I'd say you have a legitimate claim to pick what ever tartan you like. What ever tartan you wear, wear it with dignity and respect; no matter its origins, tartan in general and tartan kilts in particular do after all represent a Nation.

[macwilkin]

You may be referring to the "Clan Association" which is a club for members of the clan. Different thing altogether, and has no authority whatever to confer anything other than your name on their mailing list and a lot of fun when the family gets together.

Just as a friendly amendment, but there are some clan chiefs who do maintain a "high commissioner"/liasion/etc. with their respective clan societies, especially in the diaspora. Some Chiefs are very interested and active with said societies, while others are not. Some socities maintain clan heritage centers/museums, pipe bands, scholarships, etc.

T.

[Liam]

Grum...

Welcome to another "Rennie" here at the forum. I own and wear the MacDonald Modern, and the MacDonnell of Keppoch (Ancient), (along with another 17 or 18 kilts). A few years ago I purchased a "Life Membership" in Clan MacDonnell of Keppoch, partially to support the efforts of the "new" Chief but you are a Clan member by birth, not by purchasing a "membership". IMHO wear our Clan Tartans proudly!

Bill Rennie