Highland Society of London

[MacInLaw]

I am doing a bit of amateur tartan research and I am wondering if it is possible to access the Highland Society of London collection. In a dream world it would be scanned and available online, but I expect that a visit to the National Museum of Scotland will more likely be in order.

I will also ask the reason for my question in case someone has a better understanding of this than I do (almost certainly the case). Please forgive me, and correct me, if I am using technical terms improperly.

I am looking at the information held within The Scottish Register of Tartans for the "MacDonell of Glengarry" tartan. With even my own amateur eye I can tell a difference between two different setts registered there. The difference being the presence (or ommission) of a second thin red line in the blue squares. In both examples the double red line passes within the green squares.

Example #1 is recorded as corresponding with Mackay's "The Romantic Story of the Highland Garb and Tartans".



Example #2 is recorded as corresponding with W and A Smith's "Authenticated Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland".



What is confusing is that under the registration notes for Example #1 is the statement "There is a sample certified by 'Glengarry' in the collection of the Highland Society of London from the period 1815-16 but it is not known whether the threadcount corresponds to MacKays record illustrated here. "

Therefore, the question I have is: which of these two, if either, did Glengarry certify in 1815-1819?

Of course, the "Glengarry" who certified the sample was the 15th chief. Despite his flair and the abundance of surviving portraits I can't see enough detail in these artistic pieces (even from Raeburn himself) to be satisfied with the answer from them.

I am not looking for which is the 'right' tartan, or which is more correct. I am simply curious as to what form was certified, and now apparently resides in the collection of the Highland Society of London.

[figheadair]

The HSL collection cannot be simply examined by popping into the NMS. It's not on display and one needs to make an appointment to view it. Even then, one needs to have a bonafide reason to persuade the busy archavists to get it out of storage.

I have been fortunate to examine the two volume and even photograph the most (to me) important specimens, including the Glengarry piece. It's the second (two red stripes on the blue) of your images. I discuss the origins of this tartan in my little book on Wilsons' 1819 Key Pattern Book.