Tartan Reference

[davedove]

Would one of you gentlemen (or ladies tell me a good reference where I can find the histories of different tartans? I'm not really looking for clan histories, but how different tartans were developed, especially some of the newer ones.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

You might consider signing up as a member of the Scottish Tartans Authority at:
http://www.tartansauthority.com

Members can access tartan information such as thread count, date, and most tartans have a paragraph or so of information on them.

Other than that, the only reference I can think of that will have some of the newer information is my own [img]Compendium of District Tartans[/img] which has all the information you are asking of, for both the newer and old tartans, but only district (in other words, no clan or family tartans).

Aye,
Matt

[macwilkin]

Here are a few titles I would recommend:

"District Tartans" by Gordon Teall & Phillip Smith

"Tartan: the Highland Textile" By James Scarlett*

"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Tartan" by Iain Zaczek

*Scarlett has a number of smaller booklets on the history of various tartan "groups", such as military tartans and tartans of specific clans. Many of these can be purchased through the Scottish Tartans Authority.

I haven't examined our own Matt Newsome's new compendium of District Tartans, but given Matt's reputation, I am sure it is "top-notch" in research & presentation.

Cheers,

Todd

[davedove]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm just getting into kilts and tartans because of my genealogical research. I've seen lots of tartans I like, but I wanted to be able to explain the tartan with more that just the name.