Your tartans and Why?

[kiltedwolfman]

Kilts I wear on a regular basis..

Blackwatch - as worn by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders ( Canadian ) I served with them and love the tartan.
Armstrong - my 3rd wifes' family
Campbell of Argyll - my family was a sept of the Campbell
One called the Lion heart - I admit I bought it at a novelty store, but it does look really nice on me! LOL
An OD green casual kilt from FK that I love to pieces.

I try not to wear only kilts that have some historic meaning, although admittedly there is an inherent sence of pride in them. That being said I'm fortunate that I can find pride in about any kilt I put on thus leaving a world of options available. Hehe

[escherblacksmith]

hmmm, neat.

Frame (Frayme) -- blood
Burnett (Barnett) -- blood
Anderson -- married into
Livingston(e) -- historically associated.
Irish National -- other half of family
St. Patrick Irish Tartan -- just because
County Clare -- ancestral location
County Londonderry -- ancestral location
State of Minnesota -- where I live
USAF -- Father, Brother, Uncle, great uncle, etc.
US Army -- Mom, many aunts
USA St. Andrews -- obviously
American National Tartan -- ditto
X Marks -- obviously


At present, I have none of these . . . but I am paralyzed as to what to choose for my first tank.

[hospitaller]

I'm just a 'newbie' (hehe) in the kilt wearing world, but that doesnt stop me from going full force from the get go.

SWK Black Watch - traditionally associated with Scotland
XKilt OD Wool - just love OD
Young Weathered - my maternal claim to Scot ancestry
XKilt Hancock's Fabric plaid - good looking fabric that I bought and turned into a kilt.

As for heraldry, my grandmother's great uncle was a spanish Marquess (de la Cavada) so the only piece of heraldry I use is that one, Cavada Blazon

cheers

[Bugbear]

There! I have decided that one of my tartans will be the Highland Granite tartan. It's nice to have that over with, and I can start planning to get a traditional hand sewn 16 oz wool kilt without being scared or depressed that I might be picking the wrong tartan... It took me about six or seven months to figure this out, so I feel better now.
This is the link to LOCHCARRON OF SCOTLAND's Highland Granite tartan


It's the perfect tartan for me on the black/gray compatible side. The other tartan will have to be brown compatible. It even has a tweed-like marl to it's main gray color, and I have posted often about considering a tweed kilt to avoid any clan tartans. Oh, and it's not a clan tartan, so I don't have to think about that.

[Scot01always]

[B]Wilson[B]=My dads family
[B]Home[B]=my moms maiden name
[B]Colquhoun[B]= my girlfriends family name
Cheers, Leslie

[Detroitpete]

Current: MacLaren 2x (Modern 1 Sport and 1 formal) Clan Member U.S. Navy (Edzell) Served 8 years Utilikilt-great for fly fishing and hiking Irish Nat'l (Family connection) Ulster (see above) Soon to be a'wearin': Welsh (Jones) (Ancestor) Michigan (as SOON as it gets here) Carolina (property connection) Civil War CSA (Family Connection) Civil War Union (see above) I would rather personally only wear a tartan that I have a direct connection to--but I do like many of the other universal tartans I have a link to as well.

[glenlivet]

Unidentified Family Artifact Tartan as soon as I'm $$ able to I'll get this registered and have Matt make me a kilt in this Tartan, this might be my next Tailored Kilt

Did you ever id the mystery tartan? It kinda' looked like it might be a Drummond tartan or Perthshire district tartan.

[Tim Little]

I prefer some sort of family/personal connection, but aesthetics are a significant factor.

The current collection:
Mackenzie modern -- paternal grandmother's family

Wish list:
Mackenzie weathered -- as above, but better for less formal occasions
SWK black shadow tartan -- fashion tartan
Maine -- wife's family
Cape Breton -- we spent our honeymoon on the island
Hearts FC -- my adopted team (the SPL's version of the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox)
Highland Granite -- fashion tartan
Scotland Forever -- fashion tartan
X Marks -- of course!

Pending review:
Scotland's National -- nice, but awful close to the Mackenzie modern
Capercaillie -- fashion tartan/good cause
Isle of Skye -- fashion tartan
Macdonald of Clanranald -- there are supposed family connections through my maternal great-great-grandfather (MacCash), but I haven't been able to flesh them out and I'm ambivalent about the tartan itself

Of course I'll probably find more to add to the list as I keep going....

[Carolina Kiltman]

Don't know why I didn't post here before: Current Kilt, MacLaine of Lochbuie, 13oz Tank. I wanted something fitting for our never very cold climate.

Ancestors:

Mother's side: (born in Tobermory, Mull, 1900.)
McFadden (a sept of MoL, but they have their own tartan, both dress and hunting)
Boyd her Maternal and Paternal Grandmother's name

Father's side
Ross
Leslie

Next in line: MacLaine of Lochbuie hunting, modern

Currently have material I picked up in a fabric dump, unknown tartan, if it is actually one. I m going to try my hand at Kiltmaking on these two first. . . Pictures will be posted when I start.

[O'Callaghan]

Irish National (SWK Thrifty) - maternal line
County Cork (SK) - the county they came from
Solid Black (Sider International) - no reason needed

Sider usually only sell wholesale or to pipe bands, but they had a brief sale on eBay a while ago, of just solid black or Royal Stewart kilts or lengths of generic unnamed tartan fabric. My black kilt is approx. the full 8 yds, lined, has three buckles and a reverse pleat, and was made to measure. OTOH, it was made in Pakistan and I don't think it's wool, but it only cost the same as the SWK Thrifty.

There is a Callaghan tartan, but I've only seen the fabric for $75/yd! The design was only registered last year, although the clan goes back to the 10th century. Too expensive anyway.

I also have Scottish cousins who have a clan tartan, but they are lowlanders and I suspect their clan society was only founded in the 1980s as the tartan was registered at that time. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It doesn't have to be ancient to be valid, I suppose. However, I'm not descended from that branch of the family anyway.

There are many other names in my family tree that are supposedly septs of Scottish clans, but AFAIK all of them came from England, not Scotland, so in reality they actually weren't in a sept of any clan, unless geneological research should ever prove otherwise. The same goes for various English names in my family tree that are associated with Scottish districts. I also have a couple of actual Scottish clan names in my family tree, but in Ireland, and another one in England that also occurs as an English name, so probably no connection there either.

For all the above reasons, none of the above is really on my wish list, except Callaghan, which is on more of an "in my wildest dreams" list. I would like a solid green kilt, though, as worn by the republican rebels (no, not the GOP). There are also some other generic Irish tartans that I covet, like All Ireland Green. The County Cork Crest tartan is also different from the County cork tartan (and maybe nicer too). I could also get the tartan for the Irish province of Munster, although I'm not sure I really like it, so I probably won't. OTOH, I would probably buy any of the above if the price were rock bottom. I suppose that indicates I may have some Scottish blood after all, LOL!