Origin of the MacKenzie tartan ?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Matt,

As ever, you've summed up things well. There is absolutely no evidence that the MacDonald of the Isles sett existed pre-1829 and the Cromarty Mss version of the VS. Structurally this sett does not conform with what we know of early C18th tartans and from a technical perspective has little to recommend it. One point of clarification, the sett was adopted/designed in 1778 for the 78th Ross-shire Regt. It was re-numbered the 72nd in 1786 and a separate (new) 78th raised in 1793. The two regiments were amalgamated in 1881 to form the Seaforth Highlanders.

Thanks for that bit of information, Peter. Was hoping you'd chime in on this thread.