Early piece from Glen Affric

[figheadair]

I was going through the STA's collection recently and was surprised to come across the origial piece of the so called Glen Affric tartan.



I knew of this specimen but not the fact that the STA had it. It was donated to their predecessor organisation the Scottish Tartans Society in, I think, the mid-1980s. The piece was found in a bog in Glen Affric some 30 odd years ago by someone walking their dog. I don’t know exactly where or if the site was fully investigated but presume that there was no apparent body or the police would have been involved, at least initially.

Although this tartan is offered as special weave by a number retailers as the Glen Affic tartan (I classify it as an Unnamed 17th/early 18th century tartan found in Glen Affric) the reconstruction bears little resemblance to the original. Having done a brief examination I could not see anything that remotely looks like a red. This is possibly a rare example of a poorer Highlander's plaid which had a plain or dull base colour over-checked with fine stripes of easily obtainable dyes.