Clan Donald Australia 

 

Clan DONALD

There are a 5.1 million people in Scotland, and around 40 million descendant  people with  Scottish descent living in other countries.

If you are of Scottish descent your allegiance would be to your Clan. From the Gaelic CLANN (meaning family or children), the clan system was integral to the highland tribal culture of Gaelic Scotland, as distinct from that of Lowland Scotland where there are also great families but no clan system.

Tartan -

The antiquity of tartan is amply proved by early references to it in early Scottish literature and in the written accounts of travellers who visited Scotland several hundreds of years ago.

The ancient method of describing tartan was to refer to it as “mottled”  “chequered” “striped” and so on.

 The Gaelic word for tartan is breacon, meaning chequered.

For many centuries tartan formed part of everyday garb of highland people and, while it was worn in other parts of Scotland it was in the Highlands that is use continued and developed until it became recognised as a symbol of Clan Kinship.

It is believed that the tartans used several centuries ago were simple checks of two or three colours and that these colours were obtained from the dye-producing plants, roots, berries and trees found in the districts where the cloth was woven. These simple chequered patterns were district tartans and were worn by the people of the district where they were made. As the people inhabiting a district were generally members of the same clan their district tartan was in effect a clan tartan.

 To the Highlander of old accustomed to travelling long distances on foot across country and without shelter even at night, the dress of the day was always something that resembled a tartan blanket. A rectangular piece of material about 6 yards long and one and a half yards wide. this became known as the Feilidh-mor or belted plaid. The word 'plaid'  is from the gaelic word meaning blanket.( to-day it is called a “great Kilt”.) This was pleated, belted round the waist and hung roughly to the knee. Its voluminous upper part could be pinned up on the left shoulder to keep it out of the way or used as a cloak when the weather in the highlands became cold and/or wet. At night time is was a blanket.

From around 1715 the wearing of the Kilt as it is worn today started.

The Feilidh-mor was cut in half along the waist, so that the bottom portion would form the “feilidh-beag” (now “little kilt”), and thus the modern kilt is born. The Chief of the Macdonells of Glengarry is said to have enjoyed wearing the feilihd-beag, and thus helped to spread  the fashion. The kilt developed the way that it did, into the form we know today, because those developments were accepted and thought useful by those that wore the kilt – the Highland scots.

How does one define a Kilt? I’ve heard the myth repeated that it must have eight yards to be a “true  kilt.” However, this is simply not true. Some historical kilts had barely more than three yards, it all depended upon the size of the wearer and the sett of the tartan. To some the definition of a kilt boils down to construction techniques. Today “kilt” is a term describing a type of garment. (a kilt does not necessarily have to be in tartan)

Following the failure of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 when the English at Culloden defeated the Jacobites extremely harsh repressive measures were taken against the Highlanders at home.

Among these was the passing of the dress act in 1746, an Act of U.K. Parliament that forbade the wearing of tartan or any item of Highland dress other than by soldiers of the Highland regiments of the British army.

 

The Dress Act was repealed in 1785 and tartan began a slow climb back to popularity. There are signs that this Act was never wholly effective, but it was naturally more so towards the ordinary people who could not afford a spare set of clothes. But as a consequence, most of the old tartan patterns were lost. Those that have survived have done so either by accident (the tartan was hidden by individuals) or, because they are shown in several collections of family portraits. It is rare for anything to be known of the origin or history of the patterns. Considering that for a period of 40 years  the tartan was not in use.

 

Many of the old weavers had died. In 1819, Wilsons of Bannockburn, the major producer of tartan cloth, had about 150 named tartans in their pattern book.  When, in 1822, King George 1V became the first reigning monarch to visit Scotland's  capital since Charles 1, there was much pomp and ceremony and with it a great tartan explosion. Today the list of clan and family tartans run into the hundreds. In many cases  the origin and the date of a tartan is obscure and the correct chequered pattern a source of controversy.

A Tartan Register

 

Sir William Cockburn of Cockburn collected tartans from 1810 to 1815 provides us with the oldest samples we have today. The first corporate attempt at creating a “master database” of tartans  came about in 1815 by the Highland Society of London.

 The Highland Society was an early Scots ex-patriot club. This Club simply urged all the Scottish  clan chiefs to submit to them a sample of what they accepted as their clan tartan. As we all know, it is the Chief of the clan who has jurisdiction over his tartan. Only the chief can say what is and is not an official tartan for the clan.

 

In 1963 the Scottish  Tartans Society was formed with the goal of maintaining a register of publicly known Tartans. Prior to the formation of that register, there was no central index for tartans. The Scottish Tartans Authority  (STA) has been in existence since 1996,  it was formed by former members of the Scottish Tartans Society (no longer active) and each tartan transferred to the STA  Index.

A new register is being proposed  by the Scottish  Executive (the administrative branch of the Scottish government) The new one will be called  the National Tartan register and  will be in place by April of 2008. The STA has been asked to provide a copy of its index as the basis for the National Register.  The new register will be supervised by Lord Lyon and administered by the National archives of Scotland.

People across the globe can currently view the tartans that make up the International Tartan Index  on the STA’s web site    www.tartansauthority.com

To-day we have: - District Tartans

       Are the eldest of all tartans, worn in the district where woven.

     Clan Tartans

         Are for general use by people belonging to the designated Clan.

                            

     Dress Tartans

         They are a variation of the Clan tartan worn in the evening

                   

     Mourning Tartans

       Generally of black & White

     Hunting Tartans

        Are worn for sport and outdoor activities      

                        

      Chiefs Tartans

         Worn by the Chief and his immediate family

HIGHLAND DRESS

The older form of the Highland dress, known as the great kilt (feilidh-mor), had different bits and pieces added as the wearer wanted. Now the highland dress is uniform. Those who wear tartan  kilts with the Highland dress are helping preserve the costume of our Scottish ancestors. They recall the romantic days of Scotland’s historic past and those who wear them can feel proud that their dress was, for countless centuries, the garb of the highland people. The story of tartan and the history of Scotland are intertwined like the chequered pattern of tartan itself.

For most people, the only time they see people wearing the Highland dress is when they see a band wearing the kilts blowing the other Scottish invention “Bagpipes.”

Why we wear the Kilt

It has been my observation that there are various reasons someone may decide to wear a kilt. Most kilt wearers fall into a couple of categories

The first category is that of a uniform. These people wear the kilt because it is part of the uniform of a group or activity in which they are involved. the most obvious example would be the military uniform of a Highland regiment. However the kilt could also be a uniform in a less structured sense, be it dancing, piping or some other endeavour.

The second category is that of “heritage clothing.” By this I mean those who wear the kilt first and foremost as a mark of their Scottish ethnicity. The Clan tartan is worn exclusively in honour of the wearers ancestors. People in this category will tend to wear the kilt mainly within the context of Scottish cultural events. They will wear the kilt when they attend  Highland Gatherings, clan dinners and other functions. They wear the kilt as formal wear for special events such as weddings as it is recognised as a garment of rich cultural significance and much history.  At formal functions, a fly Plaid & brooch is worn.

This is just a quick look at the Dress of the Highlander

 

Pick the Tartan

The feilidh-beag or little kilt, is now universally used as a modern Highland garb

Head gear, the “Balmoral” style bonnet is the most popular

The Jacket, Prince Charlie or Argyll

Fly Plaid & Brooch, should be same tartan as kilt.

Kilt Pin, some are worn with the clan crest

Necktie

Sporran, (purse) is made of leather

Kilt Hose (Socks)

Highland brogues (shoes)

Sgian Dubh carried in the right-hand stocking at all times

Highland Dirk

The actual material of the tartan should vary according to its use. The tartan sash worn by a woman in evening dress is normally made of silk. A man’s  dress kilt can be made of a “Saxony” tartan or a fine worsted, whereas his day kilt can be of a heavier and harder material.

 The tartan skirt is the “correct dress” for women along with their sashes and brooches as it must be remembered, the kilt is a male attire and should never be worn by ladies.

                                    

Kirkin’ o’ Tartans

A  Kirk is a Scottish word for Church  and a Tartan is the  traditional pattern of unevenly spaced stripes crossing at right angles woven into a woollen fabric that distinguishes the various Clans. Thus, the Kirkin’ o’ the tartans is the traditional blessing of  the  tartans by the Clergy.

Following the failure of the Jacobite Rebellion, the Disarming Act of 1746 forbade the Scots from wearing their tartans. “The  traditional Clan system ended, and its representative tartans, was declared forbidden”.

The legend goes the Highlanders hid swatches of tartan fabric among their clothing when they went to church, and at a predetermined  time, they secretly touched their tartan material during the worship service. As mentioned, this dress act was repealed in 1785.

With the coming of the 18^th century, many of these Scots faced the Highland Clearances.

Thousands of Highland tenant farmers were forced into becoming pioneers in new  countries as their former aristocratic “Lords” drove them off their land, so that they could conduct the much more profitable business of raising sheep. The Highlander, losing many  traditions, became a victim of the Industrial  Revolution.

The Kirkin’ o’ Tartans was revived during WWII by Reverend Peter Marshall, then the Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. He recreated the Kirkin’ o’ the tartans ceremony to try to instill pride among Scottish Americans in their Scottish homeland. The Kirkin’ o’ the tartans ceremony was then held in Presbyterian Churches across the U.S.A.  Today, this ceremony is not limited to Presbyterian Churches but is observed  in other  Protestant and Roman Catholic services around the world as a great occasion for people of Scottish origin to congregate and worship God.

 

.

This is just whet your appetite - want to know more about the tartan, how it's made and how it should be worn, as well the history of tartans.  Go to Google and type in Scotland.  Sit back and enjoy.

Some sites which will be very helpful

www.electricscotland.com

www.rampantscotland.com

www.ancestry.com

Tartan sample and clan crest Clans Scot 2006