Tartan evolving into plaid

[Drac]

Morning all,

Got a couple questions actually. How did tartans become known as plaids when plaid is the length of fabric?

Also how did some of the tartans leave the kilt world and become so popular in normal wear? Blackwatch is the first that comes to mind but there is also a red and yellow tartan that is REALLY common among flannel shirts.

Jim

[figheadair]

Morning all,

Got a couple questions actually. How did tartans become known as plaids when plaid is the length of fabric?

Also how did some of the tartans leave the kilt world and become so popular in normal wear? Blackwatch is the first that comes to mind but there is also a red and yellow tartan that is REALLY common among flannel shirts.

Jim

Firstly, the word tartan is not Scottish (Gaelic) in origin. You may be surprised to learn that there is no specific Gaelic word for the pattern and it was historically called breacan meaning, amongst other things, speckled or multi-coloured. The use of plaid to mean tartan is an American practice and probably arose when non-Gaelic speakers misunderstood Highlanders referring to their plaid i.e. their clothing, and thought that they meant the pattern. Plaide (pro plaj-a) is the Gaelic spelling and literally means blanket.

In simple terms, the rise of tartan as a fashion cloth/pattern outside Scotland was the result of its popularity during late Georgian and early Victorian times which coincided with the industrial revolution and the beginnings of mass production. There are more complex aspects concerning the development of the tartan trade and the use of tartan as decoration but there is not space here to go into that.

[wildrover]

Firstly, the word tartan is not Scottish (Gaelic) in origin. You may be surprised to learn that there is no specific Gaelic word for the pattern and it was historically called breacan meaning, amongst other things, speckled or multi-coloured. The use of plaid to mean tartan is an American practice and probably arose when non-Gaelic speakers misunderstood Highlanders referring to their plaid i.e. their clothing, and thought that they meant the pattern. Plaide (pro plaj-a) is the Gaelic spelling and literally means blanket.

Thanks for that explanation, the wearing of a plaide makes a helluva lot more sense now.

Breacan...pronounced like..."bracken"? If so, that would also make sense.

There are more complex aspects concerning the development of the tartan trade and the use of tartan as decoration but there is not space here to go into that.

I'm interested to read more about it, if you're willing to type it.

-Sean

[Slowburn]

Tartan: Any of numerous textile patterns consisting of stripes of varying widths and colors crossed at right angles against a solid background, each forming a distinctive design worn by the members of a Scottish clan.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tartan

Plaid: A rectangular woolen scarf of a tartan pattern worn over the left shoulder by Scottish Highlanders.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/plaid

The confusion comes in the definition Where tartan refers to the patter Plaid refers to the actual cloth. In antiquity the plaid was refering to a blanket.
The notoriety of the Scottish tartan plaids is the confusing factor for outsiders that admired the designs.

There was also the fact that many Clan tartans were proscribed and not available for a time. This led to the popularity of such approved and commisioned tartans for the newly formed Highland regements and the Black Watch tartan gaining in popularity at the time.

[figheadair]

Tartan: Any of numerous textile patterns consisting of stripes of varying widths and colors crossed at right angles against a solid background, each forming a distinctive design worn by the members of a Scottish clan.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tartan

To add further confusion, as if it were needed, there are C19th letters ordering ain coloured tertaine i.e one coloured material of a tartan type which probably meant a linsey-woolsey cloth.

Plaid: A rectangular woolen scarf of a tartan pattern worn over the left shoulder by Scottish Highlanders.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/plaid

Or the rght shoulder if one is left handed.

There was also the fact that many Clan tartans were proscribed and not available for a time. This led to the popularity of such approved and commisioned tartans for the newly formed Highland regements and the Black Watch tartan gaining in popularity at the time.

I've discussed this in another thread. Tartans per se were not proscribed. The wearing of highland clothes and great coats of parti-coloured cloth were proscribed. Clan tartans did not exist at that time either.

[Slowburn]

THE ACT "That from and after the First Day of August 1747, no man or boy within th Scotland, other than such as shall be employed as Officers and Soldiers of any pretext whatsoever, wear or put on the clothes, commonly called Highl Plaid, Philabeg, or little kilt, Trowes, Shoulder-Belts, or any part whatever of the Highland Garb; and that no tartan or party-coloured plaid or stuff shall upper coats, and if any such person shall presume after the first said day of the aforesaid garments or any part of them, every person so offending.... s transported to any of His Majesty's plantations beyond the seas, there to re years." The Act of Ab

[Slowburn]

The source of my last post for those who care to read on.
http://highlandnet.com/info/culture/prosact.html

[ThistleDown]

Slowburn, you may want to use the forum's search feature for the Act of Proscription and, in particular, the thread on whether or not tartan was, per se, ever banned. Figheadair, by the way, is the principal historian for the Scottish Tartans Authority; he and Matt Newsome, the curator of the Scottish Tartans Museum, are two of several exceptionally knowledgeable tartan historians we are fortunate to have on XMarks.

[Slowburn]

http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...land_dress.htm
Another interesting read and at the bottom a link to the actual wording.

[lethearen]

I'd imagine it's just a language shift. A plaid was a length of fabric woven in a tartan pattern... at some point, they just became interchangeable because while at a conceptual level they refer to different things, at a more mundane and practical level, they essentially refer to the same object. One is the concrete portion object, the other is the abstract portion. Only one word was really needed, and "plaid" was easier to say! What may have started as a local dialect or even one mans' idiosyncracy spread as language is wont to do.

But then again, I'm not an etymologist

And for the second question... I think that's probably a complicated question that pulls in factors from several fields, including "simple" economics. For whatever reason, X tartan became popular. That reason could be different for each X you're studying. I think at least a couple of the more mainstream tartans (e.g. Black Watch and Gordon) are military regiment tartans. Weavers have to make a lot of those plaids... As subjects of the Crown, all British are entitled to wear Royal Stewart (I um... may be making that up). Some others may be a matter of aesthetics or fashion (like Burberry). I think the red/yellow one you mentioned in flannel shirts may be Wallace (or a fashion tartan derived therefrom)... I can't venture into that one, except that maybe people want to pay homage to William Wallace. Or more likely, it's a very simple tartan that would be less expensive to weave.

Which leads into the economic factor involved. A simple pattern would require fewer separate materials be used, as well as requiring less time to prep / set-up the equipment. Likewise, weaving a popular tartan allows you to purchase the requisite material in bulk (winning lower prices) and allows you to leave the looms set up for a given pattern instead of having to change it every bolt.

Now we have the question of availability. It's what people can buy, so they do buy it. Popular patterns would increase in popularity and therefore in availability; less popular patterns would decrease in both. Eventually you'd have a large availability of a few tartans. You make what sells, even if it's only selling because that's all you make

But then again, I'm not an economist, either