Tartans sorted by base tartan?

[katon]

Are there any books or websites that sort tartans by their base? I've noticed that some tartans seem to start with a simpler tartan like Black Watch or Rob Roy, and then add to it. It seems like this would be a good way to keep them organized in my brain.

[Ayin McFye]

Are there any books or websites that sort tartans by their base? I've noticed that some tartans seem to start with a simpler tartan like Black Watch or Rob Roy, and then add to it. It seems like this would be a good way to keep them organized in my brain.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "base" since almost every tartan is unique. Some tartans may look similiar to other tartans but it may just be a coincidence. If you get good at using the tartan finder by color you can find just about anything you need.

Check out http://www.tartansauthority.com/web/site/home/home.asp and play with it for a while.

[Ayin McFye]

Oh yeah, and

[beloitpiper]

Ayin, what I think he means is like Gordon, Campbell, MacArthur, Lamont, MacKenzie, Sutherland, etc. are all derived from the Black Watch tartan.

katon, I don't think there's a definitive list, but it would be a great project!

[gilmore]

I seem to remember reading an article that posited and elaborated on just such a theory, that the Black Watch-derived tartans were one group, and another group derived from those that had red as the basic color. The author made geographic connections also, with the origins of the various tartans said to be within easily traveled distances, along the same coasts and river valleys. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Or am I delusional again?

[SteveB]

I think Gilmore is hot on this one. I remember reading a book titled The Tartan History of Scotland. It gave a little history of certain clans and their tartans and the other similar tartans. Such as a Black Watch tartan with a red stripe thin place of the thin black stripe through the blue block is used by.... etc. It covered a limited amount of tartans though.
The Scottish Tartans Authority "Tartan Ferret" has some good fuzzy search features that might help you on this one.

[SteveB]

Also:
Hello and a warm from Boston, Massachusetts.

[Morris at Heathfield]

Gilmore, you're probably just delusional.

Unless you happen to be referring to this article.

[Coemgen]

That's be a pretty cool project.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Jamie Scarlett wrote a book in the 70s called the "Tartan Spotters Guide" which groups the tartans as you describe and teaches one to ID the tartan by the group. It's been out of print forever, but you can sometimes see one on EBay or a used book source.

Matt