Although rare, there are some very old surviving remnants of tartan-like scottish fabric. It seems, however, that tartan as we would recognise it today did not come into regular use until sometime in the 1600's. At best, they were most likely associated with districts and regions rather than individual families. There are numerous paintings predating the infamous "Dress Act" (1747), (when such works of art were done with much precision and accuracy), showing individuals wearing tartans unknown in any surviving records. Other paintings show related individuals wearing tartans completely different from one another and often unrelated tartans on a single individual. This would suggest that tartans were chosen more from personal taste than from clan considerations. The use of tartan as a family kinship badge is much more recent and probably started with the regimental tartans. I think it is noteworthy that tartans and kilts were confined pretty much to the highlands. Lowlanders, it seems, regarded them as a sign of lower social standing, as modern blue jeans were for many years. The use of tartan gained popularity coincidentally with nationalist sentiments through both Jacobite revolutions. After the rebellion of 1745, The Dress Act was invoked, which prohibited the wearing of tartans, kilts, or any highland garb under severe penalty of law. It remained remained in effect for 35 years. With the exception of the regiments, tartan history and tradition was effectively expunged from an entire generation and there was little interest shown when the act was repealed in 1782 in part due to the impoverished conditions of the people. Here's where things get a bit hazy. Between the writings of Sir Walter Scott and newfound enthusiasm for Scottish culture by English royalty, there was a tartan re-birth of sorts. The only truly reliable records of tartans were those kept by the regimental weavers, and most of these were numbers, not family names. It wasn't until the early 1800's that there a serious attempt to re-assemble the history and identity of tartans by the Highland Society of London. To confuse matters, two brothers, John and Charles Hay Allan, published a book of tartans in 1842, titled the Vestiarium Scoticum, which they claimed to be a copy of a long lost medieval manuscript listing the tartan setts of some 70 scottish families. This later proved to be a hoax...many of the setts being the invention of the brothers themselves. Many other tartans in use today are completely modern inventions with no historical foundations at all. I suppose that means anyone feeling a deep sense of tradition regarding their clan tartan should probably look at the facts a bit more closely. Given that, I suggest we can safely and confidently step beyond the Victorian rules of "entitlement" and wear the tartans that appeal to us, as the pre- Culloden Scots were known to do. How about you?