MacDonald of Clanranald (1914)

[figheadair]

Well found Nathan. That brings it all back and on the face of things this is one of the few truly old tartans that can be associated with a particular clan/individual. But hang on... all is not quite right with this.

"For the pattern, which we have no hesitation in giving as the Clan Ranald full-dress, we are indebted to Mr. Allan R. MacDonald of Water- nish, Skye. It is taken from a plaid spun and dyed by an ancestress of Mr. MacDonald's, a daughter of Lachlan MacKinnon of Corry, the entertainer of Dr. Johnson and Pennant, and worn by her husband, Allan MacDonald of Baile-Fhionnlaigh, Benbecula, a cadet of the Clan Ranald family, as a captain in the Clan regiment of the 45, and who was severely wounded at Culloden, whose portrait, dressed in the tartan, is shown on page 166. The plaid is a beautiful specimen of the old Highland hard tartan, and made of the wool of the aboriginal Highland sheep—the colours are still quite fresh and bright. According to John MacCodrum, the bard, c. 1715, the colours of the Clan Ranald tartan were crimson with carnation in the waft."

Let me deal firstly with the portrait in which, as you rightly point out, the tartan differs. If it were in colour I would expect it to show the so called Rob Roy, that simple two coloured check widely worn in the early to mid18th century. Allan MacDonald may not have even had such a tartan coat and the colouration may simply have be the artist's addition to re-enforce the Highland connection. This simple tartan is shown by various artists at about the same time being worn by Pr Ch Ed, Lord Ogilvie and Norman MacLeod, 22nd Chief to name but three other non-MacGregors.

Turning to the Waternish plaid my first question is where is it now? Without seeing it it's impossible to know whether it is/was actually as old as claimed. I have come across many examples of tartan artifacts that the owners believed to be much older than they actually were. In this case we are dealing with a period of nearly 170 years which is probably 3-4 generations and facts often get conflated over such a period. I think MacKay or his correspondent did just this with individuals, dates and the portrait.

If the portrait is original then is must be c1745-6. Allan MacDonald and Jean MacKinnon were married in 1761 and so this plaid that she spun and wove must be post 1761. So, if the Culloden link for the plaid is wrong how can we be sure exactly how old it is/was or indeed that was even produced by Jean? If only MacKay had thought photograph the plaid.

Here's my sample in Wilsons' shades.