Hard Tartan

[Orvis]

Tobus - Figheadair will probably be the one to fill you in on hard tartan. In my dealings with him to get "replica" hard tartan for modern kilting and use as reenactor belted plaids, he has told me that authentic 18th c. hard tartan can't be replicated (the original sheep from which the wool was plucked are extinct today, for one thing), so removing the tartan web from the loom "in the grease" is as close as we'll come. The replica "hard" tartan that Peter helped me get in this way does feel a bit rougher and crisper than other finished "soft" tartan I've examined. I've always gotten it in 16 oz weight. As a reenactor, I'm pretty satisfied with its authenticity (I wear a long linen body shirt with my belted plaid to guard my thighs, as a woman's slip might do), and it feels good when I wear it in my modern box-pleat kilts, as well. It feels a bit rougher, but not uncomfortable. For information, when Peter assisted me in getting replica "hard" tartan to duplicate 18th c. setts, he had it woven by D.C. Dalgliesh. I'm confident that the weaving firm of Elliots can also produce tartan "in the grease" to your specifications. I like to add herringbone selvedges to my tartan (as they did in the 18th c.), which adds a bit to the cost, but it's worth it.