Quote Originally Posted by cajunscot
Afraid not, old boy -- remember that the idea of a "clan" tartan realy didn't develop until the turn of the 19th century -- yes, there were tartans around that later became clan tartans, but the idea of a system of tartans to represent a particular clan came later, mostly due to Lowland firms like Wilson's of Bannockburn.

Cheers,

Todd
And yet there is a fabulous court case in which a female member of a clan sued a weaver because he had taken the wool (in the colors of the tartan she requested) and then not woven it according to the thread count. So there would appear to be evidence for a cogent system of colorations and weaving for tartans in at least some portions of Scotland prior to the banning of the tartan. And there are also mentions in the chronicals of the time of forces raised by a clan all wearing the same tartan. So while the modern system of clan tartans didn't arise until the 19th century, there is plenty to suggest that there was such a system for at least some clans back before the proscription.

And there is also the question of why would the firms even come up with the idea of assigning tartans to clans if there wasn't an oral history remembrance of a time in which it was the case.

I know that all seems very tenous, but because of the paucity of sources for the lives of the common folk until well into the 18th century, that really is the kind of evidence that much of our knowledge of social history is based.