Mixing tartans - yes or no?

[ThistleDown]

Interestingly I am not too sure how Clan Chattan stand on this as they are a confederation of individual clans. I suspect their "Cat", which seems to be a common emblem might get you through. No doubt, Rex "thistledown" will chip in with how they do it?

Since you asked, Jock, each of the constituent clans of the super-clan, the Clan Chattan, have their own tartans and each of their chiefs their own crests. Several of the latter (the Mackintoshes, Macphersons, one old branch of the Macgillivrays, the Macbeans and the MacThomases) are cat-based but each is individual to that clan chief. The Clan Chattan chief himself, Mackintosh of Torcastle, also bears the cat as a crest.

Others such as the Tulloch Davidsons, the old Macphails of Inverarnie, and another branch of the Macgillvrays use the stag, the Farquharsons of Invercauld and an old branch of the Shaws use a demi-lion, the Clanay Shaws use a dexter hand with a sword and the Macqueens a wolf.

These are not for mixing and matching. A Macintosh, for example, wears the Macintosh tartan and a belted cat crest in acknowledgment of his/her chief. There is an exception: the Clan Chattan tartan --formerly known as Mackintosh Chief -- is worn by all in the constituency along with the belted crest of their own chief. And it is acceptable to wear your own tartan and the Mackintosh of Torcastle cat crest in its belt.

Although there is a periodic mixing of tartans within a clan (for example a hunting and a red Shaw) there is no combining of tartans outside your clan (Davidson with Mackintosh, for example). Having said that, though, it does happen that Macphails, Macbeans and Shaws wear the Mackintosh tartan -- sometimes in combination with their own -- and that is probably because the tartans of these three clans are relatively new and are all based on the quite old Mackintosh.