can i wear this

[madmacs]

I thought "traditionally" it would have been based on area you were living, or the name you have... Which admittedly would follow the male lineage generally, but some of us have both...

If you like it, and youre not a dyed in the wool scot, then wear it...

[Father Bill]

Snip:

I thought "traditionally" it would have been based on area you were living,

Folks, help me out with this: If you have a non-Scottish surname, but your people lived in an area with no specifically "regional" tartan, what do folks wear? Do they wear a tartan associated with the clan which protects them? That tartan would likely have been the one woven in the area before it became "assigned" to the clan wouldn't it? What if those people were not actually a sept of that clan?

I hear so many possibilities online, but help me to sort it out please.

Thanks a million.

[Jock Scot]

Snip:



Folks, help me out with this: If you have a non-Scottish surname, but your people lived in an area with no specifically "regional" tartan, what do folks wear? Do they wear a tartan associated with the clan which protects them? That tartan would likely have been the one woven in the area before it became "assigned" to the clan wouldn't it? What if those people were not actually a sept of that clan?

I hear so many possibilities online, but help me to sort it out please.

Thanks a million.

Good question.

In truth, I have no idea. Why? Well, we in the Highlands just assume that the ONE clan tartan being worn has a connection somewhere and we would not be so rude to ask! District tartans are a rarity and most here would not recognise one anyway. There are one or two Poles, that have been here for decades that wear the kilt, and if I recall correctly one wears a Stuart and the other is a Black Watch---I think.

When more than one Clan tartan is worn then suspicions that we have a poser in our midst arise, but again, we would never ask and we would not want to listen a two hour justification lecture either. We really are just not that fussed. Mix tartans of different Clans, then local eyebrows will raise alarmingly!

[madmacs]

Snip:



Folks, help me out with this: If you have a non-Scottish surname, but your people lived in an area with no specifically "regional" tartan, what do folks wear? Do they wear a tartan associated with the clan which protects them? That tartan would likely have been the one woven in the area before it became "assigned" to the clan wouldn't it? What if those people were not actually a sept of that clan?

I hear so many possibilities online, but help me to sort it out please.

Thanks a million.

Traditionally you didnt have a huge influx of people trying to set up shop in a different area of scotland... I think i'd probably equate the.clans to native american tribes... Is tribes the right word there? Doesnt sound.right in my head... But if you take away the nomadic nature, and make them farmers... A sioux probably only stayed in sioux areas... A cherokee probably stayed in his area... Unless they were raiding... Now make them all live in missouri, along with all the other tribes (still doesnt sound right) and imagine the distrust between them... The alliances that would be made and broken and remade... And you probably have an idea of the sociopolitical climate in scotland before things became "civilised"... If you were a maclean, chances are a campbell was.going to remember being told that a maclean chain someone to a.rock to drown rather than looking for a divorce... So youre likely to marry someone close to home if you were a regular petson, rather.than heading up to inverness to see what the talent was like, so your looseknit framework of families names developed into septs of the clan... Most of the population migration would have been south across the border rather than north into scotland...

Remembering that tartans didnt really come into existence as we know them until (arguably) george iv visited in 1822, and were banned from 1745 to 1782, the clan tartan would probably be whatever pattern the local weaver was used to making... It became default through availability...

An example of this would be maclean hunting... Which is one of the oldest recorded tartans if you accept that the 1587 charter for the lands of nerrabolsadh on islay describes it as a feu duty in the form of sixty ells of cloth of white, black, and green colours... But most people would consider maclean's tartan to be red... In 1617 it was rory mackenzie who had to provide white black and grey cloth, and in 1630 it was back to the macleans with white black and grass coloured...

So clan tartans, surames and septs dont really work.well together in my mind from a historic context... especially when you put them in 2011...

About the most i could say is... Where you lived determined your clan... If you want to adopt the tartan of your clan it's not likely to be "genuine"... If you have a traceable history back to the area with your name then you could probably justify it... Even in 2005 filling out citizenship papers i had the option to change my surname... So a name doesnt mean much really...

At the end of the day, honour your ancestors chosen or by lineage by wearing the tartan YOU feel is appropriate, or honour you scots heritage by wearing tartan YOU like (unless it's campbell of course... It was humour before i get complaints... My lamont side apparently had a fondness of them... Sometimes...) You might also want to ask someone WHY you cant wear it too...