Evidence of a regional motif in old plaids from Appin and Lorn

[figheadair]

I posted a link to this paper in the article on last month's Tartan of the Month. I'm surprised that no-one has commented and wonder if it was missed?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Excellent paper, Peter. I seem to have missed your first post about it. It proficiently shows, using the historical evidence you have been able to uncover, just what I have been saying all along about Martin Martin's quote (which you also mention). Certain design elements, patterns & motifs may have been common to a particular region, which is what Martin was likely describing. But this is a far cry from a defined and established "district tartan" system wherein each town and glen was assigned its individual tartan setting.

Good work!
M

[SlackerDrummer]

I posted a link to this paper in the article on last month's Tartan of the Month. I'm surprised that no-one has commented and wonder if it was missed?

I didn't miss it, I'm just not smart enough to have commented intelligently on the subject matter.

[Sir William]

I posted a link to this paper in the article on last month's Tartan of the Month. I'm surprised that no-one has commented and wonder if it was missed?

I will admit that I totally missed the reference as I was trying to catch up while I was traveling. Thanks for reposting the link - it looks to be of particular interest (if you'll recall our conversation in Crieff).

[davidlpope]

Peter,

Thanks for such an interesting read. I am curious as to whether you have a theory as to the reason for the existence of such a district motif? Was this a conscious form of identifying the tartan (and weaver) with a particular region? Copies (and variations) on a base theme? The result of commissions by a single local wealthy family?

David

[figheadair]

David,

I delighted by your questions which are exactly the type of thing that I hope to raise in people's mind by publishing such papers, in addition to making the info available in the first place, and also by the Tartan of the Month series. Here's my take on things.

Of the pieces examined I am fairly certain that two are off the same loom (those in the Glencoe Museum) and probably by the same weaver which means that they must be contemporary. Dating them with any finesse is all but impossible so c1730-60 is a 'best guess'. The Dunollie Plaid I consider to be older and is of a completely different quality which indicates a different maker/customer/use. Add to that the fact that there is a considerable degree of geographical separate (in C18th terms) between Glencoe and Dunollie and I believe that we are looking at variations on a theme.

All the setts examined contain a large proportion of red and we can therefore assume that they were comparatively expensive in their day and thus probably associated with wealthy families. Again, the geographical separation means that we are probably looking at different families.

There are a number of other C18th specimens that contain elements of this setting but which are visually and technically different and I have an embryonic paper on the go looking at the broader setting structure. I doubt that it was a conscious decision to identify with a region particularly as the regions in question are pretty wide and don't conform directly to geographical, social or political districts.

It is of regret that so few examples of pre-1800 tartans survive and one is very much clutching at straws and trying to make sense of what was from snippets of information. That said, I believe that I can identify and least three distinct type of historical red based sett that can be groups roughly west, central and east meaning that they must have developed over time as variations on a themes.

[Tartan Tess]

Both articles were very interesting. Thank you for "re"posting that.

[Dixiecat]

The link did not go unnoticed. I read it and have stored away nuggets of information to be produced at appropriate times for Tartan of the Month threads. ;)

[davidlpope]

Peter,

Is there any evidence that there was a formal or informal guild/school system for weavers in the 18th century? Master/apprentice type training? I've always assumed that much tartan weaving was done by women in the home, but I'm not certain that's a reasonable presupposition.

I'm wondering if there is an analog to this sort of tendancy to self-differentiate/self-identify among pipers in the Highlands- e.g. The MacCrimmon's "piping school" at Borreraig, the "tap" birl vs. the "swipe/seven" birl, "this is the way the 'Two Bobs' taught me to play the tune", etc. These things might appear as "unexplained motifs" if, well, if we didn't already know the explanation for the distribution of the "motif".

Cordially,

David

[figheadair]

From a Highland perspective I am unaware of any guild system and it would seem very unlikely given the rural nature of the culture and so it is much more likely that it was a family tradition in a glen or district in the same way that there was the miller, blacksmith etc. This differed greatly from the Braelands and Lowlands; for example, Crieff (well actually a separate township that is now part of the town) was famous for weaving plaids, where there were established guilds with a Deacon, Masters and apprentices.

The division of labour is much more tricky to define but I have read somewhere that the women used to doing the spinning and dyeing (the former being something that could be done with a distaff whilst carrying out other home duties or even when walking) whereas the weaver was generally male.