MacDonald of the Isles as a Military Tartan

[figheadair]

This week the STA finally took control of the remaining costume collection that formerly belonged to the earlier Scottish Tartans Society and which had been in store for more than 10 years. I was familiar with much of the collection but was surprised to discover a mint condition military issue kilt in MacDonald of the Isles. I've never seen reference to any unit ever wearing this sett but we are fortunate that the kilt obviously came out of a QM's store somewhere and still has its original tags which confirm that the tartan was worn by Pipers of 146 (Antrim Artillery) Corps Engineer Regiment RE (TA), a Territorial unit later amalgamated and now part of 591 Independent Field Squadron.

[davidlpope]

Peter,

Is the fabric the same sort of heavy "slightly fuzzy" tartan that other MOD kilts are made of?

David

[figheadair]

Yes, 22oz Cheviot weave.

[OC Richard]

So cool about those military kilts! There are so many interesting tartans worn by Territorial, Volunteer, and Overseas Highland battalions.

Seems that those MacDonald tartans have a more clearly established provenance than most.

Three of them were simply lifted from old paintings, in modern times

The green & white one



The two red ones; very economical in that we get two tartans from one painting!

One lifted from the jacket on the left, one from the jacket on the right. The waistcoat and kilt are different yet.



All of these predate the very concept of clan tartans and anyone can title them anything they want; we have no idea what they were called when worn, if anything. Alex probably called his something like 'the green outfit'.

Also of clear provenance is the one invented by the Allen Brothers (they never established any grounds for calling themselves "Sobieski Stuart" so the Allen Brothers they remain). But... the design is far more complicated and traditional-looking than their typical 'twa stryppis' and 'thre stryppis' and 'four stryppis' ones and I wonder if it was copied from some actual tartan (they did that quite a bit too).

[jhockin]

This week the STA finally took control of the remaining costume collection that formerly belonged to the earlier Scottish Tartans Society and which had been in store for more than 10 years. I was familiar with much of the collection but was surprised to discover a mint condition military issue kilt in MacDonald of the Isles. I've never seen reference to any unit ever wearing this sett but we are fortunate that the kilt obviously came out of a QM's store somewhere and still has its original tags which confirm that the tartan was worn by Pipers of 146 (Antrim Artillery) Corps Engineer Regiment RE (TA), a Territorial unit later amalgamated and now part of 591 Independent Field Squadron.

Just curious, is it pleaded with knife pleats or military box pleats ( can't tell from the photos)?

[figheadair]

So cool about those military kilts! There are so many interesting tartans worn by Territorial, Volunteer, and Overseas Highland battalions.

What's really fascinating is the reason why certain tartans were chosen. It was not simply a case of taking one off the shelf or someone saying 'I like that one' although I've no doubt that one or two owe their use to someone's fancy. Unfortunately a lot of the Territorial units have been amalgamated and with them the history of why they wore the tartan they did has often been lost.

Just curious, is it pleaded with knife pleats or military box pleats ( can't tell from the photos)?

Knife pleated.

[Ron Abbott]

Thanks for posting. Appreciated.

(a) I'd never heard of the unit nor of any unit wearing that tartan before, and;
(b) previously I only knew of the dark/green sett of MacDonald of Isles. That one looks somewhat similar to Mackenzie.

[OC Richard]

Yes it has a superficial resemblance to the tartan devised for the Seaforth Highlanders, however the latter has the red and white lines superimposed over the Black Watch tartan, while that Allen Bros MacDonald has a different ground pattern.

The cool thing is that Seaforth MacKenzie tartan full hose and hosetops (fairly widely available) go perfectly well with that MacDonald (in modern colours).

[jhockin]

I just noticed, for the first time ( I think?), that in both painting, the kilts clearly have box pleats across the front, over apron!

[figheadair]

I just noticed, for the first time ( I think?), that in both painting, the kilts clearly have box pleats across the front, over apron!

No, probably not box pleats per se but gathered pleats, what Bob Martin refers to as drape pleats. There's no indication that the pleats are sewn and these probably show a true feileadh beag where the material is held in place by a belt or a draw string.