Barclay, Davis & Gunn

[Scott Gilmore]

***, that is a gorgeous tartan.

Thank you Bradley and Kevin. When ordering, I chose the 1745 single tramline version. To my eye it had a better rhythm -- a better balance of spaces. I know that may not make sense, but here's a snapshot just the same.

Back on subject though, when you look closely at the two tartans side by side (I looked at swatches side by side when ordering the kilt), you can see the difference. Yet the two versions of the tartans were woven a mere two years apart. My take on it is that weavers simply wove something pretty much like the clan tartan, and variations were either unimportant (less so than now, anyway), OR deliberately woven to be subtly distinct versions of the same tartan.

The point is that I think we're a lot more wrapped up in the exactitudes of tartan counting now than they were when they wore the stuff every day to keep warm.

Regards,
Scott Gilmore

[sirdaniel1975]

Similarities between Gunn & MacKay tartans.

Gunn


MacKay


The thread counts on the two are slightly different. In appearance the red stripe is exchanged for a black (or vice versa).

MacKay Thread count: G6, B28, G4, K28, G28, K6

Gunn Thread Count: G2, B24, G2, K24, G24, R4

More on the relation between Gunn & MacKay:
Williamson's, Wilson's, Henderson's (three popular surnames with clan Gunn) are said to have lived in MacKay territory and paid rent there in. Clan MacKay also claims Williamson as a sept. Both clans feuded with each other most of the time. In 1585 the name Gunn was outlawed by the Earl of Caithness and all Gunn's were hunted by his forces. MacKay's were hired by the Earl, through chance, some of the Earl's forces unintentially caused the Gunn's and the MacKay's to from an alliance (of the top of my head, I believe it involved cattle). Anyway they defeated the Earl's forces at Altgowne (Allt-gamhna). This happens to be one of the stories of archery in the Highlands by the way.
In 1586 the Gunn's were defeated at Loch Broom by the Earl of Sutherland and remained loyal to the Sutherlands ever after. In 1745, The Sutherlands were the major government clan of the north, and the Gunn's and MacKay's followed. The key relations between these two clans are; territory, surname Williamson, feuds, then the alliance. Both clans also have the surname Neilson on their sept list.

the link to some of the above info:
http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...lt_Camhna.html

Caithness Clan Map



Here's that Barclay Tartan:


Like Matt said, it's missing the black bands that enclose the two blue bands.

Daniel S. Williamson

[Scott Gilmore]

Similarities between Gunn & MacKay tartans. ...

Thanks for the information. Very interesting.

Regards,
Scott Gilmore