campbell dress

[JSFMACLJR]

You Campbells out there might be interested in the whole of the letter by the late 12th Duke of Argyll, which is available on the Clan Campbell Society webpage. I hope they do not mind me quoting it here:

From the website-
"There is only one authority on the correct tartan or tartans of a clan: the chief of that clan. Not even the Scottish Tartans Society or the Lord Lyon King of Arms claim such authority--they are purely archivists of tartan history, which is, at best, a confused and confusing field.

Here is how our late chief, The 12th Duke of Argyll, and re-affirmed by our current Chief, The 13th Duke of Argyll, MacCailein Mor, summed up the official position on Campbell tartans consistently declared for well over one hundred years by successive Chiefs of Clan Campbell:



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"...the only tartans which I recognize are, firstly, the one you see me and my wife wearing, which goes under various names, such as ordinary Campbell, Ancient Campbell, etc., and all members of our clan who are not specifically identified with [the Houses of Breadalbane, Cawdor [or] Loudoun are entitled to wear it.
Let me get rid, once and for all, of the thought that there is a 'Campbell of Argyll' [tartan]. While it is true that the Sixth Duke [of Argyll] introduced a white line to his plain Campbell tartan to differentiate himself from the rest of the Campbells, (he being the chief and entitled to do so), he was the only member of the family so to do and the rest of the family thought he was rather pompous to do it.

Campbell of Breadalbane--fine [to wear].

Campbell of Cawdor--fine.

Campbell of Loudoun--fine.

Campbell of Glenlyon--I have never heard of it.

Campbell of Loch Awe-this is plain ridiculous, as we are all Campbells of Loch Awe originally. - Apart from anything else, I have never heard of a Campbell of Loch Awe tartan, nor do I wish to do so.

THERE IS NO DRESS CAMPBELL [TARTAN]--repeat! repeat! repeat!

There is NO HUNTING CAMPBELL.

There is NO CAMPRELL RED.

There is NO CAMPBELL - SIMPSON.

There are no Campbell cheques, other than commercial ones...

If I feel strongly about anything and would like it inscribed on my tombstone, there might be a few lines such as 'All Campbells with the exception of the three principal septs [the Houses of Breadalbane, Cawdor and Loudoun] should wear plain undifferentiated Campbell for evermore and not get confused by peddlers of this [other] material that comes under all sorts of guises.



Yours ever,


Your Kinsman and Chief,

Argyll"
[From a letter to William A. Mitchell. late Clan Campbell Society U.S.A. genealogist]

[Clockwork John]

Here are a couple of shots of my vintage (1967) Campbell Dress kilt, with matcing Argyle hose.

Pleat shot

[Colonel MacNeal]

So since there is no Campbell Red, I guess they will have no problem with me (a non Campbell) wearing it.

[ardchoille33]

I actually have the campbell red muted from House Of Edgar. Whether or not the chief approves it, does not matter. I wear what i want. Wear what you like.

I like the pic of the gentleman in the campbell dress kilt. I just ordered it

Slainte

[macwilkin]

I actually have the campbell red muted from House Of Edgar. Whether or not the chief approves it, does not matter. I wear what i want. Wear what you like.

I like the pic of the gentleman in the campbell dress kilt. I just ordered it

Slainte

To some of us, it does matter whether the chief approves it or not. If you choose not to, that's your business. Some of us like to follow tradition and custom, and in the customs of clan tartans, the clan chief does have the "final say". Now, that being the case, the chief may not have a strong opinon one way or the other -- but in this case, the Duke of Argyll is pretty clear.

Different horses for courses, sir.

Todd

[Scotus]

I'd like to echo cajunscot's remarks. The chief is the final authority in this matter, regardless of what tartan you like or don't like. This matters to a lot of us. You may, however, wear a tartan pattern simply because you like how it looks. Just don't tell people that it's a tartan of Clan Campbell.

In my opinion, I think it's bad form for someone to name something a "Campbell" tartan when it's not recognized by the only authority on Campbell tartans; that is, the chief of Clan Campbell.

That being said, there is a long tradition of naming tartans with clan names simply to sell them. It's been going on for years and years. Just type a clan name into a tartan finder and you'll find tartans not recognized by chiefs of that name.

[Jock Scot]

I actually have the campbell red muted from House Of Edgar. Whether or not the chief approves it, does not matter. I wear what i want. Wear what you like.

I like the pic of the gentleman in the campbell dress kilt. I just ordered it

Slainte

I should not single out ardchoille here, there are many others who hold the same sort of view, so this is just a current example of what I see as blatant arrogance and insensitivity to Scots culture. Before I go any further, I will defend him and others the right to hold such views even if I respectfully disagree with him. However, this sort of opinion I find really trying as I feel it shows disrespect to my heritage. I am sure this disrespect is not intended, as such, but it is, for me, disrespect and arrogance nonetheless.

[Tim Little]

Campbell red?

[DryFly]

Would'nt the argument here be more for the weaving houses or the STA than someone wearing the pattern? This is after all named and marketed by firms in Scotland. Should the rest of us refer to it as "the tartan that shall not be named" or the "False Nomenclature" pattern?

I actually learned something new in this thread and it will certainly factor into my choices. However, I'm not sure the purchaser bears the onus of responsibility for the perceived slight in this case.

[Carolina Kiltman]

This is the MacLaine of Lochbuie hunting



This is the Maclaine of Lochbuie ancient sett (blue)

While it may be difficult to see the difference from the size of these samples, the hunting has the yellow stripe guarded (narrow black line on either side)

the point I am trying to make here, is that at least nine out of ten mills will call the ancient sett "hunting" and it is nearly impossible to find the true hunting.

I can only assume that they are either careless, or ignorant. (I am trying to be charitable). I agree with Jock Scott and the others that only the Clan Chief has the authority to grant approval to a particular tartan.