Clan Chiefs Pleating Preferences

[Jock Scot]

Along the same lines of questioning-- I vaguely recall something about the size of the sett being different for chiefs... another raisin in the Victorian pudding, or is there some latent truth to this?

Like you I think I recall something about this ,but I can't say I have ever seen it ,or, perhaps I have never taken any notice.

There was also a vague suggestion that Clan Chiefs could have their own tartan.Why not? All it takes is a large dose of ego and money! Some one reminded me of this here,a wee while ago, somewhere, where I think it was a Campbell Chief had an extra stripe put into his tartan. I don't think it is in use today. I cannot think of any other Chiefly tartan, although there may be, I suppose.

In both of the above cases, I think they were mainly one of those pretentious figments of the Victorian imagination. Am I wrong?

[raibeart_dubh]

There was also a vague suggestion that Clan Chiefs could have their own tartan.Why not? All it takes is a large dose of ego and money! Some one reminded me of this here,a wee while ago, somewhere, where I think it was a Campbell Chief had an extra stripe put into his tartan. I don't think it is in use today. I cannot think of any other Chiefly tartan, although there may be, I suppose.

I remember what you're talking about. There was a post about Campbell tartans which contained an excerpt from a letter written by the Duke of Argyll on Campbell tartans. He said something about a past chief adding a stripe to create his own chiefly tartan. He went on to say that that was his right as chief but that the rest of the clan thought he was rather pompous for doing so.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Along the same lines of questioning-- I vaguely recall something about the size of the sett being different for chiefs... another raisin in the Victorian pudding, or is there some latent truth to this?

Sounds like another myth to me, though I wouldn't be surprised if someone somewhere could dig up an instance of a chief who wished his personal version of the tartan to be a different set size. Most myths have a kernal of truth to them, but I have never personally encountered such a case.

It would be hard to regulate in any case as sett size typically will differ not only from mill to mill, but also from the same mill over time, and from the same mill in different fabric weights.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I'm sure we can find pleat shots, but just to be clear as far as I'm concerned the only member of this forum that qualifies as a "learned scholar" of kilts is Matt Newsome, Member of the International Guild of Tartan Scholars, director of the Scottish Tartans Museum. Everyone else is just opinionated.

Best regards,

Jake

Jake,

Thanks for the compliment, but I would never personally claim to be the "only learned scholar" on this forum. Just because I'm lucky enough to receive a paycheck doing this sort of thing doesn't mean that other list members are not as well studied or versed in tartan lore.

And I can certainly be as opinionated as the next guy!

[JSFMACLJR]

There was also a vague suggestion that Clan Chiefs could have their own tartan.Why not? All it takes is a large dose of ego and money! Some one reminded me of this here,a wee while ago, somewhere, where I think it was a Campbell Chief had an extra stripe put into his tartan. I don't think it is in use today. I cannot think of any other Chiefly tartan, although there may be, I suppose.

Cameron of Lochiel has a personal tartan, worn only by Lochiel and his immediate family.

[Jock Scot]

Cameron of Lochiel has a personal tartan, worn only by Lochiel and his immediate family.

Good lord! I have never noticed that it is different! Mind you, come to think of it, I think I have only seen "Himself" wearing a Cameron tartan.There should be more than a few to compare, later on in the year, at the Clan gathering.

[Carolina Kiltman]

Since the size of the sett is (usually) dependent on the weight of the fabric, maybe some Clan Chief of the past had chilblains and used a heavier weight fabric for his kilts than most of his clansmen. . . . . . .? (tongue firmly in cheek)

[EagleJCS]

There was also a vague suggestion that Clan Chiefs could have their own tartan. ... I cannot think of any other Chiefly tartan, although there may be, I suppose.

I know Buccleuch (Chief of the Scotts) has "his own" tartan as well, separate from the Scott tartans. Don't know if it's reserved to his family or is available to all Buccleuch's.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I remember years ago that the then Chief of Clan MacMillan went to the trouble of having kilts made in MacMillan Hunting, Ancient Colours, at a time when nobody had ever seen that take on the tartan. The idea was that this would be the "official" tartan of the Chief and his family... What can I say. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and at the next clan gathering virtually everybody was wearing the Chief's tartan...

[gilmore]

...

There was also a vague suggestion that Clan Chiefs could have their own tartan.Why not? All it takes is a large dose of ego and money! Some one reminded me of this here,a wee while ago, somewhere, where I think it was a Campbell Chief had an extra stripe put into his tartan. I don't think it is in use today. I cannot think of any other Chiefly tartan, although there may be, I suppose....

Doesn't Struan Robertson have a chief's kilt with a white stripe added to Robertson red?