Torn Between Two Tartans

[Cygnus]

The Swan tartan you have shown is also known as Ramsay Blue, which IS readily available in wool AND PV material:

I thought the same thing when I came across the Ramsay tartan some time back, but, comparing the thread counts, the Swan tartan is quite a bit larger than the Ramsay. I am fairly new at this, though - would they still be considered the same tartan if they have the same colours/pattern but a different thread count?

I'd like to be able to tell any Ramsays that the tartan I am wearing is different in some way to theirs (unless, of course, it isn't).

And Mike, I like it as well which is why I'm fairly certain that's the one I'll be starting with and we'll see if kilts really are like Lays potato chips...

[L. Ramsay]

I thought the same thing when I came across the Ramsay tartan some time back, but, comparing the thread counts, the Swan tartan is quite a bit larger than the Ramsay. I am fairly new at this, though - would they still be considered the same tartan if they have the same colours/pattern but a different thread count?

I'd like to be able to tell any Ramsays that the tartan I am wearing is different in some way to theirs (unless, of course, it isn't).

And Mike, I like it as well which is why I'm fairly certain that's the one I'll be starting with and we'll see if kilts really are like Lays potato chips...

I guess that means me. (Heh heh)

At first I thought there was a slight difference, but after some more looking it appears you use the same.

I can't tell if you're a sept of Ramsay or not, something for me to look into. It certainly would make sense if you were.

EDIT: Did some digging, Swan appears to be a Sept of Gunn (which is in a totally different area than Ramsay). Maybe there is some sort of difference between tartans after all. Its definitely over my head though.

[Mike_Oettle]

Well, if Swan is a sept of Gunn, that points to a Norwegian Viking origin.
That could be an interesting line of investigation.
Regards,
Mike

[Cygnus]

Well, if Swan is a sept of Gunn, that points to a Norwegian Viking origin.
That could be an interesting line of investigation.
Regards,
Mike

Swans are a listed "sept" of clan Gunn, but they're also listed with clan MacQueen. As far back as I can go, my ancestors seem to be pretty exclusively located in Midlothian and Perthshire (the Gunn Swans tend to be in the extreme North of Scotland).

Additionally, the historian Robert M. Gunn has written an article about the Gunn Septs and he points out some discrepancies in the thinking that made the Swans a sept of Clan Gunn.

Given their location, it seems that my ancestors may have been loyal to Clan MacQueen, but, as I said before, I really have no way of knowing where the family was from originally since the earliest birthplace I know of was for my great-great-great-great grandfather who was born in Co. Cork, Ireland in 1799 while his father was there with the military (probably making shoes for the soldiers, since journals state that cobbling was and had pretty much always been the family trade and I doubt most soldiers would be able to take their families along). I don't know where his father was born, all I know is that he purchased a shop in Edinburgh after his time in Ireland. So, prior to the conflict in Ireland in 1798, I have no idea where in Scotland the family lived.

Because of this, I'd like to avoid going with either of the clan tartans associated with my family name in the hopes that more information will be found that eliminates any doubt about the family's origins.