Advice on District Tartans

[starbkjrus]

Can anyone enlighten me on where to find out what the "officially sanctioned" District Tartans are? I've ordered a Matt Newsome original kilt in the Carolina District Tartan after nearly ordering a "fashion" tartan of the same name. Matt and Jamie were able to steer me in the right direction. There are some really nice fashion tartans out there but that is not what I am looking for.

I'm currently trying to find info on the "correct" Ontario District tartan but am finding it a bit confusing. The Scottish Tartans Authority lists four tartans. I'm learning (i think) what their catogorizations mean but am still not sure. (I really need to send those folks some money so I get the notes on each tartan.)

there is :
http://www.tartansauthority.com/sta_..._th/006627.gif
this one which is categorized as "Canadian District Weavers"
This one:
http://www.tartansauthority.com/sta_..._th/002038.gif
Listed as "Canadian Fashion Weavers"
This one:
http://www.tartansauthority.com/sta_..._th/003140.gif
again shown as "Canadian District Weavers"
and
http://www.tartansauthority.com/sta_..._th/000956.gif
another "Canadian District Weavers"

I have no idea exactly which one is the "official" Ontario District Tartan.
The first one on the list was pushed in 1999 by a Provincial MP to be approved by the Provincial Govt and the Queen (see Link)
http://heritage.scotsman.com/topics....mp;id=42002005
but the third one is the one shown on the district-tartans.com website as the Ontario District Tartan. (At least I think so. Screens are different but dates and originators seem to say so. )

Anyone have a quick and dirty way to discern between fashion tartans named for a district and the ones that are actuallyl sancitoned by said district?

I'd greatly appreciate it.

[macwilkin]

Can anyone enlighten me on where to find out what the "officially sanctioned" District Tartans are? I've ordered a Matt Newsome original kilt in the Carolina District Tartan after nearly ordering a "fashion" tartan of the same name. Matt and Jamie were able to steer me in the right direction. There are some really nice fashion tartans out there but that is not what I am looking for.

I'm currently trying to find info on the "correct" Ontario District tartan but am finding it a bit confusing. The Scottish Tartans Authority lists four tartans. I'm learning (i think) what their catogorizations mean but am still not sure. (I really need to send those folks some money so I get the notes on each tartan.)

there is :
http://www.tartansauthority.com/sta_..._th/006627.gif
this one which is categorized as "Canadian District Weavers"
This one:
http://www.tartansauthority.com/sta_..._th/002038.gif
Listed as "Canadian Fashion Weavers"
This one:
http://www.tartansauthority.com/sta_..._th/003140.gif
again shown as "Canadian District Weavers"
and
http://www.tartansauthority.com/sta_..._th/000956.gif
another "Canadian District Weavers"

I have no idea exactly which one is the "official" Ontario District Tartan.
The first one on the list was pushed in 1999 by a Provincial MP to be approved by the Provincial Govt and the Queen (see Link)
http://heritage.scotsman.com/topics....mp;id=42002005
but the third one is the one shown on the district-tartans.com website as the Ontario District Tartan. (At least I think so. Screens are different but dates and originators seem to say so. )

Anyone have a quick and dirty way to discern between fashion tartans named for a district and the ones that are actuallyl sancitoned by said district?

I'd greatly appreciate it.

One quick way is to look on a state or provincial government web site and see if the tartan is listed with the official symbols -- here are some examples:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/playground/Tartan.asp (Nova Scotia tartan)

http://www.nh.gov/nhinfo/tartan.html (New Hampshire tartan)

http://www.csbr.org/latartan1.htm (Louisiana tartan)

Also, you might check with a local Scottish/Caledonian/St. Andrew's Society and see if they were involved in getting a tartan officially recognized by the state legislature/provincial assembly. You might also look online and see if there was a particular bill or act passed to establish the tartan, such as this one from the Iowa state legislature:

http://www.legis.state.ia.us/GA/80GA...0/Current.html

Many times, due to organizational politics, there could be two or more tartans for a particular state, etc., but basically, official recognition from a legislative assembly is the key for a tartan to be the "official" tartan.

Cheers,

Todd

[M. A. C. Newsome]

One good way is to get a copy of my Compendium of District Tartans. When researching these tartans, if I found any evidence of a tartan being officially adopted, sanctioned, or approved by a governing body, I made mention of it in the text.

For the Ontario tartan, I don't think any of them have (to my knowledge) been officially approved.

Aye,
Matt

[starbkjrus]

Matt, I've been eyeing your Compendium of District Tartans for a while. I guess I need to oil the hinges on my wallet and buy it.

This one has gotten interesting. I went to the Ontario Government website (thanks for the tip Todd) and sure enough the Official Ontario tartan is shown and is the one I referenced in the article link in my first post.

Ontario's website says (www.gov.on.ca):
"The Official Tartan of Ontario
The Province of Ontario tartan is made up of four main different blocks containing the colours red and white with three shades of green and two shades of blue. The green shades symbolize the forests and fields of Ontario while the blue colours depict the water found in the province. The First Nations of Ontario are symbolized by the colour red and the sky over the province is depicted by the colour white. The tartan was adopted when the Tartan Act, introduced by Bill Murdoch, MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, received Royal Assent on June 23, 2000."

So I went to the Scottish Tartans Authority website and sure enough the one they list as being created by Jim MacNeil (got that from the article on heritage.scotsman.com) is registered with ITI number 006627.

I started wondering where to get the tartan and thought well, why not try Fraser & Kirkbright. Oddly they showed an Ontario tartan but a different one so I called The Scottish Weaver (F&K's affiliate in the States). I spoke with a very knowledgible person who after several calls back and forth between the States and Canada called me back and said he's going to have to dig into this one. He seemed very surprised that neither he nor F&K were aware of this tartan.

Oh well, it'll be interesting to see what he finds out (and whether I can lay hands on this tartan).

Thanks again for the help, guys. I'll add to this when I find out more.

[macwilkin]

Matt, I've been eyeing your Compendium of District Tartans for a while. I guess I need to oil the hinges on my wallet and buy it.

This one has gotten interesting. I went to the Ontario Government website (thanks for the tip Todd) and sure enough the Official Ontario tartan is shown and is the one I referenced in the article link in my first post.

Glad to be of service, sir! :mrgreen: Gi'eussome updates as to the continuing saga of the Ontario tartan!

I'm like you; I need to find the crowbar to open my wallet! ;)

Cheers,

Todd

[mkmound]

. . .
I'm like you; I need to find the crowbar to open my wallet! ;)

Cheers,

Todd

Warning!! Beverage alert! Swallow before proceeding! ;)

Story I saw somewhere, attributed to Reader's Digest . . . supposedly a true story . . .

Remember when velcro was new (patented 1955)?

Well, not too long after it began to be used in common articles, like wallets, two American ladies were traveling Scotland. They had just finished touring a castle, and were purchasing souvenirs in the gift shop.

One lady pulled out her wallet, which had a velcro closure. As she opened it to take out her money, it made the characteristic velcro sound.

The laird, who was tending the cash register that afternoon, got a surprised and excited look on his face. He exclaimed gleefully, "Wonderful!! They've finally invented a wallet that screams when you open it!!!"

Cheers,
Mark

[Tiran]

There is also this link to the Gov't of Canada site that has all the official provincial (and couple not official) tartans, in a very interesting display.

http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/o6_e.cfm

I can't say I am fond of the Alberta one, and the dress version of it is awful.

According to this site the only ones that arent official are Quebec, Newfoundland, Yukon and the one called Maple Leaf, which is I think often called the Canadian tartan.

Oh and Nunuvat doen't have one yet.

[jfellrath]

Oh and Nunuvat doen't have one yet.

Perhaps one has been offered, but the citizens of the province simply decided they're having Nunavat.

I apologize in advance. ;)

[starbkjrus]

And the mystery deepens. The Canadian Heritage website provided by Tiran above shows a different official Ontario tartan than Ontario's Provincial website. The tartan shown on the Canadian Heritage website is indeed the one that Fraser and Kirkbright and District-Tartans.com shows.

Now I'm even more interested in the answer that comes back from the gentleman at The Scottish Weaver.

[starbkjrus]

Well so far there is no update on the Ontario tartan......BUT...... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I received an email from Matt Newsome this morning that the cloth for my Four-Yard-Box-Pleated-Custom-Made-Hand-Sewn-Carolina-District-Tartan kilt has arrived from the weaver. WhooooooHOOOOOOOO!! (Can you tell I'm excited??)

Like I told Matt -- Shifting into HIGH Jones Mode.