Tartan MIS-identification?

**Arlen** · 3rd December 07, 07:53 PM

I've been thinking about posting this since I got back, but just got around to it.

Switching planes in Minnesota I heard a seemingly nice woman whisper to her husband, 'See that guy in the kilt? That's the Ancient Grant tartan. My brother has that one.'
Considering that I was wearing the Macdonald Modern I was a little surprised, but I didn't feel any real need to correct her.

Cut to getting off the plane. She taps me on the shoulder and says, 'So you're a Grant, huh?'
'No, I'm a Donald. This is the Macdonald Modern tartan.'
She lifts an eyebrow and, in a terribly condescending voice, says, 'No. You're wrong there, honey. My brother has that same kilt and he bought it in Edinburgh. Paid a lot to have it made just for him. Someone's ripped you off 'cause that's the Ancient Grant tartan.'

Now, I tried to be as polite as possible and assured her that while the two tartans could be similar, I was positive of the tartan I was wearing but thought the Grant tartan was lovely, too.
At this she took great offense and accused me of trying to steal the Grant tartan and pretending to be Scottish when I obviously have a fake accent.

I'm not particularly annoyed by this and I know it's rather an extreme case, but it got me thinking.
Has anyone else out there met tartan-know-it-alls who are one Balmoral short of Kilt Police?

**gilmore** · 3rd December 07, 08:08 PM

Sorry you had that experience. That reaction was so uninformed and out there that I found it hilarious. Or maybe you just tell it well.

**OFCJAX** · 3rd December 07, 08:10 PM

Proof yet again that a little knowledge is more dangerous than alot.

**ccga3359** · 3rd December 07, 08:15 PM

They're both tartans, perhaps that was her confusion.
MacDonald

Grant

OK there's a bunch of MacDonald tartans and a bunch of Grant tartans. Do they look unmistakenly similar?

At least she didn't suggest that you were trying to steal the Campbell tartan as your own!

**Joel** · 3rd December 07, 08:16 PM

The only thing I've gotten are "Aren't kilts are supposed to be tartan, not one colour?" But don't you just love know-it-alls?

I am sorry that happened to you. Perhaps she'll come to learn her error and not make the mistake again.

At least you know you're right. That's what matters. And I think that it sounds as if you handled the sitiation well. You did all you really could do. But some people are just too thick-headed and closed minded.

**ChromeScholar** · 3rd December 07, 08:25 PM

One thing I've learned to do is to learn a little about each clan whose tartan I have a kilt in. Invariably, the next thing I am asked, after identifying the tartan for someone, is the history of the clan.

**pdcorlis** · 3rd December 07, 08:28 PM

W

W That is one very strange encounter. Welcome to America?

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 3rd December 07, 08:33 PM

It could be that she just can't differentiate between two tartans. Some people are color blind. And some have no eye for pattern. Working in the Scottish Tartans Museum, I encounter this all the time. "Isn't this the Royal Stewart tartan?" says someone looking at an item in the Sutherland clan tartan. "No," I reply, "That's Sutherland." "Well, it looks just like Royal Stewart!"

It could also be that her brother got the wrong tartan!

Once, after a Kirkin' of the Tartans service, I saw an elderly lady dressed in a long tartan hostess skirt, sash, and tam. A little over the top, but she was obvioulsy very proud of her outfit, so I complimented her on how nice she looked. She just grinned from ear to ear. "Do you know what tartan this is?" she asked.

I happened to know, so I told her. "Yes," I said, "I do recognize it, that's the Nova Scotia tartan."

"No," she said, "This is the [her surname] tartan. I bought it when I was in Ontario, they happened to have it in stock in my size."

She looked to proud so wear the tartan, I couldn't bear to burst her bubble. I just smiled and told her, "Well, it looks very similar to the Nova Scotia tartan, and it's lovely on you in any case." It made her day. But I just couldn't bring myself to tell her that a shopkeeper sold her a bill of goods.

I once had a gent come into the museum and asked me to look up his surname. It wasn't related to any clan, so I reccomend a district tartan to him. "I think we are clan MacDonald," he told me. So I looked in another reference, and it didn't mention any clan connection with the name either. But he insisted that he was a MacDonald. I finally showed him on the map where the territorial origin of the name was, and it was on the opposite side of Scotland from MacDonald territory. So I asked him why he thought his name was affiliated with the MacDonalds.

Turns out that the year previous on a trip to Scotland some shopkeeper sold him $600 worth of MacDonald tartan merchandise. :-(

Always pays to do your own research.

**Arlen** · 3rd December 07, 08:39 PM

Originally Posted by M. A. C. Newsome

Turns out that the year previous on a trip to Scotland some shopkeeper sold him $600 worth of MacDonald tartan merchandise. :-(

Always pays to do your own research.

Oh, wow. That one is rough.

I get the feeling that she just saw the similar colours and was sure they were the same tartan.
That said, maybe her brother went to 'that' shopkeeper, too.

You know... I never get any hassle about my kilts in America unless I am in an airport.

**McMurdo** · 3rd December 07, 08:40 PM

Arlen, sorry that had to happen to you, some people. I suppose it would be easy to mis-identify a tartan if you had only seen it a few times and had not seen it in a while, had that been the end of it then fine no problem, however the rest of encounter is inexcusable. It does sound like you handled it with the most grace possible.