Ancient Hamilton 8 yard 16oz

**cessna152towser** · 12th February 08, 05:10 AM

I'd been on the lookout for a kilt in Hamilton tartan for a wee while, ever since finding out more about my Hamilton/McKenzie lineage.
Robert Hamilton was born about 1740 and was a soldier when he married Janet Bell in 1763. They had ten children, four of whom died in infancy. He left the army between 1767 and 1771, when he became a weaver, and the family moved from Glasgow to Paisley between 1773 and 1776. One of his daughters, Jean, married another soldier, John McKenzie in 1803, and I already had a McKenzie kilt to honour my great great great grandfather John McKenzie who served in the Lanarkshire militia. So it seemed appropriate to also honour the military service of his father-in-law, my great great great great grandfather Robert Hamilton. The subject regained impetus recently when a descendent of another of Robert Hamilton's daughters now living in Canada made contact with me and I raised the subject with the proprietor of my local kilt shop, Tyneside Tartans. He was able to make available to me an ex-hire kilt in what he described as Ancient Hamilton, which was a perfect fit for me, and which I collected yesterday. This looks to be paler than the Hamilton Hunting Green shown on Tartan Ferret, but is unmistakably a Hamilton tartan with its distinctive nine blue squares. It is an 8-yard wool kilt in 16oz weight.

The obligatory pleats shot.

A closer view of the sett, which also shows the triple fringe and thistle kilt pin from Kilt Goodies.

**BoldHighlander** · 12th February 08, 05:32 AM

What an interesting tartan
I really love the tartans with the larger setts. And that last photo really shows more of the detail. Very nice!

Also loved the family story. Reminds me a little of my own ancestor born in 1720 Scotland (the trail grows cold beyond that). He worked as a weaver for 3 years to get money for his passage to the colonies in 1740. The rest is family history