A tartan among us

**corbmonster** · 18th May 14, 02:50 PM

Disclaimer: This is another 'what tartan should I wear', and 'what the heck am I doing' thread. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems their are universal, and nonuniversal tartans. The universal are ones that anyone could wear. And while there is no tartan police par sey... the non-universal ones are meant to be exclusive to clans / family / heritage, location, or affiliation (military, university). I had posted a while back about purchasing my first kilt, I got a Ramsey Blue. After the fact, I learned I have a lot of Scottish heritage, and none to Ramsey. And it felt weird to wear someone else's stuff. And I'd rather get something that is more applicable to me. Is that odd? Or am I really overthinking this? I wanted to exchange the kilt for one of my familys tartans, but they do not offer one. Ones that I could exchange for are: Black, Black Watch, Douglas, Freedom, Gunn, Hamilton Grey, Heritage of Ireland, Heritage of Scotland, MacDonald, MacKenzie, Ramsay Blue, Scottish National, Stewart Black, Stewart Royal. Am I safe in assuming heritage of Scotland, and Scottish national are universal? I'm not sure what else would be other than black, and heritage of ireland.

Thanks in advance for educating me.

**KSmedic** · 18th May 14, 04:00 PM

Of those listed, I'm sure that Black, Black Watch, Freedom, Heritage of Ireland, Heritage of Scotland, and Scottish National are universal tartans. I can totally understand not wanting to wear the "wrong" tartan. I did a fair bit of research before ordering my tartan kilt, to make sure I got the correct one.

**corbmonster** · 18th May 14, 04:13 PM

I was at a ren faire and wanted a kilt. It was one that me and my now ex gf liked. At the time I didn't think I had any heritage so, any 'pattern' would do.

**KSmedic** · 18th May 14, 04:45 PM

Really, there's nothing wrong with that. Outside of Scotland, nobody's all that likely to know the difference between one tartan and another, and clan specific tartans are really just a marketing gimmick invented by 18th century weavers, anyway. If you're cool with wearing the tartan, go ahead and wear it.

**California Highlander** · 18th May 14, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by KSmedic

Really, there's nothing wrong with that. Outside of Scotland, nobody's all that likely to know the difference between one tartan and another, and clan specific tartans are really just a marketing gimmick invented by 18th century weavers, anyway. If you're cool with wearing the tartan, go ahead and wear it.

True, one of my kilts is Black Watch and about 1/3 to 1/2 of the time the question is "Is that your family tartan?"

**corbmonster** · 18th May 14, 08:41 PM

Ha ha, the lady I was talking to said a LOT of people wear it. But she said it was a military tartan too. And as nice as it is, being a military man myself, I wouldn't want to wear another unit's insignia.

On another off topic note, xmarksthescot web page works really well on my phone. Honestly, this is probably the best I've ever seen a web forum work on a mobile device browser, and not an app. Kudos.

**dea3369** · 31st May 14, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by California Highlander

True, one of my kilts is Black Watch and about 1/3 to 1/2 of the time the question is "Is that your family tartan?"

And the (tongue-in-cheek) answer to that is, "No, it's actually my daughter's Catholic school uniform!"

**Grae** · 16th July 14, 11:29 PM

A traditional tartan worn by people who did not belong to a Clan, especially in the borders / lowlands was the Shepherds Check. I am surprised this is not promoted as much as other universal and new designed tartans . It is also seen as Shepherds check, burns check (a variation) and Northumberland. Predominantly black and white but very traditional and authentic ( remember the Falkirk Tartan?).

I was reminded of this when reading of a fellow from Galloway who in his University days in the 1930's stated wore the Shepherd check kilt, even when he went to the highlands. I guess that was before the onset of new designs for all the districts (e.g. Galloway red and green both attractive and I think designed in the 1930's ). An added bonus is at the moment that check is now all the rage in fashion circles.

**DyerStraits** · 16th July 14, 11:57 PM

Originally Posted by Grae

A traditional tartan worn by people who did not belong to a Clan, especially in the borders / lowlands was the Shepherds Check. I am surprised this is not promoted as much as other universal and new designed tartans . It is also seen as Shepherds check, burns check (a variation) and Northumberland. Predominantly black and white but very traditional and authentic ( remember the Falkirk Tartan?).

I was reminded of this when reading of a fellow from Galloway who in his University days in the 1930's stated wore the Shepherd check kilt, even when he went to the highlands. I guess that was before the onset of new designs for all the districts (e.g. Galloway red and green both attractive and I think designed in the 1930's ). An added bonus is at the moment that check is now all the rage in fashion circles.

I can attest to this, as my girlfriend has a cousin-in-law, originally from The Borders (he was living in Newcastle when he emigrated to the US, and now lives in Arizona) who wears the Shepherd's tartan (and plaid) when he gets kilted up.

**Ron Abbott** · 17th July 14, 04:22 AM

Originally Posted by Grae

A traditional tartan worn by people who did not belong to a Clan, especially in the borders / lowlands was the Shepherds Check. I am surprised this is not promoted as much as other universal and new designed tartans . It is also seen as Shepherds check, burns check (a variation) and Northumberland. Predominantly black and white but very traditional and authentic ( remember the Falkirk Tartan?).

I was reminded of this when reading of a fellow from Galloway who in his University days in the 1930's stated wore the Shepherd check kilt, even when he went to the highlands. I guess that was before the onset of new designs for all the districts (e.g. Galloway red and green both attractive and I think designed in the 1930's ). An added bonus is at the moment that check is now all the rage in fashion circles.

Shepherd......the main tartan that was worn by the pipers and drummers of the Tyneside Scottish regiment.

It is still worn today, although I'm not just how officially; by the CO's (Northumbrian) piper in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (incorporates the old Northumbrian Fusiliers). Here's a picture on a postcard advertised on ebay:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sph2-8-1st...-/400687782274

A very similar looking tartan (Buccleuch or sometimes called Scott of Buccleuch) was worn by the pipers of the territorial battalions of the King's Own Scottish Borderers until the mid to late 1960s.

You can see pipers of the 4/5th Bn. KOSB wearing it at about 2.54 minutes onwards in this British Pathe recording which has been uploaded onto youtube:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_aET2wKhdE