[MR] BBC: Oldest Scottish Tartan Restored

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots,

This story was called to my attention yesterday at Defending the Gate by
Master Gordon Kinloch. It is over a year old now, but should be of great
interest to any Scot.

Back in the 1980s a piece of tattered tartan cloth was recovered from a
Glen Affric peat bog, preserved by the lack of oxygen in soil. The scrap
measured just 22 by 17 inches, but included a nearly complete *sett* or
weave panel.

The Scottish Tartans Authority (STA) recently commissioned dye analysis and
carbon dating to determine the tartan’s original colors and age. The weave
included green, brown, red and yellow. All the identifiable dyes proved to
be natural materials, suggesting a date before 1750, but the real surprise
provided by carbon dating was a possible date from the 16th century. This
would make the Glen Affric tartan the oldest ever found in Scotland. The
famed Falkirk “tartan” possibly dates to Roman times, but it is “shephard’s
check”, rather than a true tartan. The other contender is the so-called
Ulster tartan, but that is Irish, not Scottish.

The STA cautions that the Glen Affric tartan cannot be identified with any
clan. Despite some claims, the idea of “clan tartans” as identifying
specific family groups dates to around 1700 and really didn’t take off
until the early 19th century [for example the Napier clan tartan dates to
around 1815]. That said, local weavers, often related to a particular clan,
used similar thread counts and colors for generations, making their weaves
“defacto" clan tartans clan tartans long before any particular *sett* was
claimed by a clan chief.

The BBC story with a photo of the original cloth is at
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-65081312 .

The reconstructed "Glen Affric" tartan, in its apparent original colors,
can be seen at https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=6047 .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.