I have read several texts about the history of tartan and they all say largely the same thing and use the same few key references as evidence. The overall impression I have is as follows:
I imagine a race of ancient scots living in the Highlands at least as far back as Roman times, and up to the 18th century. They were celtic and lived within a clan system. A clan is basically a tribe or community made of theoretically one extended family led by the clan chief-the head of the family; it also included a large number of loosely related families who also looked to the clan chief as their leader or protector. This race of people used to have a reputation for being barbaric, but have increasingly been associated with quite a rich culture typified by their clothes. The brightly coloured checked cloth that they wore all over was called braecan in gaelic but of course we now know it as tartan. A traditional item of clothing was the plaid, which was a long piece of cloth draped around the body. In some respects it would have had similarities with a toga or sahri, but the plaid was often hitched at the waist with a belt before being draped around the shoulders. The bottom half therefore looked like a skirt and the modern day kilt is a smarter representation of this form of dress. Socks, tunics, coats and troose (skin tight trousers) made from tartan cloth were also worn.
Each clan would have had a weaver who may well have had his own favourite patterns and used dyes derived from his own geographical area. It may therefore have been possible to recognise certain patterns and colours as being associated with a particular clan, but only in a very informal way. The idea of specific clan tartans seems to be a more modern thing. There is a famous painting depicting Highlanders fighting the English army at the battle of Culloden. Each one wears more than one tartan, none of which are recognisable today as clan tartans. It is the tartan in general that is the most striking feature, and the wearing of tartan seems to have given the Highlanders their identity. The English authorities must certainly have thought so, because following the battle, and in an effort to destroy the Highland clan system they banned all Highland men from wearing tartan. How powerful can a cloth be that a law is made against it being worn?
The ban lasted for over 30 years, during which time the art of making tartan was largely lost in the Highlands. The ban only applied to the Highlanders and not to women or to men who joined the British army. Indeed, to divide and weaken any armed resistance, Highlanders were actively recruited to the British army to form new Highland regiments who wore tartan as their uniform. This was the start of a proud tradition of Highland regiments who have been famous for their bravery in fighting for the British army ever since.
Lowland woollen mills started to flourish, initially in supplying the British army and then as a resurgence in the wearing of tartan took place as it became fashionable under the influence of Sir Walter Scott in the early 19th century. It was around this time that the idea of clan tartans came about, and it seems almost to be as much as a marketing ploy as anything else. A famous woollen mill, Wilson's of Stirling did particularly well in the mass production of named tartans.
When Queen Victoria took a liking to tartan and all things Scottish, the cloth was given a further fillip. Victoria and Albert decked out Balmoral in a tartan of Albert's own design, and I suspect this was what led to many years of seemingly every Scottish hotel and function room being decorated with tartan carpets, curtains and chair upholstery. Many old fashioned places still are.
With the industrial revolution, Scotland made a lot of money from the mass production of tartan cloth. It then became very important as part of the tourist industry. The clan tartans were able to give a symbol of national pride to exiled and scottish descendants all over the world.
Perhaps the most famous example of this was when the Astronaut Alan Bean smuggled a swatch of McBean tartan aboard Apollo 12 and took it to the moon.
The original tartan of the Highlanders was an eclectic mixture of patterns and colours, that typified the colourful, organic, rich heritage of the celtic people who loved to wear it.
