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OLD MYTHS NEVER DIE
©2007 Matthew A. C.
Newsome, GTS, FSA Scot.
published in the Scottish Banner, February
2007
In this
column, one of the things I enjoy doing is dispelling the myths that
perpetually circulate about Scottish national dress – and there are plenty of
them! Lately I have been pleased to see more and more people discovering the
truth behind many of our Highland dress traditions and not falling for the
same old nonsense. Maybe this is a result of so many more people taking up
kilt wearing and as a result wanting to learn more about the traditions. Or
perhaps it is because more research has been made available in recent years,
both on the internet and through small publishing houses.
Despite
the overall increase in awareness of tartan’s true history, however, it is
still possible to encounter some real hum-dingers. I was reminded of this
recently when I was shown a copy of a little booklet, written in 1990 by N. H.
O’Reilly, entitled Scottish Culture for American-born Descendants. In
the introduction, the author admits that much of the information was gathered
word-of-mouth by talking to people while on visits to Scotland. Still, that
does not excuse some of the monumental errors in the text. For example, in
the section on “Religion” we learn that Christianity was first introduced into
Scotland by the English King Edward I in the 1290s!
Given
such monumental errors as this, it is hardly surprising that mistakes abound
in the section on “Tartan.” For instance, there we learn that the “weathered”
tartans were introduced after the battle of Culloden. According to O’Reilly,
long after the battle, the family members of the fallen soldiers came to claim
the bodies. The tartans that the men had been wearing in combat were muted
and faded from having lain in the mud, and to honor these fallen clansmen,
each clan adopted these faded colors as their “weathered” tartan. This may be
a nice sentiment, but in reality these “weathered” (sometimes called
“reproduction”) shades were first introduced by the tartan mill D. C.
Dalgliesh in the 1950s.
Then
O’Reilly repeats the oft-cited “fact” that in order to be a true tartan, it
must be submitted to the Lord Lyon, who will duly register it once he has
determined the design is acceptable. In addition, a person caught in Scotland
wearing a tartan other than his own will be fined 25 pounds! Yikes!
Of
course, none of the above is true. There are no laws saying what tartan you
can and cannot wear, and the Lyon Court has no jurisdiction over tartan at all
– which the Lord Lyon has himself pointed out on more than one occasion. But
that doesn’t stop people from repeating this myth. In fact, the idea that the
Lord Lyon is responsible for “officially registering” tartans is one of the
most wide-spread misconceptions about tartan, and I believe stems from the
fact that so many people regard tartan as heraldic (see my January 2007
article).
This
myth was repeated as recently as 2004 in the little book Tartans by
Brenda Ralph Lewis. This is a typical tartan book, with a color illustration
of the tartan on a page with a bit of history about the clan. There are over
300 tartans included, and the illustrations are quite good. But the author
makes some gross factual errors. For instance, she writes that the historic
Falkirk tartan (a simple two-toned light and dark check) is made up of “six
colors” in an “intricate pattern.” And she also repeats the same falsehood
about the Lyon Court.
“There
has long been a problem with fanciful or fictitious tartans,” Lewis writes.
“To counter this, patterns are now standardized and must be registered with
the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh.” To put it bluntly, this is just
plain wrong. But don’t take my word for it. Ask the Lord Lyon!
If you
go to the official web site of the Court of the Lord Lyon,
www.lyon-court.com,
and look in the section on “Scottish Clans/Tartans” and then in the
subheading, “Tartans,” you can read the following statements: “There are no
strict rules on who has the right to wear a particular tartan… There is no
official register of tartan… The Lord Lyon has no jurisdiction over tartan…”
Well
that would seem to put the record straight! However, not even the Lord Lyon
is immune when it comes to tartan myths. In the FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions) section of the web site, this is how they answer the question,
“What tartan can I wear?”
“Strictly speaking,” the Lyon site replies, “you do not have the right to wear
your mother’s tartan unless you have taken her surname.” Wait, what’s this?
Didn’t the Lord Lyon just tell us that “there are no strict rules on who has
the right to wear” a tartan? I know quite a few people who wear tartans from
their mother’s side of the family, yet who bear their father’s name. I myself
am one of them!
But the
answer continues, “If you do not belong to any particular clan you may wear a
district tartan if you are descended from an ancestor belonging to the
district concerned. The district tartans are Lennox, Huntly and Strathearn.”
While it is certainly true that you may wear a district tartan (regardless of
whether or not you also have a clan tartan) I certainly hope that the Lord
Lyon is aware that there are more than three to choose from!
In all
sincerity, I assume that the Lord Lyon himself (at present Robin O. Blair, LVO,
WS) did not personally write the FAQ section on the Lyon Court web site. Nor
am I at all surprised that errors and myths continue to creep into
contemporary commentary on tartan. I bring use this example to illustrate
that when it comes to tartan, errors can be found just about everytwhere, even
from those who ought to know better. These myths have been with us for a long
time and they won’t go away quickly or easily.
The key
is to correct errors where they are found and to be persistant about it. New
people are donning the kilt every day, both in Scotland, in North America, and
farther afield. When they have questions about this unique and wodnerful
garment, we want to make it easy for them to find accurate information. Only
in this way will some of the more persistant myths about Highland dress be
finally put to rest.
