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Paisley Tartans Page
The Paisley Ancient tartan is a predominantly blue and green tartan with black and red. This name originates from the lands and barony of Paisley and the great abbey which bore its name. Early records of the name appear in charters witnessed by William Passelew during the reign of William the Lion between 1179–90. Paisley Abbey is more than 850 years old and contains the tomb of Marjory Bruce, the daughter of Robert the Bruce, who died there while giving birth to the future Robert II of Scotland.
Paisley Tartans
1 variationsEach tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress
About tartan variations
- Ancient
- Modern
- Weathered
- Hunting
- Dress
Ancient Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans, mossy greens and sky blues, a more orangey red and some would say showing off the pattern to much greater effect as as the contrasts are much brighter than the Modern tartans. The pattern or sett remains the same across all variations of a single tartan, and only the shades or tones vary.
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Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.
Modern Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans. Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.
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The Modern tartans are often the more subtle combinations such as the classic Black Watch Modern
Weathered Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer, more earthy colours typical of the Weathered tartans, reminiscent of bolder colours subjected to wind, rain and sunshine producing beautiful faded tones, olive greens and browns, and very light blues with reds that are more pink than red.
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Some mills refer to the Weathered tartans as Muted.
Hunting Tartan
The Hunting Tartans are the camouflage tartans and some clans don't have these variations because they are already predominantly green or brown and don't need amendment to blend in with nature's colours. The Black Watch or Gunn tartans are examples of these, whereas a tartan such as the Fraser is predominantly red and would not provide much cover for men out hunting.
Helpful Advice
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.
Dress Tartan
The Dress Tartans were designed as the name suggests for celebrations and highland dance. The sett or pattern of the tartan remains the same and the main colour is changed to white, or extra white is added to the pattern to give it a brighter, more "fancy" appearance. The Scots do like to bend the rules and occasionally instead of white thread, yellow is used and this is where the rather wild MacLeod Dress Modern and Barclay Dress Modern came from.
Helpful Advice
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.
From the start
Paisley Tartan Origins & History
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How it all started
Territories
Paisley is a town located just outside of Glasgow on the west of Scotland.
Clan Chief
Clan Paisley is an armigerous clan which means that the clan, family or name is registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon, but does not currently have a chief recognised by the Lyon Court.
Let's talk about tartan...
The Paisley Ancient tartan is a predominantly blue and green tartan with black and red. The tartan was designed in 1952 by Allan Drennan, who entered the tartan into a competition at Kelso Highland Show and won, meaning it was selected as the official Paisley District Tartan.
Paisley
Paisley is a town located just outside of Glasgow and is classed as the largest town in Scotland, but it does not hold the status of City. It was through the construction Paisley Abbey in the 13th Century that brought the town to prominence. To this day the Abbey is till a huge part of the local community and it has been re-built and re-constructed many times over the years. The town has been referred to as many years in earlier years such as Paislay, Passelet, Passeleth and Passelay, but it was during the 18th Century that it officially took the name of Paisley and this has not changed since. Paisley also used to be the home for textiles, the weaving industry was huge and it was here that the Paisley pattern was first designed, taking its name after the town. The textile industry is the reason the town grew to the size it stands at today, however the towns booming industry started to die during the 20th Century and in 1993 the last Paisley mill was closed.Burns Club
The town centre of Paisley has the highest concentration of listed buildings of anywhere in Scotland outside of Edinburgh, and perhaps for this reason has made the shortlist for the UK City of Culture 2021. Paisley Burns Club was founded in 1805 and is the world's oldest formally constituted Burns Club. The club meets in its premises in Queen St Paisley - a cottage once owned by Paisley’s world-famous poet and songwriter Robert Tannahill. Tannahill was also the founder and first secretary of Paisley Burns Club.
What's in the name?
This name originates from the lands and barony of Paisley and the great abbey which bore its name. Early records of the name appear in charters witnessed by William Passelew during the reign of William the Lion between 1179–90. Paisley Abbey is more than 850 years old and contains the tomb of Marjory Bruce, the daughter of Robert the Bruce, who died there while giving birth to the future Robert II of Scotland.Pàislig is gaelic for Paisley.
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