Here There Be Monsters - Inverness District Tartan

Inverness tartan is a district tartan, meaning that it is not associated with any particular clan, but to the city itself. The designer of this tartan is unknown, but it is thought to have been first made for Augustus, Earl of Inverness, some time prior to 1822. The current Earl of Inverness, is Prince Andrew, Duke of York. The tartan is predominately red overlaid with a bold black and white check.

Inverness, the city for which the tartan is named, is the most northerly city in the UK. It was granted city status in 2001, and is widely regarded as the capital of the Scottish Highlands. Inverness means 'mouth of the ness' and the Gaelic name for the city is Inbhir Nis. The city is steeped in history with a number of battles occurring within the surrounding area, notably, the Battle of Culloden, 1746, which was the last stand of the Jacobite Rebellion; and featured February's 'Clan of the Month', Clan MacLachlan. It is also home to Inverness Castle, the first of which was burned to the ground by King Robert the Bruce!

Inverness is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe and is regularly voted as having the highest quality of life in Scotland. The city is rich in culture and is home to the Northern Meeting each September. The Northern Meeting is the most prestigious solo bagpiping competition in the world, attracting audiences and pipers from across the world to the city. Inverness also gifts its name to the Inverness cape, which is commonly worn by bagpipers across the world to protect them from the rain (it's very popular with pipers here in wet and windy Scotland).

Today, the city is home to the Caledonian Canal which provides a shortcut through the Great Glen connecting the east and west coasts of Scotland (it's much more impressive than the Suez and Panama canals if I say so myself). You can also find the 'new' Inverness Castle, built in 1836, which is situated on the grounds of several medieval strongholds. Today it houses the city's Sheriff Court and a viewpoint providing vistas of the historic city.

The world famous Loch Ness holds the record for the largest body of freshwater in terms of volume in the UK, containing more water than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined. It is also the second largest Scottish Loch in terms of surface area, at 23 miles in length, second only to Loch Lomond. The dark and murky waters of the loch are said to be home to a prehistoric monster, known the world over as Nessie! There have been a number of different reports of the Loch Ness Monster throughout the years, with Nessie thought to be a plesiosaur who survived the extinction of the dinosaurs. Several photographs of Nessie have appeared since the early 20th Century, inspiring many people to travel to the loch to catch a glimpse of the prehistoric monster! It is impossible to say whether Loch Ness is indeed home to a monster, but whether monster hunting or simply taking in the breath taking scenery it is definitely one to tick off the bucket list.

Ahead of the launch of our Spring Collection, ScotlandShop spent an afternoon at theGhillie-Dhu in Edinburgh to get some shots of ourInverness tartan in one of our favourite bars in Edinburgh. This amazing venue is well known in Edinburgh to be one of the best places to experience authentic Scottish culture be that food, drink or dance. Conveniently for us, it's also just a stone's throw away from our Edinburgh Store. Our model Lauren looked great in our Inverness tartan Shift Dress, which is perfect for a ceilidh night at the Ghillie-Dhu.