Scottish Clans

MacLean Tartans & Clan

Le progéniteur de Clan MacLean Clan était chef de guerre écossais ancien nommé Gillean of the Battleaxe qui a combattu à la guerre Scottish-Norwegian. Il a contribué à faire remporter la victoire aux ecossais.

Clan Motto Virtue Mine Honour

Who Wears MacLean Tartan? - Associated Names

First of all to explain why there are so many tartans, way over 2000 in fact. There are an awful lot of Scottish clans to start with and on top of this each clan can have many different tartans and names associated with it.

Beath
Beaton
Bey
Black
Gillan
Gilland
Gillian
Gillon
Gilzean
Huie
Lean
MacBay
MacBeath
MacBeth
MacBey
MacBheath
MacClane
MacClean
MacCormick
MacFadyen
MacFadzean
MacFayden
MacFetridge
MacGillivray
MacGilvra
MacIldowie
MacIlduff
MacIlduy
MacIlvora
MacLaine
MacLergan
MacPhadden
MacRankin
MacVay
MacVeagh
MacVey
McLean
Padon
Paton
Patten
Patton
Peden
Ranken
Rankine

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Maclean Tartans

12 variations

Each tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress

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MacLean of Duart Hunting Muted

About tartan variations

Ancient
Modern
Weathered
Hunting
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

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.

Helpful Advice

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.

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 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.

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Dès le début

MacLean Clan Histoire & Origines

Découvrir l'histoire de Clan MacLean

L'Écosse ne manque pas d'histoires à raconter

Territories

Argyll and the Inner Hebrides

Clan Chief

The current chief is Major The Hon Sir Lachlan MacLean of Duart and Morvern, Bt.

D'où vient le nom MacLean?

The clan surname is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic MacGilleEathain meaning servant of Saint John. As with most surnames, there are many spellings of the name 'MacLean', and there are examples of McLean, MacClane, Maclain and other variants throughout history.

Duart Castle

Duart Castle is located on the Isle of Mull and was constructed in the 13th Century by Clan MacDougall. Although the castle was not built by Clan MacLean they did acquire it the following century and it still remains their Clan seat today. In 1647 the castle was attacked by Clan Campbell, but Clan MacLean managed to defeat them and keep hold of the Castle. However, in 1678 the Campbells attacked again and were successful, they took control of the Castle and also most of the lands owned by the MacLeans. Duart Castle was abandoned during the Jacobite Risings of 1745 and fell to ruins. The ruins and surrounding lands then passed hands through different families before it finally ended up back in the hands of the MacLean family once again. The Chief of Clan MacLean had the castle re-built at the beginning of the 20th Century.

An Interview with Charles MacLean

"My Great Grandfather was the President of the Clan MacLean Association and organised a very significant gathering at Duart Castle in 1911. My Grandfather was secretary to the Clan MacLean Association for a time. I came into the council in 1976, so I have been much involved ever since and I was the editor of the magazine for a spell. I’ve been involved with Clan MacLean forever. It’s a great organisation. The whole idea of clans is wonderful. With the membership of the Clan MacLean society, there are many more overseas members in Canada, America, Australia, New Zealand and particularly in France, than there are in Scotland. I think there is a sort of duty to keep these institutions going. Many would say it’s completely irrelevant to know where you’ve come from, what your ancestors even are. But it’s a great comfort, in a way, to know what your background is and where you come from. I think that some people feel somewhat adrift when they don’t know where they come from. I mean anybody could survive perfectly happily without knowing this, but it’s just sort of a comfort to know your background and where you’ve come from. And I think these Clan organisations and the whole idea of “Clanship” is very worthwhile on that ground, I really do."

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Gillean of the Battleax

The first chief of Clan MacLean, Gillean of the Battle Axe (Gilleain na Tuaighe in Scottish Gaelic), was an ancient Scottish warlord who fought in the Scottish-Norwegian War, helping the Scots to victory. Born around the year 1210, Gillean spent most of his life in the areas of Argyleshire, Ayreshire and Galloway. Gillean's eldest son and second chief of Clan MacLean, Malise, was first to hold the name "mac Gilleain" or "son of Gillean", name which was later shortened to MacLean.