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Black Tartan Friday
With Thanksgiving today, we celebrate Black Friday with some of our favourite Black Tartans.
Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation was made: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss ("in the red") from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or "in the black".
The Black Watch Modern tartan is predominantly blue, green and black. The Black Watch tartan is a more subdued tartan, designed with camouflage rather than display in mind. It it thought that it perhaps influenced the later creation of Hunting Tartans in the late 1800s. The use of a three colour check, with black separating green and blue, is unlikely to have been an existing design in 1739 when it was proposed. It has since been associated with Campbell because of their role in leading the Black Watch and other Government forces.
The Erskine Black and White tartan is predominantly black and white. Erskine is an area on the south of the River Clyde, ten miles west of Glasgow. The name is believed to be ancient British for “green rising ground”. In the early 13th century, during the reign of Alexander II, the first man to take the name as his own was Henry of Erskine, owner of the Barony of Erskine. The family were supporters of Robert the Bruce, and were related to him through the marriage of John of Erskine’s eldest daughter to Thomas Bruce, King Robert’s brother. Success for Bruce brought rewards for Erskine.
The Stewart Black tartan is a predominantly black and red tartan with blue, green, yellow and white. This West Highland family descends from Sir James Stewart of Pierson who was descended from the 4th High Steward of Scotland. For a time they wer Lords of Lorn and wer of importance in their Western territory. They were Royalists and fought valiantly for the Royal Stewarts. Duncan Stewart, 2nd of Appin, was Chamberlain of the Isles to King James IV. They fought under Montrose at the Battle of Inverlochy, and in the Jacobite army at Sheriffmuir in 1715. During the 1745 Rising the clan served in Prince Charlie's army. The 9th chief sold the estate in 1765.
The Burns check tartan is predominantly black, white and brown. The Burness surname originated in Kincardineshire, a former county in Scotland located on the east coast south of Aberdeen and north of Montrose. The surnames Burness, Burnes, Burns, Burn, Burnside, Burnhouse, etc. are generally considered to have similar origins from the word burn which is a small stream in Scotland and England. Since there are thousands of burns in Scotland and England, there are undoubtedly many unrelated families, each descended from an ancestor who lived beside a burn. However, in early records, the spelling Burness is found only in Kincardineshire.
The Menzies Black/White Modern tartan is a predominantly black and white tartan. Mesnieres in Normandy was the original home of the Norman family whose name was transformed to Manners, the surname of the Dukes of Rutland. A branch of this family moved into Lothian and then gradually into the Highlands of Scotland, where they became known first as de Meyneris, and eventually as Menzies.
So while everyone is going wild shopping for bargains on Black Friday we are here to bring you unique and custom made gifts this Christmas, in black tartan or any other tartan you fancy. If you need a little inspiration which Scottish gifts to buy this Christmas we are here to help with our Christmas Gift sections.
Top Christmas seller this year is our newly introduced Leather and Tartan Gloves available for men and women in two tartans. For ladies the old favourite Stewart Royal and the very Scottish purples of the Spirit of Scotland tartan. For the men sophisticated Farquharson Modern or subtle Gunn Weathered. All in stock and despatched within 48 hours. We use a heavyweight 16oz wool woven in Scotland so the gloves are nice and warm and hard wearing. Great quality leather and a super soft and cosy lining make these a really lovely pair of gloves. Perfect for stocking fillers!
