Clan Primary Image Maxwell

Scottish Clans

Maxwell Tartans & Clan

Clan Motto Reviresco (I Grow Strong Again)

Who Wears Maxwell 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.

  • Adair
  • Blackstock
  • Dinwiddie
  • Edgar
  • Herries
  • Kirk
  • Kirkland
  • Latimer
  • Latimore
  • MacKittrick
  • Maxton
  • Mescall
  • Monreith
  • Moss
  • Nithdale
  • Peacock
  • Pollock
  • Pollok
  • Polk
  • Sturgeon

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MaxwellTartans

3 variations

Each 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.

Helpful Advice

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.

Helpful Advice

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.

Clan Origin Primary Image Maxwell

Dall’inizio

Maxwell Clan Storia e Origini

Clan Origin History Image Maxwell

Esplorare la storia di Clan Maxwell

Come tutto è cominciato

Territories

The Borders and Dumfries & Galloway

Clan Chief

Clan Maxwell 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.

Cosa c'è nel nome Maxwell?

The name Maxwell is derived from the name of a famous fishing site near Kelso, on the River Tweed. The name of this site is Maccus' Well, making it easy to see how the name came about.

Clan Origin Location Image Maxwell

Caerlaverock Castle

Caerlaverock Castle is the historic seat of Clan Maxwell and it is located on the most southern coast of Scotland, just outside of Dumfries. The original castle was built in the 13th Century, but the castle has been destroyed and re-built many, many times since then. The Maxwells held Caerlaverock castle from the 13th Century when it was built, until the 17th Century when they abandoned the castle. We dedicated a whole blog post to the story of the Caerlaverock Castle, so check it out further down this page.

Pollock House

Pollok House, the seat of the Maxwell Baronets of Pollok, is now of international importance, as it houses the world-famous Burrell Collection in its grounds. The Burrell Collection is an art collection which was steadily acquired over many years by Sir William Burrell. Sir Burrell then gifted the collection to the City of Glasgow in 1944.

Clan Motto: Reviresco (I Grow Strong Again)


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