Clan Primary Image Arran

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Isle of Arran Tartans Page

Arran is a small island, 20 miles long and 56 miles round, located off the south-west coast of Scotland and home to around 4,600 inhabitants. The island boasts Brodick Castle which was built by either the Stewart's or the MacDonald's between 1250 and 1270. The Isle of Arran tartan was designed to pick out the colours of the water and the landscape that make up the island.


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Isle Of ArranTartans

1 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.

Isle of Arran

From the start

Isle of Arran Tartan Origins & History

Let's talk about tartan...

The Isle of Arran tartan was designed to pick out the colours of the water and the landscape that make up the island.

Isle of Arran Waterfalls

What to do on Arran?

There is so much to do on the Isle of Arran that you could spend a week here and never run out of things to do, whether that be taking a tour of a whisky distillery, cheese tasting, visit the many museums, castles and beaches and be at one with all the nature the island has to offer.

You can take the ferry across from Ardrossan to spend a day or two on the Isle of Arran. The red sandstone Brodick Castle sits at the foot of Goatfell, a majestic hill that has seen many a battle and is now a popular day hike. The island is cut in half by the Highland Boundary Fault, a geological division which makes the north rugged and hilly, whereas the south is more gentle and lower lying. Palm trees grow on the Isle of Arran in the mild climate thanks to the Gulf Stream and Ali who works in our accounts department loves the island so much she called her son after it.

Eilean Arainn is gaelic for Isle of Arran.


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