Clan Primary Image Nesbitt

Scottish Clans

Nesbitt Tartans & Clan

The Nisbet name is now best known in clan circles through the work of Alexander Nisbet (1657–1725), one of the greatest Scottish authorities on heraldry.
Clan Motto I Byd It (I endure)

Who Wears Nesbitt 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.

  • Nisbit
  • Nisbett
  • Nisbet

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NesbittTartans

2 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 Nesbitt

From the start

Nesbitt Clan Origins & History

Clan Origin History Image Nesbitt

Explore the history

How it all started

Territories

In beautiful Berwickshire where the ScotlandShop HQ is based

Clan Chief

The current chief is Mark Nesbitt of that Ilk

What's in the name?

This name derives from the lands and barony of Nesbit near Edrom in Berwickshire. The lands are probably named after a geographical feature, possibly meaning nose-shaped hill or nose-bend.

Clan Origin Location Image Nesbitt

Nisbet House

Nisbet House is located just outiside of Duns in the Scottish Borders and is the historic seat of clan Nisbet. The Nisbet family occupied the lands of Nisbet from at least the 12th Century when they built two fortified houses, East Nisbet and West Nisbet. In 1630 West Nisbet was extended to form the Nisbet House that stands today, however the Nisbet family lost a lot of their money during the Civial War and were forced to sell Nisbet House to the Ker family in 1652 only 22 years after they had built it. The Ker family occupied the house until the mid 20th Century when they sold it on, the house is still owned privately to this day.

East and West Nisbet

In the 12th century, castles were built by the Nisbet family at West Nisbet, two miles south of the town of Duns, and at East Nisbet, now known as Allanbank, southeast of Duns on the Blackadder Water. The castle at East Nisbet has long gone, but at West Nisbet the original pele tower was incorporated into the east end of a magnificent new fortified mansion house in the 1630s and still stands.

Clan Motto: I Byd It (I endure)


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