District
Albany Tartans Page
As soon as we settled on Albany as our new US home, we knew we had to design a tartan to represent the Scottish Community within Albany County. The Tartan was used to celebrate the opening of our new US Store in the town of Colonie as well as highlighting the strong Scottish heritage found throughout all of Albany County.
Albany Tartans
1 variationsEach 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.
From the start
Albany Tartan Origins & History
How it all started
In 1797, Albany became the official capital of New York State largely because it was the farthest you could navigate on the Hudson, it was as north as you can go and still have river commerce and communications. The city is located on the west bank of the Hudson River approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of its confluence with the Mohawk River and approximately 135 miles (220 km) north of New York City.
What's in the name?
Albany was named after James Stuart, The Duke of York's Scottish title, "Duke of Albany" in 1664. The Dukedom of Albany peerage title was bestowed on some younger sons in the Scottish and later the British royal family. Ultimately the name Albany is derives from Alba, the Gaelic name for Scotland.
Designing The
Albany Tartan
The colours for the Albany tartan are taken from the Albany County Seal, The Town of Colonie Seal & The City of Albany Flag. The sett was inspired by that of the Stewart Clan tartans in honour of the Duke of Albany, James Stuart who was a member of the House of Stuart a branch of Clan Stewart. An additional white stripe not found within the Stewart Clan tartans was added to create a saltire (Saint Andrew's Cross) within the design, to represent Scotland’s Patron Saint, St Andrew.
Alba is Gaelic for Scotland
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