Generic
Glen Affric Tartans Page
Unearthed from the depths of a peat bog in the 1980s, the origins of the Glen Affric Tartan date back to the 16th century and the reign of James V, Mary Queen of Scots or James VI. Carbon dating and scientific analysis confirmed its ancient pedigree, making it the oldest surviving tartan in Scotland. But the Glen Affric Tartan isn't just a museum relic. Thanks to meticulous recreation efforts, you can now wrap yourself in this piece of living history!
Glen Affric 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
Glen Affric Tartan Origins & History
The Glen Affric Tartan
The Glen Affric Tartan, designed by Emma Wilkinson and Peter E MacDonald with help from the Scottish Tartans Authority, is a very special tartan.
Woven in the colours closely matching the colours from the original piece of tartan, which was discovered in a peat bog in Glen Affric in the Scottish Highlands, it retains its roots with a modern look and feel, ensuring it is suitable for our day and age. The tartan features the colours that dye analysis of the original material had confirmed – including the use of green, yellow and red, which would have come from woad or indigo to produce the green, and other natural dyes.
The tartan is named after the location of where the original tartan cloth was found and is part of the Seventeen Eighty Three Collection, a new collection inspired by the colours in the Scottish landscape.
We will be offering all of the tartans in this collection soon, but for now please enjoy the Glen Affric tartan!
The Scottish Tartans Authority's Discovery
The Scottish Tartans Authority (STA) is “dedicated to preserving, promoting and protecting Scottish Tartans and Highland Dress – their respective origins, history, manufacture, use and development”.
After six months of testing, they confirmed the unearthed cloth dates to pre-Jacobite, somewhere between 1500 and 1600 AD. It is one of the oldest pieces of true tartan cloth and can be viewed as Scotland's oldest known tartan, though it is unknown which clan the tartan can be attributed to.
The STA further explain the cloth measures approximately 19 x 15 inches (48 x 38 cm), is twill woven with evidence of whip stitching, suggesting it was maybe a joined cloth or cloak. Apparently common for the time.
If you were lucky enough to visit the Tartan exhibition at the V&A Dundee you will have been able to witness this true Scottish tartan treasure. A rare and special fragment of history on display for the first time, it was an exciting event, especially for tartan and textile lovers like us!
Image Credit: Alan Richardson Pix-AR
Image Sources:
Loch Affric in Glen Affric - Visit Scotland / Kenny Lam https://www.visitscotland.com/
Original Glen Affric Tartan - Alan Richardson Pix-AR https://media.vandadundee.org/...
Explore More...
