District
Lochcarron Tartans Page
The Lochcarron Hunting tartan is a predominantly green and light blue tartan with red and black. On 6 March 1539, Alexander of Glengarry received a Crown charter to the lands of Glengarry and Morar, half the lands of Lochalsh, Lochcarron and Lochbroom, together with the Castle of Strome.
Lochcarron Tartans
3 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.
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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.
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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.
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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
Lochcarron Tartan Origins & History
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How it all started
Territories
The beautiful village of Lochcarron stretches over a mile along the shore of the sea-loch Loch Carron and frequently passed through by those travelling on the A890 from the Kyle of Lochalsh up to Gairloch. The residents of Lochcarron District wanted their own tartan to represent their area and landscape, so in 1982 the Lochcarron tartan came to fruition. The village lies in the region of Ross and Cromarty so the Ross Hunting blue was used to acknowledge the importance of the sea to the lives of the people and economy within the area.
Clan Chief
The Lochcarron tartan is a district tartan and therefore does not have a Clan Chief.
Carron means "a winding stream in Gaelic"
Lochcarron gained its name from the river Carron which falls into the Loch the village sits alongside.Lochcarron is located on the north-west coast of Scotland, on the mainland opposite the island of Skye, and is set among the most dramatic scenery in Britain. Lochcarron and district is a scattered community of about 1000 people. Prior to 1813 it was a tiny village called Janetown, however the introduction of the Parliamentary road from Inverness to Strome triped the population of the village.
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