Clan Primary Image Mac Donell

Scottish Clans

MacDonell or MacDonnell Tartans & Clan

Colonel Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry was the inspiration for Fergus MacIvor in Walter Scott's novel Waverly. When Scott organised King George's visit to Scotland Glengarry would annoy Scott by showing up to events uninvited and generally made a nuisance of himself.

Clan Motto Creagan an fhithich (The Rock of the Raven)

Who Wears MacDonell or MacDonnell 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.

  • Alastair
  • Alexander
  • Allister
  • Cowan
  • Maccowan
  • Macdonnel
  • Macowan
  • Sander
  • Sanders
  • Saunders
  • Sanderson
  • McDonnell

Associated Regiments

Over the last 300 years, tartans have been a part of official dress for some of the most famous regiments throughout the military world! Their respective regimental tartans became undisputedly tied to the very core identity of the soldiers who wear it. Explore the associated regiments below:

  • Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders TA (Canada)

Shop MacDonell or MacDonnell Tartans & Clan From Curtains to Clothing, use the filters below to navigate through everything we offer in MacDonell or MacDonnell Tartans

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 Mac Donell

From the start

MacDonell or MacDonnell Clan Origins & History

Clan Origin History Image Mac Donell

Explore the history of Clan MacDonell or MacDonnell

How it all started

Territories

Clan Donnell of Kippoch's lands are Keppoch Castle near Lochaber and Clan MacDonell of Glengarry coem from Fort William

Clan Chief

The current chief is Ranald MacDonnell of Glengarry

Where does the name MacDonell or MacDonnell come from?

The name is a variant other Clan Donald surnames such as Macdonald, McConnell and Donaldson.

Clan Origin Location Image Mac Donnell

Strome Castle

Strome Castle was first built in the 15th Century and is located on the shore of Loch Carron. It was originally owned by Clan MacDonald, when they used it to protect themselves against attacks from their enemies. However, in 1539 the Castle was given to Clan MacDonnell, desendants of Clan MacDonald, this then became the seat of Clan MacDonnell. The MacDonnells resided their until 1602 when they were forced to move their clan seat to Invergarry, due to an attack from the MacKenzies that destroyed the castle. The castle ruins are now owned by National Trust for Scotland and you can still visit them today.

The Well of Heads

If you are in the Invergarry area, you can visit the well of heads. It is said that in this well the heads of the seven murderers of Alexander MacDonald and his brother were washed before presentation to Lord MacDonnell.

Clan Motto: Creagan an fhithich (The Rock of the Raven)


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