Clan Primary Image Oliver

Scottish Clans

Oliver Tartans & Clan

The Oliver family mainly lived within the area of Jedforest, just south of the Border town of Jedburgh. Jedforest was historically owned by the King and the Oliver’s were his tenants in chief, after a number of changes the forest was granted to Clan Douglas and Oliver’s continued to live in the area under the protection of the Clan. Today the Capon tree is the last survivor of the ancient Jed Forest.

Clan Motto Je Suis Prest (I am ready)

Who Wears Oliver 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.

  • Olivier

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

Oliver Tartans

1 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 Oliver

From the start

Oliver Clan Origins & History

Clan Origin History Image Oliver

Explore the history of Clan Oliver

How it all started

Territories

The Scottish Borders

Clan Chief

We are unsure who the Clan Chief of Clan Oliver.

Where does the name Oliver come from?

The name Oliver means bearer of the olive branch

Clan Origin Location Image Oliver

Capon Oak Tree - JedForest

The surname of Oliver was first recorded in the late 12th Century in Roxburghshire and it is a sept of Clan Fraser. The Oliver name descended from an Oliver family that had settled in the Scottish Borders and it was this family that originally held the lands of Jedforest, however these lands were later granted to the Douglas Clan by the King. Jedforest is a historic forest that is set just outside of Jedburgh and all that remains of this ancient forest is a single Capon Oak Tree that is over 2000 years of age and is now held together with concrete, bricks and wooden beams, however it does continue to grow.

Oliver Castle

Surprisingly, at no time has any family with an Oliver surname ever lived at Oliver Castle, or in the area around it.

Clan Motto: Je Suis Prest (I am ready)


Explore More...