Shepherd Tartans
2 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
Shepherd Tartan Origins & History
What's in the name?
It is not known when this tartan was originally woven, as it is thought to be way before records even began. However, now it is woven for the use of those that bear the surname Shepherd.
No Dye
The shepherd tartan is likely to be the oldest of our tartans due to its use of natural colours. Traditionally this could be woven from the untreated wool taken directly from white and black sheep, meaning that no dye was required to create the infamous pattern of small dark and light checks. However, over time simple vegetable dyes like alder bark or water flag were also used to create the darker yarn. Due to the natural wool and dyes used the colours within the check could vary greatly and often the lighter yarn was more of a yellowish colour and the darker yarn could range between a dark grey, green or brown.
Border tartan
The Shepherd tartan is also known as the Shepherd's Plaid, Shepherd's Check, Galashiels Grey, Border Check, Border Drab, Border Tartan, Borders Tartan, Northumberland, or Northumbrian Tartan due to being associated with shepherds on either side of the Border. As early as 1760 the Duke of Northumberland chose this tartan for his personal piper. It was later adopted for pipers of The Northumberland Fusiliers and is now the official tartan of the Northumberland County and the Shepherd family.
The Falkirk Tartan
In addition to all of the Border names, the Shepherd tartan is also known as the Falkirk tartan after a piece of cloth with this pattern was discovered on the neck of a jar containing roman coins dated to 260 AD at the Antonine Wall in Falkirk, Scotland. The cloth fragment is now housed in the National Museum of Scotland within the Weaving and Winding collection.
Fashionable Scots
With a longstanding weaving tradition, thanks to the rolling hills filled with sheep and fast-flowing river ready to power the mills, Galashiels became recognised worldwide as the producer of the Shepherd's Check in the early 1800s. Fashionable Border Scots such as James Hogg & Henry Scott Riddell as well as Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott were all said to favour the fabric and people began to study portraits and miniatures of Scott, in particular, to see what he was wearing. He became famed for wearing trousers in the border tartan which sparked the trend for checked clothing in Victorian London. Both the Sir Walter Scott and Burns Check tartans bear resemblance to the Shepherd tartan with additional colours introduced, perhaps due to their love for the check.
Family Motto: Fide et virtute (By fidelity and valour)
