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.
Each tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress
About tartan variations
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.
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.
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.
The Modern tartans are often the more subtle combinations such as the classic Black Watch Modern
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.
Some mills refer to the Weathered tartans as Muted.
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.
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.
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.
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.
County Londonderry, commonly known as County Derry, is found in Northern Ireland in the province of Ulster. The area was originally inhabited by the O'Cahans, tributary to the O'Neills, and during Elizabeth I reign the region was taken over by the English and was named the County Coleraine. By the early 15th century, James I renamed it Londonderry which was a combination of London and Derry - after the name of the city. The city was actually the first planned community in Ireland with the famous city walls being completed in 1619 for strong defence purposes. The modern day city still preserves the renaissance style layout of four major streets travelling from the four wall gateways to the city centre, with the oldest surviving building, the St. Columb's Cathedral, built at this time too.
The County Londonderry plaid is mainly green with orange, black and yellow stripes running throughout the pattern.
Derry is the last walled city which was built across Europe and the first planned and completed one in the Ireland with the intention of protecting the Scottish and English planters that moved to Ulster under the reign of James I. The walls travel around the city for around a mile and are entirely accessible by foot. There are seven gates in the walls altogether, four of which were built at the time of the wall itself with the others were added later on. It is also lined with twenty two canons from between the 16th and 18th century, many of them being used at the Siege of Derry in 1689. If you ever visit the city of Derry, there is a wide range of walking tours available travelling around the city walls; from historical tours to political tours and even to the TV show 'Derry Girls' screen tours!
Derry is the anglicisation of the Irish 'Daire' which means "oak grove".