Scottish Clans
MacBean Tartans & Clan
Clan Macbean supported the Jacobite Cause during the 1715 and 1745 Uprisings. After the 1715 defeat, a large number of clansmen were transported to Virginia and South Carolina.
Who Wears MacBean 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.
- Bean
- Binnie
- Bain
- MacBain
- MacBeath
- MacBeth
- MacIlvain
- MacIlveen
- MacVain
- MacVane
- MacVean
Macbean Tartans
4 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.
Explore the history of Clan MacBean
How it all started
Territories
Inverness in the Highlands.
Clan Chief
The current Chief of Clan MacBean is Richard McBain of McBain, who is the 23rd hereditary chief of the Clan, after the death of his father, James in 2022.
Kinchyle
Kinchyle is an area located on the shore of Loch Ness, it was formerly owned by Clan MacBean and is their historic seat. The family owned the lands until 1759 when they were forced to sell in order to pay off their outstanding tax bills. Within the lands of Kinchyle is the Clan MacBean Monument, which is inside the grounds of the McBain Memorial Park. The monument and memorial park were funded by Hughston McBain, the former chief of Clan MacBean.
At the start of the 20th Century, Hughston was doing research into his genealogy and discovered there had been no clan chief for the past 200 years. After years of contacting the Lord Lyons of Arms and applications, Hughston was appointed Chief of Clan MacBean in 1959. He then went on to purchase some of the Kinchyle lands in order to pay respects to the previous members of his clan, this is what is now known as McBain Memorial Park.
MacBean goes to the Moon
The fourth man to walk on the moon, Alan Bean carried a couple of pieces of MacBean tartan with him on Apollo 12 to the moon and back in 1969.
Alan auctioned off part of the out-of-this-world fabric in 2016, but if you'd like a more earthly piece of the cloth, we can help you with that.
Not only did he walk on the moon, Alan created amazing paintings as a response to his experience, which in his words was over far too quickly. He tried to capture the feeling of his mission and you can certainly get a sense of it in his Online Gallery here.
Image credit: NASA / Johnson Space Center (NASA-JSC)
Do Clan MacBean have a Clan Crest?
The clan crest is an extremely powerful and deeply meaningful symbol for clan members, as it is worn as a way of proclaiming dedication to the family.
The MacBean crest is a demi-wildcat on hindlegs holding a shield in the centre of a belt emblazoned with the clan motto 'Touch Not A Catt Bott a Targe', which basically means, don't mess with a cat unless you have a shield to protect yourself!
Clan Motto: Touch Not A Catt Bott a Targe
From the start
MacBean Clan Origins & History
Where does the name MacBean come from?
There are a few views on where MacBean originates from, one of them being 'son of Bheathan,' the Gaelic word for 'Lively one.'
Do Clan MacBean have a Society?
You can join Clan MacBean, Inc. and connect with your clan through the association. Its benefits include subscription to a bi-annual newsletter and access to their genealogical records. Their purpose is to educate, promote and celebrate the clan's part in Scottish history and heritage, as well as the clan's association with Clan Chattan Confederation of Scotland.
Who knows what you might discover!
Join on their website and find out more about your clan: https://www.clanmacbean.org
Do Clan MacBean have a War Cry?
Clan MacBean's war cry is Kinchyle!
Based on the land the Clan owned about two miles on the shore of Loch Ness, the war cry was used to rouse and unite the clan as they went into battle.
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