Old and rare Scottish tartans : $b with historical introduction and descriptive noticesStewart, Donald William
History
Old and rare Scottish tartans : $b with historical introduction and descriptive notices
Stewart, Donald William
Tartans -- Scotland
Confirmation of the supposition that various branches of Clan Fraser
wore tartans similar in scheme but different in detail is furnished
by the family portraits. In a fine presentment of Major James Fraser
of Castle Leather (whereof a replica hangs in Inverness Town Hall),
painted about 1723, a red pattern is shown in the plaid, while the rest
of the dress is a simple check in red, green, and blue. Portraits of
the Hon. Sybella Fraser of Lovat and the Hon. Mrs Archibald Fraser of
Lovat, executed after the middle of last century, in the collection of
Sir William Augustus Fraser of Ledclune, have different red setts in
the plaids. Miss Fraser of Abertarff possesses an interesting likeness
of her father, dated 1808, that supplies yet another arrangement in
red. The present illustration depicts the earliest authenticated Lovat
pattern, which is accepted, moreover, by the leading collectors. In
1849 Lord Lovat wrote of the tartan generally styled Fraser (though, as
already mentioned, it is most probably Grant—Plate X.), that he had
ascertained it to be that of his clan prior to 1745. It is difficult
to accept the statement, since no trace of the design appears in the
Fraser paintings either at or before that period. On the other hand,
the pattern was undoubtedly in use then by a prominent member of Clan
Grant, of whom it is said that he continued to wear the Highland dress
for almost a century, as stated in the notes on the Grant tartan.
[Illustration: IX. FRASER OF LOVAT]
GRANT.
Reproduced from a portrait of Robert Grant of Lurg (1678-1777), in the
collection at Troup House. This example, as mentioned in the note to
Plate VIII., is identical with that now commonly styled the Fraser.
It was accepted by some only of the Fraser families in 1842, because
it was illustrated under their name in the _Vestiarium Scoticum_.
Of the Laird of Lurg there is another likeness, in the possession
of Lady Seafield at Castle Grant, which represents him in the Black
Watch tartan. The explanation offered is that he was an officer in the
Clan Grant Company of the Black Watch; that since his clan supported
the Government the prohibition against the national dress would not
be enforced in his case; and that it is but reasonable to suppose
he wore the tartan of his clan when not in military uniform. In
connection with the Grants occurs one of the earliest descriptions of
a distinctive clan design. It is dated 1704. It has been partially,
though inaccurately, quoted in Sir William Fraser’s _Chiefs of Grant_
(Edinburgh, 1883), and on account of its interest it is given in the
Introduction to this work. The illustration is not in absolute harmony
with the description, and appears, indeed, to be a modification of it.
Attention may again be directed to the resemblance between the Grant
and the Fraser tartans. The wide dissimilarity in the tartans depicted
in the Grant family portraits preserved at Castle Grant and elsewhere
is referred to in the Introduction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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