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
The tartan seems to have been first worn by Kennedy families in the
Lochaber district. Tradition avers that some centuries back Ulric
Kennedy, a scion of the Ayrshire Kennedys who came originally from
Ireland, settled in Lochaber, and that all bearing the name in this
locality are descended from him. In the Highlands they are known as Mac
Ulrics or Clan Ulric, and are said to have once mustered considerable
force. The design has been accepted by the Kennedys in Carrick, many of
whom adopted it last century as an emblem of their Jacobite sympathies.
Several early examples of the pattern are in existence, and one of
these is here reproduced in the exact tints of the original. As will be
seen in the plate, the single red stripe is scarlet and the two fine
red lines are crimson; but manufacturers, to save themselves trouble,
have been accustomed to vitiate the design by failing to mark this
distinction. It is noteworthy that the tartan bears little resemblance
to any other Lochaber design of ancient date, and that the Kennedys,
while generally allied with the Camerons, have ever maintained their
own colours. They regard as their chief the Marquis of Ailsa, who is
head of the Kennedys of Ayrshire.
[Illustration: XIII. KENNEDY]
LOGAN.
The pattern here given is included in the collection formed by the
Highland Society of London, and it occurs in numerous others, including
that at Moy Hall, while it has borne this name for many years. Great
confusion has somehow arisen concerning the tartan of the family.
James Logan’s table in _The Scottish Gaël_ furnishes a design totally
unlike the one afterwards illustrated in his joint work with Mac Ian,
_The Clans of the Scottish Highlands_. Messrs Smith, in their usually
trustworthy _Authenticated Tartans of the Clans and Families of
Scotland_, present the Logan designated as the Skene, with the comment:
“It appears in Mr Logan’s book, but we must confess it is a pattern
about the antiquity of which we entertain some doubts.” In point of
fact, Logan gives no Skene tartan in _The Scottish Gaël_, while the
pattern of Clan Donchadh of Mar or Skene supplied in the Logan-Mac Ian
collaboration is entirely different. That it is not Skene tartan is
attested by the fact that an example which belonged to the late Dr. W.
F. Skene (now in the possession of the Editor) is described as “Logan”
in his own handwriting. Its early and general use under that name
clearly justifies its inclusion in this collection.
[Illustration: XIV. LOGAN]
MAC CALLUM.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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