Today, April 6th is National Tartan Day in the United States. Here are two of my Scottish friends and the clan tartans they represent. On the left is the Buchanan tartan, mine is an Irish one, the Tara tartan, on my father's side of the family, and on the right is the Wilson tartan, part of the Gunn clan.
Again, the Wilson tartan, ( Gunn clan ) and the O' Farrell Clan tartan, one of the older Irish clans that is on my mother's side of my family.
Here's an enlarged view of the O' Farrell clan tartan.Happy National Tartan Day to all my Scottish, Welsh and Irish friends.
"Here's lookin' up your kilt!"
8 comments:
Oh, happy Tartan Day to you, too, Butch! I should look up my wee drop of Irish clan tartan sometime. Love these pics. Love the beards. I also like the guy on your left's shirt and vest. I've always wanted a shirt like that. Very cool.
Do you celebrate Tartan Day by showing off a little freedom under that kilt? :)
Cooper: "Do you celebrate Tartan Day by showing off a little freedom under that kilt?" :)
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Always. ( well with a little help from the wind, or ala, Marlyn Monroe and the commuter train vent.) ;-)
The only thing I wear under my kilt are the hose and my shoes!
( I'm hearing echos from "Brave Heart," ... "Freedom...Freeeeedommmmmmm!") ;-)
( what size shirt are you? I'm guessing a Medium, eh? )
A day late and a tartan short here. My late great grandpapa was of the Scotish McRae clan and some Ross as well. He wore the dress Ross and the hunting McRae, both kilts made in Scotland and shipped across the pond. Proud man, that. He looked dashing in his tartan!
What beautiful tartans...I have a necktie with our family's Cummings tartan. Too nice to wear for work, tho...and the rest of the time, who wants to wear a necktie!
Good Tartan Day to you, Butch!
Java: The Scots have embraced their clan tartans more than the Irish, even though it originally started in Ireland. It seems that every Scottish clan has their own tartan whilst there are only around 19 clans in Ireland that claim tartans. Historically, there are three divisions from which to chose ones pedigree that I won't get in to here. The tartan was an easy way to spot friend or foe from a distance as well.
Greg: Thanks! The Tara tartan in the first picture (also known as the Murphy tartan ) was easy to purchase and have adjusted to my height and weight, whilst the O'Farrell tartan had to be made from scratch. They need to count how many threads of this colour before switching to the next colour in the pattern and back and forth. The kilt needs to be pleated in such a way that the pattern remains true completely around you. With each person being of different size, on kilt can be nine yards long if the pleats were taken apart. Considering my generous girth, I think there were a herd of sheep mighty cold the year it was made!!
LOL.
A good tartan day to you as well. Check with one of the kilt makers. Who knows, maybe next year we will see you representing your clan.
I have the English Coat of Arms for "Hunt" on my father's side, but am at a loss as to my clan or tartan from the muddled Scots/Irish/Welsh ancestory of my mother. It is a pity, as I have always wanted to don the Kilt of a clan.
Tater: Failté, to my blog.
The internet can save hours of research in all the branches you've mentioned. The Scottish clan tartans are the easiest ones to look up if you know the name in the family. The Irish ones are harder since there are only about 19 tartans from the older family clans. There are septs that can fall under a clan tartan as well. I have a book on "Clans and Families of Ireland," which covers the Heraldry very well. There are three types of heraldic traditions in Ireland starting with "Arms," a military influence from the Normans who brought with them all the social structures on which European heraldry depended; another is the Anglo-Irish heraldry which established England's domination of the Island; and the thirds tradition of heraldry relates to the original inhabitants, the Gaelic Irish in which the first two traditions had nothing to do in Gaelic society. I don't know if any of the other Gaelic speaking countries had all of those in one country. ;-) Unlike the military symbols of the Normans or conventional elaborations of the Anglo-Irish, the symbols used in the coat of arms of Gaelic Irish families relate to pre-Christian myths. ( This running explanation of the three Irish Heralds comes from the book I have on Irish Heraldry. )
The English also have their own records one can check as well.
Regarding tartans: The little devils do not "come by you cheaply" and in my case, I had to have a tartan made from scratch because there were none on hand. That doubled the price of the tartan cloth that is kept in stock. I have an Irish Clans book that occasionally has a tartan to go with the clan. Interesting, that my tartan wasn't photographed with the one of my clans so, that isn't always a guide whether your clan has one or not. ( confusing, no? ) If you have some Irish names you would like me to look up, you can send an email to me and I would be happy to check for you.
Welcome, and thanks for stopping by.
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