Strange kilt closures, take two

Following up on my last post featuring Larry Long's unusual kilt closure method, I recieved a short time after that posting a link to a kilt being offered on Ebay. (The auction is over, so I don't know how long that Ebay link may be good for).

This kilt was described by the seller only as an "Army Kilt," and no date was given as to the age. From the photographs, it was obviously an old regimental kilt, and the very interesting thing was that it had the same long belt closure method as the kilt Larry Long described to me.

Since the story Larry told me was of a man in Clan Maxwell who had his kilt made by an "old regimental kilt maker" I thought it signifigant that this was a regimental kilt. The tartan is Hunting Stewart.

According to the Scottish Tartans Authority web site, this tartan was worn by the following regiments:

Stewart Hunting – Trews worn by the Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) First of Foot. Also worn by The Pretoria Highlanders (South Africa); Calcutta Scottish (India); Bombay Volunteer Rifles (India); Shanghai Volunteer Corps (China); Loretto School, Cadet Force, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Now, I have no way of knowing if the above kilt was made for any of these regiments or other groups listed above. But I ran into my old friend Bob Martin at the Gatlinburg Highland Games and Scottish Festival, and if anyone would know about this, he would.

Fortunately, he knew the kilt that I had seen Larry Long wearing, so he knew just what I was talking about. He had never seen another kilt like that (except for one that he said he made), and to his knowledge no regiment ever made their kilts like that.

In fact, he told me, prior to WWII regimental kilts had no fastenings at all. They were held in place by use of two kilt pins. These were not the kilt pins worn in the lower corner of the kilt apron, as we think of them today; these were long straight pins, like lady's hat pins, only made from spring steel. One was worn at the waist line, and the other worn at the top of the two inch rise. (This is why most kilts today typically have two leather straps on the right side, by the way).

After WWII, Bob indicated that they went with standard leather straps and buckles like are used today.

But he did say that a lot of soldiers had kiltmakers put on some form of closure system after the kilts were made. These were individual alterations done to the kilts, and were neither uniform nor sanctioned. Since there was no "standard" way to do it, per se, people could use anything, from buttons to ties to leather straps.

My best working theory right now is that at least one regimental kilt maker came up with this novel method for fastening the kilt, but that it never really caught on (it takes up so much more leather than the more conventional method). Maybe the same kiltmaker resposible for the kilt offered on Ebay also made the Maxwell kilt that Larry Long based his on! Who knows?

For now, it seems, it will remain a mystery!

A novel way of fastening the kilt

My wife and I attended the first annual East Tennessee Scottish Heritage & Music Festival this weekend, in Knoxville, TN. We had a great time. The weather was perfect, the facillities were great, and there was lots of good music. Bands in attendance included the Glengarry Bhoys, Rathkeltair, Searson, Smithfield Fair, and the BorderCollies (who will be playing at The Taste of Scotland in Franklin, NC on June 16 & 17). I have to confess that I didn't have much time to hear the bands, as I was busy giving two lectures on tartan and the kilt, and answering questions for people at the Scottish Tartans Museum tent.

I did see an old familiar face while there -- Larry Long (pictured here at right) of the Clan Maxwell Society. Larry is an expert in historic Highland clothing and textiles. It is always interesting talking to him, and I always learn something new. This time was no exception! Larry was wearing a lovely jacket of Harris Tweed, a hand knit broad bonnet, a leather sporran that he allowed me to droll over for a minute, Kinguisse pleated kilt in the Nithsdale tartan (Larry has written an article on tartans for the Clan Maxwell Society, Harris Tweed cadadh (hose), and buckle shoes.

I know for a fact that Larry made his own kilt and sporran -- I suspect he more than likely made everything else he was wearing (with the possible exception of the shoes and sunglasses!). Larry is truly a man of many talents.

What he wanted to show me, and what I really got a kick out of, was the way his kilt was fastened. It used a single long leather strap for a closure, and no buckle. As the below pictures illustrate, there is a leather band (about 1.5" wide I would estimate) attached to the inside apron at the waist. The strap passes through a hole in the left side of the kilt (just as in most standard kilts today), only instead of attaching to a buckle, this long strap runs around the back (through three small belt loops in this case) to tie to another leather strap on the outer apron. The two straps tied together in something that Larry called a "dwang" knot.

I have never, in a decade of studying the history of kilts, encountered anything quite like this! I asked Larry about the historic provenance of this method of closure. He told me that someone in the Clan Maxwell Society had asked an old regimental kilt maker to make him a Maxwell kilt. When the kilt arrived, the kilt maker had used this form of closure. Larry said he believed this had happened sometime in the 1920s. He has never seen the kilt, but fashioned this one from the description. I'd sure love to see that original kilt, and if anyone knows about it, or any other kilt that uses this method, I'd like to know about it!

It works just fine, of course, though it does use a lot more leather than a typical closure method. Larry says it really helps in creating a snug fit across the back of the kilt. I'm tempted to give it a try myself. I've seen kilts closed with belts, pins, ribbons, buttons and buckles, but this is a first.

My father always told me that you should learn something new every day -- this certainly fit the bill!

Thanks, Larry!

 

The MacGregor tartans

As I have said many times on this web site, the only thing that makes a clan tartan "official" or not is the approval of the clan chief. That being the case, it's always nice to know exactly what the present day chief of a clan has to say about his tartan or tartans.

I just recieved in my email a letter written by Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor, chief of Clan Gregor, entitled "Sir Malcolm's Views on Our Clan Tartans." Sir Malcolm is pictured here, at his wedding to Fiona Armstrong (now Lady Fiona MacGregor) in 2005. (Photo from The Cumberland News). It was apparantly written a couple of years ago.

The letter was followed with a postscript reading, "Sir Malcolm graciously provided the above information to be freely disseminated among our Society members and made available at our Clan tents," so I hope that I am justified in quoting the relavant parts of it here, in length.

What follows is the major portion of his text, with comments in italics being my own.
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SIR MALCOLM'S VIEWS ON OUR CLAN TARTAN

Many will be aware of an organization called the Scottish Tartans Society based in Edinburgh. On looking at the website one will find no less than 10 tartans attributed to Clan Gregor. Some of these are described inaccurately and some are attributed twice to a specific area such as Glenstrae. Most of them have never been sanctioned by the Chief. Additionally, the tartans section of www.clangregor.com is completely inaccurate and should not be regarded as an authority on MacGregor tartan whatsoever. Why is this? And how does this happen?

It happens because those who can speak with a fair degree of authority on the matter such as clan chiefs and their representatives are not consulted and because of the indiscriminant commercialism of tartan. [...]

It should be said at the outset that for good historical reasons, which will be explained, only the following MacGregor tartans should be recognized as such:

• The Red and Black MacGregor Tartan
• The Red and Green MacGregor Tartan
• MacGregor of Glengyle or Deeside
• MacGregor of Cardney

The Red and Black MacGregor Tartan

This tartan existed long before individual tartans became associated to particular clans perhaps because it is one of the easiest setts to weave. There are those who question MacGregors' claim to this tartan as there are portraits of monarchs and other Highlanders wearing this sett. It is also claimed that it is not known what MacGregors would have worn their clan tartan so proudly. Two points here: First, I would argue strongly that due to proscription, the clan adopted it in 1603 because at that time it was not regarded as a MacGregor tartan. It is my belief that by the end of the 18th century, nearly 200 years later, it came to be regarded as such. [I think Sir Malcolm is succumbing to romanticism a bit on this point. In 1603 there simply were no clan tartans, period. When he speaks of "proscription" here, he cannot mean the Act of Proscription, which banned the wearing of tartan in the Highlands, as this did not occur until 1746. He must be referring to the proscription of the MacGregor name, then -- but this had nothing to do with tartans one way or the other. Regardless, this tartan has had a long association with the MacGregor clan.] It is a fact that my family have worn this particular tartan since the late 18th century and regarded it as MacGregor tartan. My great, great, great, great grandfather would have worn it for good traditional reasons (see below), not on a whim. The tartan is included in the Highland Society of London's collection of 1816, which lends credence to this belief.

[...]

This tartan has also been misappropriated as 'Rob Roy'. Kenneth MacLeay in his book 'Highlanders of Scotland' written in 1870 states: "The famed Rob Roy was a cadet of the Glengyle family. The MacGregor tartan, common like other tartans, to the whole clan has erroneously been styled 'Rob Roy' in the shops". My belief is that thanks to Sir Walter Scott and his book "Rob Roy" the imagination of many people was gripped by the romance of it all and the tartan industry spotted a marketing opportunity and named it Rob Roy, in defiance of the accepted norms of the time. DW Stewart in his "Old and Rare Scottish Tartans" says, "The pattern is accepted by sound authorities as the MacGregor pattern. There are fine examples of it in the collection of tartans made by the Highland Society of London 1816/17 labelled and sealed 'The MacGregor tartan for undress ordinary clothing. The seal and arms of Sir John MacGregor Murray of MacGregor, Baronet". Letters dated 1792 and 1794 were sent with patterns to Wilsons of Bannockburn, the great tartan outfitters of the day, for an order. This tartan should be known as the MacGregor Red and Black.

The Red and Green MacGregor tartan

The exact origins are unknown, but it can be seen in the Cockburn Collection of the same period as the Highland Society of London sample of the Red and Black. It is not known if it is 'sealed' in the same way as the Red and Black. Sir William Cockburn was a fellow member of the society with Sir John MacGregor Murray. Wilsons of Bannockburn listed this tartan as MacGregor Murray so there may well have been a personal association with it on the part of my great, great, great, great grandfather. This tartan was worn by his only son, my great, great, great, grandfather as commander of the MacGregor Bodyguard during the King's visit to Edinburgh in 1822. [This is the tartan most often associated with the MacGregor clan today, and is commonly seen displayed at Clan gatherings, Highland Games, etc., in the United States.]

MacGregor of Glengyle/Deeside

These two tartans are really one and the same. I have a specimen of this tartan which my grandfather obtained from Skeoch Cumming in 1922, who got it from an old woman in Nairn who said it was the tartan of the MacGregors of Glengyle whence her people came. My father believed this to be correct, bearing in mind the history of the MacGregors of Deeside. The MacGregors transported to Aberdeenshire by the Earl of Moray who came from his estates in Menteith to fight the Mackintoshes in about 1624, were almost certainly MacGregors of Glengyle and would have worn that tartan. Another specimen of this sett is in the possession of Andersons of Edinburgh, believed to date from 1750. It is in red and blue colours as opposed to red and black. Red and black would be a logical extension of the Red and Black discussed above, so why there is blue instead of black is a mystery. [We currently have several yards of this tartan in a medium kilt weight available for sale at the Scottish Tartans Museum gift shop! Call (828)524-7472 or email tartans@scottishtartans.org if you are interested.]

MacGregor of Cardney

The Scottish Tartans Society refer to this as 'MacGregor hunting when in a burgundy shade.' This is quite wrong as there never has been a MacGregor hunting tartan. We have never gone in for dress, undress, dress down, fancy dress, hunting or any other such descriptions unlike other clans. Ross and Johnston listed this tartan c. 1930 as MacGregor Hunting without my grandfather's approval or authority. Subsequently in January 1966, when the Scottish Tartan Society was being formed, the society failed to take advice from father on this particular tartan, which has needlessly led to confusion on various MacGregor websites and within the Tartans Society.

The origin is as follows. My great uncle Alasdair MacGregor of Cardney decided to have some red and green MacGregor tartan made using wool from his own sheep and the old vegetable dyes which had been used in the 17th and 18th centuries. The red came out a 'shocking pink' colour and he re-dyed the wool achieving the wine colour at the second attempt. He liked the colour and had a bolt of tartan woven. The MacGregors of Cardney have worn this tartan ever since and it should only be worn by that family.

Miscellaneous 'so-called' MacGregor Tartans

The Scottish Tartans Society and clangregor.com have erroneously listed a number of tartans as MacGregor Trade, MacGregor of Glenstrae (2), MacGregor of Balquhidder (2). MacGregor Trade is meaningless and I can only assume that the weaver set up his loom incorrectly and the resulting material was sold under a trade name. Many handlooms must have been set up incorrectly leading to all sorts of creations. I am sure that many families, in the same vein as estate tweeds are used today, had tartans woven with a distinctive variation from the main clan tartan, being woven once and not repeated. [Like the "Black MacGregor" tartan that I had woven as a personal tartan for my friend Ronan MacGregor, who simply does not like red tartans! This is a personal tartan, not a clan tartan, and there is nothing wrong with wearing a custom personal tartan, so long as erroneous claims are not made about it. Likewise there are many variations of the MacGregor tartan rendered with a white background and used in Highland Dancing. Almost all the Highland Dance tartans you see are unofficial fancy variations of recognized clan tartans.] There is a danger in listing every different specimen that comes out as a recognised tartan when it should not be so.

To summarize, the authority for a tartan is vested in the chief and the only ones that I recognize are those specified above. There may well be a special occasion in the future that demands the creation of a tartan but that will be exceptional. Of course people can wear what they like. But tartan and the wearing of it is very much part of today's clan system and needs to be distinctive, rather like a uniform. Too many tartans and we become part of the tartan army and unrecognizable as MacGregors.

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End the quotation of the chief's letter. Like I said in the beginning, it is always nice to know the wishes of the chief of a clan as to his own clan tartan or tartans, and now we know, straight from the source, the "skinny" on the MacGregor tartans. Thanks to Sir Malcolm!