When researching Mistaken Premise, I learned much about tartans and their role in Scotland’s history. Tartans are a woven textile, or its representation, made of a pattern of interlocking stripes in both the warp and weft (horizontal and vertical) of the cloth. It varies from tweed, that other invariably Scottish icon, by using a two-over-two twill weave, which permits the creation of patterns of interlocking stripes of bold colour. Nor are they only Scottish; the earliest known samples of tartan date to 2000BCE in China, amazingly similar to modern tartans notwithstanding the distance in time, place, and culture.
Roman and Greek writers describe the early Britons wearing, “…brightly-coloured and embroidered shirts, with trousers called bracae and cloaks fastened at the shoulder with a brooch, heavy in winter, light in summer. These cloaks are striped or checkered in design, with the separate checks close together and in various colours.” (Diodorus Siculus, Greek Historian, 100BCE) A second-century AD bronze statue fragment of the Roman Emperor Caracalla, the self-titled, “Conqueror of the Caledonians” (ancient Roman word for Scotland) in Northern Africa – some 1500 miles from Scotland – depicts Caledonian prisoners wearing plaid. And the National Scottish Museum houses the Falkirk Tartan – a fragment found wrapped around a horde of Roman coins, which dates to the third-century AD.
Woollen tartans proved strong and long-lasting, and the lanoline rich fibres also provided protection against the ever-present cold and rain. It is little wonder it became the preferred fabric for the hardy Scots. Whilst tartans were undeniably part of Scottish culture, the idea of the brave warrior marching out to defend his clan’s colours is largely a myth. The availability of naturally occurring dyes led to regional differences in tartan’s patterns, and a clan laird might have a preference, but no one clan claimed a specific style.
The story of the kilt-clad highlander marching across fields of heather to defend their freedom from English oppression was born in the eighteenth-century. In 1745, the Roman born, Young Pretender, the Bonnie Prince Charlie, the son of James Stuart, claimant to the British throne as King James II/VII’s grandson, landed on Scottish soil, he bedecked himself in tartan to ally with his fellow Scots and lead a rebellion on his father’s behalf against the Hanoverian King George II. Tartan-wearing clansmen died by the dozens at the Battle of Culloden, cementing in the mind of the Hanoverian forces that the tartan was such a part of the Scottish identity and series of Jacobite uprisings, that Parliament banned its use in 1746.
Many of our modern perceptions of the Scottish clans, with their specific plaids and kilts, came after the law’s 1782 repeal from none other than Mr Walter Scott as his contribution to the Scottish revivalist movement. Walter Scott was an avid supporter of King James VI/I’s vision of a united Scotland and England, and his earliest works were to set down the stories and ballads of his countrymen ere they passed from memory. He then published his romanticised versions on the lower half of the shared island, showing that Scottish culture was more than simply rebelliousness; it had ancient ties and beauty, notwithstanding its unfamiliarity to London society.
Scott was so successful in his endeavours that, with no small campaigning on Sir Walter’s part, King George IV (more familiarly known to Regency readers as Prinny) actually visited Edinburg in 1822. The King was such a devotee of Scott’s stories that at the levee he held, he demanded all the Scottish lairds and clan chieftans attend with their individual clan tartans in full Highland Dress – unaware that prior to this demand, there was no such thing. Reports abound of both the Highland lairds rushing to commission “clan tartans” and the more English-ised Lowland lairds rushing to get any tartan made into a kilt.
Therefore, in Mistaken Premise, the tartans used at Netherfield and as accents in Lizzy’s gowns, would merely be plaids favoured by her uncle, Laird Boyte, the Duke of Soloway or ones she found pretty. In my head canon, the official Boyte Clan tartan kilt Darcy wore to King George IV’s Edinburgh levee was the same pattern as the tartan sash Lizzy wore at her come out ball.
And my little nerd heart is happy to share all the fun tartan facts with you, my dear readers.
For more information:
https://www.visitscotland.com/things-to-do/research-your-ancestry/clans/kilts-tartan
To read about Lizzy and her tartans check out:
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