Old and rare Scottish tartans: With Historical Introduction and Descriptive Notices

About this book

The work is a scholarly catalogue of old and rare Scottish tartans, compiled by Donald William Stewart in Edinburgh in May 1893. It begins with a detailed statement of purpose: to make accessible the beautiful but little‑known examples of tartans found in family portraits, miniatures, relics and the few existing collections, and to present everything that can be firmly established about their origins and history. Stewart explains that he obtained permission from the owners of the fabrics, visited numerous Scottish locales, and recorded the setts in his notebooks over several years. Because contemporary colour‑printing could not reproduce the intricate interweaving of shades, he chose to illustrate each tartan by hand‑loomed silk woven to the exact colours, mounted so as not to touch any adhesive. The introduction also surveys earlier references to tartan in historic writers, correcting earlier errors and offering new extracts, while acknowledging the many aristocratic and scholarly patrons who assisted his research.

The book’s voice is that of a late‑Victorian antiquarian, combining meticulous description with a modest, earnest tone. Its style is dense and formal, peppered with citations of medieval chronicles, legal records and Gaelic poetry, reflecting the scholarly conventions of the 1890s. Readers who relish detailed textile history, genealogical research, or the cultural heritage of the Scottish Highlands will find it rewarding; it especially appeals to historians, collectors and anyone interested in the evolution of clan dress and the technical challenges of reproducing historic fabrics.

Opening lines

The first was to render generally accessible some of those beautiful but comparatively unknown examples of old tartans represented in family portraits, miniatures, and relics, as well as in the few collections of tartans which exist in the country, and to set forth all that could be definitely ascertained regarding their origin and history. To carry this out efficiently, it was necessary to obtain the permission of the families possessing representations and examples of the tartans to inspect them, and to visit the different localities in Scotland in which they are preserved, for the purposes of examination and illustration. By the courtesy of the owners every facility and aid was given in the work of recording and identifying the setts, and in no case where permission was asked to reproduce a tartan was it refused. …

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