Reading of Traditional Cloth - Tartan

Twill weave - Tartan cloth

Reading of traditional cloth isn't a simple task (I realized). When you read cloth, you don’t just look at the weave and fabric, you probe deeper and deeper into its history and ask a million questions as to why it came into existence, which in turn opens another door with several hundred questions. So I was looking at the various catalogs in the Victoria Albert Museum website and came across a screen printed pattern that aroused my curiosity. 

 The Tartan Fabric of the Scottish Highlands.

What?

·        Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours.
·        Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials..
·        The word "tartan" probably comes from tiretaine - a 16th-century French term for "linsey-woolsey," a half-wool, half-linen fabric.
·        Tartan designs were produced by local weavers for local tastes and would usually only use the natural dyes available in that area.

Where?

·        Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland

·        Specifically it is more popular in the Scottish highland.

A romanticised Victorian-era illustration of a Drummond clansman by R. R. McIan from The Clans of the Scottish Highlands published in 1845.

When?

·        Plaid or "tartan" fabrics have been identified with Celtic peoples since prehistoric times.

·        Scottish archaeologists have discovered a fragment of checked cloth -- in a pattern today known as "Shepherd Plaid"-- woven in the 3rd century C.E.

Shepherd Plaid

·        Tartan has an ancient history.  The earliest known tartan in Scotland can be dated to the third or fourth century AD. 

·        In other parts of the world, tartan cloth has been found dating to approximately 3000 BC.  Virtually everywhere there was woven cloth, people created tartan designs.  Yet only in Scotland have they been given such cultural significance.  Why?

Why?

·        Association of a particular pattern came to be associated with specific individual clans, families or regions.

·        Today there are more than 3,500 named tartans.

·       Initially tartan designs had no names or symbolic meaning.

·        But certain colours, patterns and motifs were more common in some areas than others.

·        Soon, a particular tartan pattern identified a particular clan. They were called ‘clan tartan’.

·        Some tartans represent families, towns, districts, corporations, individuals etc.

·        Example of some clan tartan : (The pictures say it all!)

How?

·        The making of the fabric is done through stages like any other.

·        Gathering the wool (fleece from the Scottish Blackface)

Scottish Blackface

 (For feedback during presentation)

The sheep from which the wool for the tartan fabric was procured from was a breed called the, ‘Scottish Blackface’. It is the most common breed of domestic sheep in the Scotland. This tough and adaptable breed is often found in the more bare locations, such as the Scottish Highlands. Records show that the fleece of this sheep has been obtained by monks in the 12^th century to protect themselves from the ruthless climate of the highlands. 

·        Preparing the fiber by combing it to the desired texture as there are soft and hard tartan

The Removal of the Wool from the Skins and the Combing

·        Spinning, where the yarn or thread was spun by fingers and wound round the bottom of the spindle. This was later replaced by the spinning wheel.

Spinning yarn on spindle.

·        The wool was then dyed

·        Woven

·        Finally stretched. This last stage which was also known as ‘waulking’ was often accompanied by singing.