Hello Kitty, the FBI and the exclusive island of Nantucket: Weird and wonderful tartans, and where to find them

Tartan — a rich fabric with an even richer Scottish history. Think of the humble kilt, and potentially what may be lurking underneath. Consider the contents of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, or the familiar sight of a traditionally-dressed bagpipe player entertaining tourists on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Contemplate David Tennant and Gerard Butler in formal dress (I often do). What you might not think of is the picturesque island just off the coast of Massachusetts — Nantucket, USA.

Perhaps you should. This island has now joined Scrooge McDuck, Hello Kitty and an Elvis Presley tribute act in having its own unique tartan listed on the Scottish Register of Tartans. On this Burns Night, what would the esteemed poet think of Scotland’s rich cultural legacy and its influence on the wider world?

‘I wanted to find a way to take the history of Nantucket and sort of codify it and I thought something like a tartan was really interesting because obviously the design has so many symbolic elements that can represent the island,’ says Annie Davidson Watson, founder of Nantucket-based luxury goods brand Steplane. ‘I wanted to have something that had some sort of permanence and was globally recognised; it will be preserved in their archives for life now.’ The tartan — a navy blue, brown, red and grey — is featured on a lambswool throw ($249) and is woven by an independent mill in the Scottish borders.

The design is inspired by the history of Nantucket and its culture, with brown intended to represent the land, echoing Nantucket’s Wampanoag name ‘the faraway land’; blue for the island’s ocean surroundings and maritime history; grey for fog, sea salt and the island’s nickname ‘The Little Grey Lady of the Sea’; and red for the cranberry bogs essential to the Wampanoag diet and the island’s historic red-brick architecture.

‘Also Nantucket has a really rich whaling history,’ says Annie, whose family boasts Scottish heritage. ‘Whaling captains would travel the world and bring home objects from some of the finest makers in the world. So, even though it might seem random, having something from Scotland associated with Nantucket was, I thought, an interesting way to play with that global aspect of the island’s history.’

The pattern of the tartan also pays homage to the Barclay Clan’s tartan design, honouring Robert Barclay, a Scottish Quaker who testified to Parliament in 1774 about the importance of Nantucket’s whale oil to the British Empire. Annie discovered the connection when scouring the island's archives.

It made me wonder. If Nantucket (and Scrooge McDuck and Hello Kitty) has an official tartan, who else does? What’s the process of registering a new design, and where does tartan even come from?

A brief chequered history

Although the oldest tartan-patterned cloth discovered was on the edge of China, it plays a starring role in the national dress of Scotland, and tartan was first described in the country in the 16th century. The Scottish historian John Mair described the ‘over-garment’ of Highlanders in 1521 as being made up of a ‘loose plaid’ over a ‘shift saffron dyed’, under which ‘from the mid-leg to the foot the men of the high land go uncovered’. It was not only adopted by the Highlanders, but is traditionally associated with Highland dress and may have been avoided by some Lowlanders who regarded them as rather uncouth, to put it mildly.

In 1538, however, tartan fell into royal favour. James V ordered a tartan hunting outfit and the fabric proved popular for riding and led to a fashion for tartan trews, which still exists today as a (much less risky on a windy day) alternative to the kilt. It was worn by all in Gaelic society, but red was the prized colour as it was a more expensive dye, thus more likely to be worn by the wealthy. Tartan became a symbol of Jacobitism and, after 1707, a symbol of opposition to the union of the Scottish and English parliaments.

It had largely gone out of vogue among the wealthy by the late 18th century, but was still in use by The Black Watch army regiment in 1739, who were kilted up to police the Highlands, and by subsequent regiments. A common myth about tartan is that after the Battle of Culloden, in 1746, the British government passed an act that forbade its wearing in the Highlands, in an attempt to suppress the rebellious nature of many Scottish clans. This isn’t strictly true. It was Highland clothes that were banned for men and boys — and this is how must people utilized tartan at the time. This was repealed in 1782, after which the Highland revival began. This ran until about 1840, and it’s remained popular ever since.

Today we know of the formalised clan tartans, based on regional differences, and used as a badge of identity. These began as a concept in 1815. ‘There were two significant contributors to this in the 19th century,’ says Peter MacDonald, tartan historian and honorary head of research for the Scottish Tartans Authority. ‘One was George V’s visit in 1822, orchestrated by Sir Walter Scott, who urged everyone to turn up wearing their true tartan to see the King, and then the other thing was obviously Queen Victoria buying Balmoral, falling in love with Scotland and promoting Scotland widely.’

In the present, tartan brings more modern forms of clan — it is the pattern that identifies individual schools via uniforms, as an example. The popular nickname for Scottish football supporters (The Tartan Army) also nods towards a sense of community, as does the use of tartan in the punk movement, perhaps a reference back to the Highlander’s rebellious reputation. Tartan is also widely used in the fashion of Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and, of course, the instantly recognisable Burberry check, introduced in the 1920s to line the inside of the fashion brand’s iconic trench coats.

Everything else you need to know about tartan including how it’s made and registered

The structure of tartan is actually the same as denim, which is the strongest structure for cloth. Each particular tartan’s pattern is known as a sett. This is made up of a series of lines of different colours and width. The threads that run vertically are referred to as the warp in the cloth, and those that run horizontally are called the weft. Tartan is normally made from dyed wool yarns that are woven on a loom.

New tartans today do not require registration in the Scottish Register of Tartans, which was established by an act of the Scottish Parliament in November, 2008, but many people choose to do so. ‘It doesn't have to be, but people choose to, because it gives them a shop window, in the broader sense, and also it affords some degree of protection with a small ‘p’, insofar as once it's in the public domain, if someone else came along and did something similar, you've got the back reference point [to your design],’ says Peter, who also serves on the panel of the Scottish Register of Tartans that approves new design. The first tartan to be registered with them was, hilariously, none other than the Scottish Register of Tartans’ tartan. This is one of the only instances where the word ‘tartan’ can be used in a tartan’s name. You could only otherwise include the word ‘if you had a company, or something like that, with the word “tartan” in it that was unique, or if you were called something like “Mr and Mrs Tartan,” Peter explains.

To register a new tartan, one must possess a unique design that passes the ‘across the room’ test. ‘If it looks too similar to another then it is likely to be confused,’ Peter says. You must also provide a threadcoat for said design, along with an image, proposed name and fee of £150. Colours involved do not have to have a significance, but they often do. ‘Historically, there would have never been a rationale there as part of the registration process. Today, there's a box that says: “explain the colors”, in which one could simply put: “colours of personal significance”, but some people then seem to think they have to justify the colours,’ Peter says. ‘There is no requirement. There is also no standardised meaning for each individual colour.’

Additionally, according to the register: ‘There must be a clear link between the person registering the tartan and the proposed tartan name.’ The name must be no more than 200 characters in length and must not be used as a means of promoting political ideology. American spellings are generally Anglicised. There are a lot more stipulations, but they are fiddly and only worth explaining if you, dear reader, intend to register a tartan.

Among the weirder officially registered tartan names are Auld Magic of Unicorn (colours: white, gold, green, blue), Bargain Booze (black, grey), Bevy of Pheasants (brown, yellow, red, black, white) and Boring and Dull (red, blue, white). There must, of course, be many weird entries further down the alphabet, but the register has over 10,000 tartans, so forgive me for not venturing further.

The most popular tartans today include the Royal Stewart and Black Watch tartan. The latter likely owes its cult status to tradition, which stated that anybody without a tartan of their own may wear it. It is also known as The Universal or Government tartan and continues to be worn by the Royal Regiment of Scotland today (The Princess of Wales is also a fan — in Scotland she is known instead as the Duchess of Rothesay). The King wears the following tartans: Prince Charles Edward Stewart; Stewart Hunting; Balmoral; Duke of Rothesay and Lord of the Isles; Gordon Highlanders; Black Watch; and The King Charles III, which was designed by Peter. He also wove the material for Prince Harry and Prince William’s first kilts, when they were children (Peter that is, not the King.)

Unsurprisingly, with tartan registration came more and more people and producers who wished to register. Royal fabrics now sit on the list among those belonging to IrnBru and Hello Kitty (see below for more surprising additions). It is a practice that snowballed until it reached as far away as Nantucket. So what does Peter think about it? Is the magic of the tradition of tartan getting lost in this new modern wave? ‘There will always be new ones,’ Peter says. ‘And within all of these there is also that traditional bit that we're trying to preserve and protect, and I think that's really important — to make sure that many of the older traditional, authentic patterns are not lost to history.’ He adds: ‘Anything that keeps the weaving trade and the dying trade and all the other related trades alive and produced in Scotland can only be a good thing.’