What is a Tartan? :

"No man can tell when day passes into night, but every man knows the difference between night and day"

Edmund Burke 1729 -1997

Tartan is a little like that in that no man can tell when check passes into tartan but every man knows the difference between a check and tartan!  Let's start off with Jamie Scarlett's explanation:

Tartan is woven from threads which cross at right angles and the pattern - called the SETT - therefore has, of necessity, to be of rectangular format. It comprises a series of stripes which, although exceptions are not uncommon, generally are (a) the same in both warp and weft of the cloth and (b) are expressed as a half-sett which repeats, reversing as it goes, along and across the cloth, so that each half-sett is the mirror-image of its neighbour; these introduce further inviolable rules.

1. When two stripes of the same width cross, they will make a square, and then of different widths they will make a rectangle. If a stripe is wider in the warp than in the weft, the length of the rectangle will fall across the web and vice versa.

2. When two stripes of the same colour cross, the result will be plain colour, and when of different colours, the colours will alternate in the ribs in the fabric.

3. Plain colours cannot appear side by side but are separated by areas of mixed colour and can only join point-to-point, on the diagonal.

4. The number of mixed colours will increase in rapid disproportion to the number of base colours, in accordance with the formula M = ½ (B2 -B), where M is the number of mixtures and B the number of base colours. The more colours we start with, therefore, the more diffuse and broken will be the appearance of the final tartan but there is a subjective aspect which modifies this effect. Put simply, the physical size of a stripe or block affects its visual impact; two threads of red crossing two of yellow does not have the same affect as would an inch of each.

These illustrations from the late Don Pottinger, [Unicorn Pursuivant at the Court of the Lord Lyon] show the make-up of the warp, the weft and then the two combined.  The large illustration below shows the Royal Stewart tartan displayed in a similar fashion.

A Definition :

Tartan is a unique art form and conventionally a textile design comprising a repeating pattern formed with a minimum of two woven bands or stripes each usually of one distinct colour. The design sequence is the same in both directions of the fabric - with some exceptions - and normally producing a square pattern which is generally - but not necessarily - symmetrical about defined pivot points or stripes. This arrangement creates a recognisable pattern or 'sett' which is repeated across the width (weft) and length (warp) of the material. Where bands of differing colours cross, intermediate hues are formed and the pattern can be modified by the addition of finer lines of the same or contrasting colours.

This definition is not to the exclusion of designs which - displaying the identifying characteristics of tartans - are destined for use in other than woven form.

What's a Threadcount? :

The fact that early researchers of tartan recorded the patterns by measuring the width of each line or band of colour in one eighths of an inch, seems inconceivable when one considers that weavers themselves counted the number threads of each colour. If they were setting up the warp on their handloom then they very obviously needed to know how many threads of each colour they needed.

Nowadays, common sense has filtered into tartan academia and we record all the patterns - or Setts as we call them - in the same way as the weavers. We mustn't worship too devoutly at the alter of thread counts however since - essential though they are - they basically record the proportions of the sett, the actual size of which can change depending upon the final use for the tartan. For kilts, the average size of the sett might be about 6 inches (153mm) but that would be far too large for a man's tie so a weaver would reduce the pattern - in proportion - so that the sett was about 3 inches (76mm). Similarly, if someone wanted to paint the side of an aircraft or a taxi with a tartan, a six inch sett would be far too small.

Counting the Threads :

Looking at this small portion of the Baxter tartan, the computer generated graphic clearly shows the individual stitches and if we start from the left of the picture we can count 4 black threads, 8 blue, four black, 16 yellow, 4 black and another 16 yellow.

Also very clear is the diagonal pattern that is formed by the twill weave and the fact that each of the colour bands you can see are in fact, mixtures of colours when seen from a distance, each one of them being mixed with green in this particular part of the tartan.

Looking at this scale of reproduction you can very easily see which portion of the sett the first graphic comes from - that part right in the centre. Now is the time to introduce the concept of the half sett and pivot points.

The vast majority of tartans are what we call symmetrical which means that the design or sett, repeats itself backwards (a mirror image) at a particular point - the pivot. This may sound gobbledygook initially, but if you look at the full tartan graphic below (Figure 3) you'll see where Fig. 2 fits in - it's the section from the white line in the middle of the red band to the narrow blue line in the middle of the green band.

That in fact is a half sett because at the blue line you'll notice that the pattern starts on its backward journey and only stops when it gets to the white and that constitutes a full sett. At that point it again reverses and continues to do so across the width of the tartan. Those two points where the sett reverses (the white line and the blue line) are - not surprisingly - called the pivots.

In symmetrical tartans, threadcounts always start at one of the two pivot points so if we want to record this tartan, let's record it using first the white pivot as the starting point. This gives us:

White 8. Red 64. Black 4. Blue 8. Black 4. Yellow 16. Black 4. Yellow 16. Black 4. Blue 8. Black 4. Green 64. Blue 8.

Since that's quite a mouthful, we shorten the colours using a code - normally the initial letters of the colours used. There are exceptions where two or more colours start with the same letter. In the case of Black we give it the code of K so that it doesn't get confused with Blue or Brown. Similarly we give Brown the code of T (for tan). Grey (which could be confused with Green) gets a code of N (neutral). So . . . translating the rather long sequence above using the colour codes we get:

W8 R64 K4 B8 K4 Y16 K4 Y16 K4 B8 K4 G64 B8

If we were to use the other pivot - the Blue one - to start the thread count it would read:

B8 G64 K4 B8 K4 Y126 K4 Y126 K4 B8 K4 R64 W8

which you may notice is the first one read backwards!

You may have noticed that the threadcounts we've given have all been for a half sett. The full count (starting from the blue pivot) would be as follows:

B8 G64 K4 B8 K4 Y16 K4 Y16 K4 B8 K4 R64 W8 then we pivot about the W8 and go backwards R64 K4 B8 K4 Y16 K4 Y16 K4 B8 K4 G64

Half or Full Pivots? :

A grey area that sometimes causes confusion is that there is no standardisation of how the pivots are documented. Some designers will record the full number of threads in each pivot whilst others will record just half the threads. The Tartans Authority always uses full pivots. This uncertainty down through the years has resulted in many thread counts being incorrectly recorded, so if you're obtaining counts from an unknown source, always try and discover what the pivot is!

Colours :

Colours are another grey area - if you'll forgive the terrible pun - and we need to put their importance in perspective. In the old days a tartan might contain let's say four colours - green red, black and yellow. Different weavers would have different shades of those colours - as they have today - so a Fraser tartan from one weaver may not be the same as a Fraser from another in the next glen or town. Similarly, a customer for a kilt length of Fraser might well ask the weaver to use a different shade of red so that it matched his wife's favourite ball gown. The resulting tartan would be no less a Fraser because it used a different shade of red. Understandably, clan chiefs and tartan owners nowadays seek a certain degree of standardisation but the same tartan can still be produced using different colour palettes or colourways as weavers call them.

All descriptive words used after a tartan name refer to the colour shades in which it is woven. What makes this confusing however is that different weavers use different terms for colours that are frequently very similar. Crawford modern or Crawford ordinary would indicate that the colours used were the brighter and darker hues that were made possible by the introduction of new dyes after 1855. The softer ancient or old colours which tend to show the pattern better, became popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Then there are shades known as muted or weathered and finally shades called reproduction which imitate colours that have long been exposed to the sun and rain.

From this you'll appreciate that the only safe way of choosing your tartan is to see a woven sample. Don't rely on computer illustrations - those can only give you the generic colours and can't yet replicate the subtle shades produced by dyers.

Scottish Tartans Authority

Fraser House, 25 Commissioner Street, Crieff, Perthshire. PH7 3AY. Scotland

Tel +44 (0)1764 655444 | Fax +44 (0)1764 654242

The Scottish Tartans Authority is a Scottish Charity, recognised under Scottish Charity Number SC024310

©2004 All images and articles on  Tartans on this website are the Copyright of the Scottish Tartans Authority unless otherwise stated

The story of ‘Tartan the Highland Textile’ is a very interesting study though too big to be discussed here but well worth researching tartan history and technology. Sorting fact from myth and fiction on the web a good starting point is the site of the official regulative body above.

Link back to History :

Return to the History, Heritage and Development webpage :