The Tartans of Clan MacQuarrie
Many of the tartans pictured here show samples of actual woven cloth, produced by different weavers at different times. For that reason, the shades of colors do vary. As far as tartan is concerned, most of the time a red is a red is a red, and a blue is a blue is a blue, etc.. The only time it becomes important to distinguish between two shades of a given color is when more than one shade is called for in the thread count (i.e. a light blue and a dark blue). Other than this, a tartan weaver is free to choose any shade of the color, and this is reflected in the different shades seen in the below woven samples. For comparison, a thread count is given for each tartan. The following standard abbreviations are used: R = red, G = green, B = blue, A = azure (light blue), K = black, L = light (used as prefix, as in LR = light red). For more information on tartan colors, click here.
TS892
R32 G2 R2 G2 R8 G24
This is the MacQuarrie tartan most often seen used today. It can first
be documented as a MacQuarrie tartan in James Grants book, Tartans of the
Clans of Scotland, published in 1886. This reference included
seventy-two tartans that were supposedly in current use at the time.
This tartan is obviously related to the red MacDonald of the Isles tartan (see
tartan look-a-likes), that was reconstructed in the early nineteenth
century from a portrait in Armadale Castle of "The MacDonald Boys." This
portrait was painted by Jeremiah Davidson in 1750 and shows two young boys
wearing red tartan outfits. There are four different tartans pictured,
all of which are similar in design. One of the tartans is identical to
the above MacQuarrie tartan -- so we know this particular tartan design was in
production as early as 1750, though not necessarily in use by the MacQuarrie
clan. The above sample was woven by Lochcarron of Scotland.
TS872
G2 R2 G2 R2
G28 R2 K20 R2 G2 R42 G2 R2 K2
This tartan comes from the collection
of John McGregor Hastie, who collected tartans between the years of 1930 and
1950. His collection contained over 960 samples, many of his own weaving, and
many collected from the scrap bins of tartan merchants. It was bought by the
Scottish Tartans Society and formed the basis of their collection. Some of the samples,
including this one, were unmarked. One can assume that the sample dates
between 1930 and 1950.
TS858
G4 R6 G4 R104 G4 R4 B56 R4 G84 R4 G4 R6 G4
This tartan comes from the collection of General Sir William Cockburn of
Cockburn, and most likely dates to between 1810 and 1815. It was one of
the earliest private collections of Scottish tartans to be made. The sample
pictured above was woven by The House of Edgar and is included in their "Old
and Rare" range of medium weight kilting tartans.
TS553
B2 R4 K2 R14
G16 R4 G16 R4 K8 R20 B2 R4
The Scottish Tartans Society calls this
"Ancient MacQuarrie" in their Register. It is not sure why. This
one also comes from the McGregor Hastie collection, so one can assume that
it, too, dates to the period between 1930-50.
TS1511
R8 G10 R4 K12
R36 K4 R8
This tartan was illustrated in T. Smibert's book, The
Clans of the Highlands of Scotland, published in 1850. Smibert had
access to the records of tartan weavers Wilsons of Bannockburn, who had been
producing tartan since the mid-eighteenth century, as well as to the works of
James Logan and the Sobieski-Stuart brothers.
TS1402
R4 A2 R32 B24 R8 G32 R12
James Logan included this MacQuarrie tartan in The Scottish Gael,
published in 1831. James Scarlett calls this reference "The first book
with anything of consequence to say about tartan" (qtd. in Tartan: The
Highland Habit). Logan was born in Aberdeen in 1794 and in 1826
traveled around Scotland collecting tartan specimens and talking with people
who claimed to have first hand experience of past practices regarding Highland
Dress. D. C. Stewart, in The Setts of the Scottish Tartans,
says, "Logan's count is misleading, but reference to Smibert's
version shows what was intended." The sample pictured above was
woven by Tillie Bohanan, a hand weaver from Franklin, NC.
TS453
R2 A2 R12 B6 R2 G12 R2 G12 R12 B2 R2
A2
This version of the MacQuarrie tartan appears in Authenticated Tartans of
the Clans and Families of Scotland, published by W. and A. Smith in 1850,
plate 51 (pictured right). They say in that reference that this is one
of the few tartans whose "authenticity is unquestioned," and that they have
their specimen "direct from the manufacturer." Many of the setts
that they include come from Meyer & Mortimer, and many others from Wilsons of
Bannockburn. The sample here pictured (at left) was woven by Fraser &
Kirkbright in Canada, in muted colors.
TS454
A4 R8
B4 R102 G88 LR8 R20 LR8 G88 R20 B52 R100 A4 R8
This tartan comes from the collection of the Highland Society of London, and is unusual in that it has two shades of red. The Highland Society of London was a club formed by Scottish ex-patriots. In 1815 they set about amassing a collection of tartans for the different Scottish clans. Many were supplied by the clan chiefs themselves. This was the first such collection to be made.
The MacGuire tartan:
TS2427
K4 G36 R36 B4 R4 G4 R4 G4 R36 B16 R4 G36 K4 W6
This tartan was designed in 1989 by Dr. Phil Smith for the MacGuire family of Briantree, MA. He based the tartan on some of the older MacQuarrie setts. In personal correspondance with Matthew Newsome, Dr. Smith writes, "This was done completely in isolation with reference only to D. C. Stewart [The Setts of the Scottish Tartans]. I had two sashes woven by Dalgliesh. In 1995 Viv Sharp ([a tartan designer from] Spain) sent me a close-up color photo of a sash that had belonged to his wife's mother dating from the early 20th century labeled 'Maguire' . The counts are similar but differ in some colours and proportions."
The count for the 'Maguire' tartan, taken from the three-volume Tartans reference that Smith co-authored with William H. Johnston, is as follows:
K6 G36 R36 K6 R6 B6 R6 B8 R36 K18 R8 G36 K6 W12