MacQuarrie tartan look alikes . . .
There are several tartans out there that look very much like the MacQuarrie
tartan, and when attending Games and the like, it is nice to be able to
identify kinsmen in their kilts and not make a mistake! Here are
some tartans that are commonly mistaken for MacQuarrie.
MacDonald of Sleat
The MacDonald of Sleat tartan was manufactured in the
18th century and called MacDonald of Sleat, Lord of the Isles. The pattern
was devised from an old MacDonald tartan that is shown in a painting at
Armadale Castle, but it appears that the reconstruction differs somewhat
from the original. Whether this was intended or simply a mistake is entirely
open to conjecture but it would not be the first new design to have arisen
from an error in the threadcount. This is most like the MacQuarrie,
the main difference being in the single narrow green band bordering the
wide green band. The MacQuarrie has a double stripe, so this is what you
should look for.
MacDonald of the Isles, red
This is the MacDonald of Sleat tartan with an extra black
overcheck. The extra black line makes this stand out from the MacQuarrie
tartan (plus the single green stripe mentioned above.)