Old and rare Scottish tartans

by Donald William Stewart

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Heimskringla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway. Translated from Icelandic of Snorro Sturleson, with a preliminary dissertation, by Samuel Laing, Esq. London: Longmans, 1844. Magnus Barefoot’s Saga (written by Snorro Sturleson 1178-1241), Vol. III., p. 139.

[2] Laing translates the word “kyrtlu” as “kirtles;” Gregory and Skene translate it “tunics.”

[3] Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis, Vol. II., p. 8. Spalding Club.

[4] Scotichronicon, Gregory’s translation. Transactions of the Iona Club, p. 27.

[5] Borthwick’s Remarks on British Antiquities. Edinburgh, 1776, p. 139.

[6] Pinkerton’s History of Scotland from the Accession of the House of Stuart. London, 1797, Vol. I., p. 493.

[7] Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials, Vol. I., Part I., p. 114, note.

[8] Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, edited by Thomas Dickson, Curator of the Historical Department of H.M. General Register House, Vol. I., 1473-1498, Preface, p. clxxxv, and note; and Glossary, p. 441.

[9] Scottish Collection of Gaelic MSS. in Advocates’ Library, No. XVI., A.A., line 2. For the correct reading as well as translation of this interesting manuscript the Editor is indebted to Professor Mackinnon. In the “Report of the Committee of the Highland Society of Scotland appointed to inquire into the nature and authenticity of the Poems of Ossian” (Edinburgh, 1805), it is, on the authority of Mr Astle, stated to be a writing of the ninth or tenth century (Report, p. 305). In the opinion of Professor Mackinnon the manuscript cannot be assigned to an earlier period than about 1400.

[10] Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, 1429, Record Issue, Vol. II., p. 18.

[11] Constable’s edition of Major, published for the Scottish History Society. Edinburgh, 1892, pp. 48, 49.

[12] Ibid., p. 333.

[13] Ibid., p. 359.

[14] Lord High Treasurer’s Accounts, 1537-38, fol. 63, MS., H.M. General Register House.

[15] See letter printed in full in Bannatyne Miscellany, Vol. I., and also in Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis. The Editor is indebted for a correct transcription of the above portion to Mr Augustus W. Franks, C.B., British Museum.

[16] Histoire de la Guerre d’Escosse pendant les Campagnes, 1548 et 1549. Par Jean de Beaugué. Maitland Club. The translation is that of Donald Gregory. See Transactions of the Iona Club, p. 31.

[17] Register of the Privy Council, Vol. I., p. 136.

[18] The Chronicles of Scotland, by Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, Edition 1814, Vol. I., Introduction, p. xxiii.

[19] The Historie of Scotland, wrytten first in Latin by the most Reverend and Worthy Jhone Leslie, Bishop of Rosse, and translated in Scottish by Father James Dalrymple Religious in the Scottis Cloister of Regensburg the zeere of God 1596. Edited for the Scottish Text Society by the Rev. Father E. G. Cody, O.S.B., 1885, pp. 90-94. This quaint Scots version is given in preference to the ordinary one from the Latin, as it conveys an extremely vivid picture of the ancient dress written by a contemporary.

[20] Ibid., p. 377.

[21] Aikman’s translation of Buchanan’s History of Scotland, Vol. I., pp. 40, 41. Buchanan’s description was incorporated in Certeine Matters concerning the Realme of Scotland, composed together as they were Anno Domini 1597, by John Monipennie, who also included it in the Summarie of the Scots Chronicles, 1612.

[22] The Booke of the Universall Kirk of Scotland, Vol. I., pp. 331, 335. Bannatyne Club.

[23] Extracts from the Council Register of the Burgh of Aberdeen, 1570-1625, as printed by the Spalding Club, Vol. II., pp. 27, 373.

[24] The Image of Irelande, 1581. Reprinted by A. & C. Black, Edinburgh, 1883, p. 50.

[25] Ibid. p. 105.

[26] La Navigation du Roy d’Escosse Iaques Cinquiesme du nom, referred to in the Transactions of the Iona Club, pp. 36, 37.

[27] The Great Seal Register, 1580-1593, edited by John Maitland Thomson, M.A., Advocate, No. 1491.

[28] Vestiarium Scoticum. William Tait, Edinburgh, 1842, Introduction, p. 59; and A Reply to the Quarterly Review upon the Vestiarium Scoticum. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1848, p. 23.

[29] Register of Signatouris in the Office of Comptrollerie, Vol. XII., 1587-1589, fol. 82.

[30] Charge of the Temporalitie of Kirklandis: North Side of the Forth. MS. in H.M. General Register House, fol. 94.

[31] Register of Signatouris in the Office of Comptrollerie, Vol. XXXIV., 1617, fol. 120.

[32] Ibid., Vol. XLVII., 1630, fol. 208.

[33] The Pourtrait of True Loyalty exposed in the Family of Gordon without interruption to this present year 1691, with a relation of the Siege of the Castle of Edinburgh in the year 1689. MS. in Advocates’ Library. It is partially quoted in De Rebus Albanicis.

[34] Iona Club Transactions, pp. 37, 38.

[35] Origines Parochiales Scotiæ, Vol. II., i. 156.

[36] The Montgomery Manuscripts, containing Accounts of the Colonization of the Ardes in the County of Down in the Reigns of Elizabeth and James. Printed from the Original Manuscripts and Transcripts of MSS., composed by William Montgomery, Esq., second son of Sir James Montgomery, between the years 1698 and 1704. Belfast, 1830, pp. 53, 54.

[37] Camden’s Britannia (Gough’s Edition, 1789), Vol. III., p. 389.

[38] The Pennyless Pilgrimage, or the Moneylesse Perumbulation of John Taylor, alias the Kings Majesties Water-Poet: How he travelled on Foot from London to Edenborough in Scotland, not carrying any money to or fro, neither Begging, Borrowing or asking Meate, Drinke, or Lodging. Hume Brown’s Edition. Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1892, pp. 120, 121.

[39] History of Scots Affairs from 1637 to 1641, by James Gordon, Parson of Rothiemay. Spalding Club, Vol. III., Appendix to Preface, pp. xliii., xliv.

[40] Defoe’s Works: Memoirs of a Cavalier, Vol. II., pp. 112, 113. Bohn, London, 1854. As to the genuine authorship of this work, see Lee’s Bibliography in his edition of Defoe’s Works.

[41] Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, 1661, Vol. VII., p. 186.

[42] Brome’s Travels, Second Edition, London, 1707, pp. 179, 180.

[43] Tours in Scotland, 1677 and 1681, by Thomas Kirk and Ralph Thoresby, edited by P. Hume Brown. Edinburgh, David Douglas, 1892, pp. 28, 29.

[44] See the letter quoted in Blackwood’s Magazine, April 1817, p. 69. The present extract has been compared with the original in the Advocates’ Library. In the Transactions of the Iona Club “not one of ten of them hath breaches” is made to read “not one of them hath breaches,” and this very serious error has been duly copied by subsequent writers on the Highland dress.

[45] A Collection of Several Poems and Verses composed upon various occasions, by Mr William Cleland, Lieutenant-Colonel to my Lord Angus’s Regiment. Printed in the year 1697, pp. 11-13.

[46] Lyon Register in H.M. General Register House, Edinburgh. Matriculation dated about 1672.

[47] Alexander Nisbet’s Heraldic Plates, originally intended for his System of Heraldry. Waterston and Sons, Edinburgh, 1892.

[48] Nisbet MS., Advocates’ Library, pp. 33-35.

[49] Introduction to Nisbet’s Heraldic Plates, p. xlvi.

[50] The Grameid: an Historic Poem descriptive of the Campaign of Viscount Dundee in 1689, by James Philip of Almerieclose. 1691. Translated by the Rev. Alexander D. Murdoch, F.S.A. Scot., for the Scottish History Society, 1888.

[51] Some Account of the Battle of Killiecrankie and what Followed thereupon. The MS. is cited in The Costume of the Clans, p. 104.

[52] An Account of the Isle of Man, ... with a Voyage to I-Columb-Kill, by William Sacheverell, Esq., late Governor of the Isle of Man. 8vo. Manx Society, 1859, p. 99. The first edition was published in 1702.

[53] A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, by M. Martin, Gent. The first edition of this work appeared in 1703, and a second, “very much corrected,” in 1716. It is from this second edition, pp. 206-210, that the extract is taken.

[54] A Collection of Original Papers about the Scots Plot. London, 1704, pp. 3, 4.

[55] Court Books of the Regality of Grant, 1703-1710. MSS. in H.M. General Register House.

[56] By the courtesy of the families in possession of the portraits referred to in the text, the author, for the purposes of the present work, has had repeated opportunities of making careful examinations of those referred to.

[57] The Present State of Scotland, Second Edition, 1711.

[58] A Journey through Scotland, by the author of The Journey through England (John Macky). London, 1723, p. 194.

[59] System of Heraldry, Edition 1804, Vol. I., p. 415. The original edition of this work was published in 1722, but was most probably written fifteen or twenty years before that date.

[60] MS., Lyon Office. See facsimile of a portion of the page containing the Cluny reference in the Introduction to the Nisbet Plates, p. xlii.

[61] The original is at Fingask. It has been engraved as the frontispiece to The Threiplands of Fingask.

[62] Captain Burt’s Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland, 1818, Vol. I., pp. 84-5; Vol. II., pp. 7, 84-86, 87-91. Jamieson’s Edition.

[63] Burt’s Letters, Vol. II., pp. 102-105. Jamieson’s Edition.

[64] Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century, from the MSS. of John Ramsay, Esq. of Ochtertyre, edited by Alex. Allardice. Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1888. Vol. I., p. 540; Vol. II., pp. 87, 88.

[65] Caledonian Mercury, 14th January 1740.

[66] Ibid., 19th February 1740.

[67] Caledonian Mercury, 4th October 1745.

[68] A mistake of the writer for “Ness.”

[69] A Journal of the Expedition of Prince Charles Edward in 1745, by a Highland Officer. Lockhart Papers, Vol. II., p. 505.

[70] Stewart’s Sketches, Vol. I., p. 112, Edition 1822.

[71] General Orders to the Army in Scotland, 22nd December 1748.

[72] Stewart’s Sketches, Vol. I., p. 113.

[73] Orders to 20th Foot [now the Lancashire Fusiliers], dated Bamff 1752.

[74] Edinburgh Evening Courant, February 21, 23, 26, 28, 1760.

[75] Ibid., July 9, 14, 1760.

[76] Stewart’s Sketches, Vol. I., p. 114.

[77] Travels in the Western Hebrides from 1782 to 1790, by the Rev. John Lane Buchanan, Missionary Minister to the Isles from the Church of Scotland. London, 1793, pp. 84-90.

[78] Camden’s Britannia (Gough’s Edition, 1789), Vol. III., p. 390.

[79] Vestiarium Scoticum. From the Manuscript formerly in the Library of the Scots College at Douay, with an Introduction and Notes by John Sobieski Stuart. Edinburgh, William Tait, 1842.

[80] Preface to Vestiarium Scoticum, pp. i.-vii.

[81] Advertisement annexed to A Reply to the Quarterly Review upon the Vestiarium Scoticum. Edinburgh, Blackwood, 1848.

[82] A Reply to the Quarterly Review, p. 6.

[83] See notes on p. 47.

[84] A Reply to the Quarterly Review, p. 7.

[85] It may be proper to point out here that the Editor discussed the idea of issuing a work on rare tartans, to be illustrated by examples of the actual fabrics, with his publisher several years ago, and it was not until the illustrations for the present work were considerably advanced that he became aware of the existence of Miss Dick Lauder’s copy of the Vestiarium, which she has so handsomely placed at his disposal, and which contains the statement in the text.

[86] Copy of original letter in possession of Miss Dick Lauder. Copies of Sir Thomas Dick Lauder’s letters to Sir Walter Scott, along with the originals of the latter’s replies, are bound up with the copy of the Vestiarium made by Sir Thomas in 1828-9, referred to on page 45. The volume, now in possession of Miss Dick Lauder, daughter of Sir Thomas, also contains the cleverly executed water-colours by Charles Edward Stuart referred to in the above letter and the quaint illustrations by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder subsequently referred to.

[87] This, it will be remembered, was the copy which belonged to John Ross, the old sword-player.

[88] i.e., the Douay MS.

[89] The words within brackets do not occur in Sir Thomas’s letter to Sir Walter. They appear, however, in the original letter written by the father of the Messrs Hay, and preserved by Sir Thomas in the volume now in Miss Dick Lauder’s possession.

[90] Sir Walter did so, and it is reproduced on page 56.

[91] This, it will be remembered, was the copy got from John Ross with the date 1721.

[92] Quarterly Review, No. CLXI., June 1847, Art. II., p. 57, “The Heirs of the Stuarts.”

[93] Ibid., pp. 63, 64.

[94] Sir Thomas Dick Lauder.

[95] A Reply to the Quarterly Review upon the Vestiarium Scoticum. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1848, pp. 4-7.

[96] See Reply, pp. 8-16.

[97] An evident misprint for “Watson” in the Quarterly Review article.

[98] Professor Skene’s reference here is to a statement in the preface to the Vestiarium, to the effect that the Bishop of Ross noted his acquisition of Sir Richard Urquhart’s work in his Diary (which he quotes in full) remaining among a portion of the Douay papers, in the possession of the “late Mr Robert Watson, well known in the history of the Stuart papers.” For an account of Watson’s remarkable career see an article by Andrew Lang in the Illustrated London News of 12th March 1892.

[99] Quarterly Review article, p. 67.

[100] Ante, p. 49.

[101] Ante, p. 51.

[102] Facsimile of John Leslie’s signature as Bishop of Ross in the Lord Treasurer’s Accounts, 1564-6, H.M. General Register House, Edinburgh. The date of the audit, to which the bishop’s signature is affixed, is 27th June 1566.

[103] Facsimile of the signature contained in the Vestiarium Scoticum referred to on preceding page.

[104] An example from Nichols’ Autographs, obtained from the bishop’s letter to Lord Burleigh, dated Paris, 28th February 1579, preserved in the British Museum.

[105] Why the simple red and black check receives the title of Rob Roy is something of a mystery. In Authenticated Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland (Smith: Mauchline, 1850) it is asserted, and the statement is repeated in The Tartans of the Clans of Scotland (W. & A. K. Johnston: Edinburgh, 1886) without attempt at verification, that three genuine portraits of Rob Roy represent him as wearing it; but these and other so-called Rob Roy portraits—be their value what it may—afford no sanction whatever for the design. The Editor is not aware on what authority the portraits are classed as Rob Roy. He has seen seven paintings, including the three above referred to, in which the figure is identical, all known as Rob Roy, and in each a separate pattern appears, none of them showing the simple red and black check. The tartan is accepted by sound authorities as the old Macgregor clan pattern. There are fine examples of it in a collection of tartans made by the Highland Society of London in 1816-17, labelled and sealed “The MacGregor Tartan for undress ordinary clothing. The Seal of Arms of Sir John MacGregor Murray of MacGregor, Baronet. [Signed] John M. Murray.”

NOTES ON WORKS TREATING OF TARTANS.

1. The Scottish Gaël; or, Celtic Manners as preserved among the Highlanders: Being an Historical and Descriptive Account of the Inhabitants, Antiquities, and National Peculiarities of Scotland; more particularly of the Northern or Gaëlic Parts of the Country, where the singular habits of the Aboriginal Celts are most tenaciously retained. By James Logan, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 65 Cornhill. 1831. 2 vols. 8vo. Large paper in royal 8vo.

This work contains in an appendix a list of fifty-four tartans, which Logan states were as many as he could procure and authenticate. Along with the name of each tartan is a table stating the colours and relative proportions of the stripes in eighths of an inch. This plan of measurement, it appears, was the joint idea of Logan and Captain Mackenzie of Gruinard. It is really a modification of that of the old Highland weavers of winding on a stick the correct number of threads of each colour in the proper order. One coloured plate (an illustration of the tartan of the Earl of Inverness) is given, with the object of explaining the system of measurement and colouring set forth in the work. Each volume contains a coloured frontispiece representing Highlanders in tartan dress.

A reprint (omitting the plate of the tartan) was issued in 1876, edited, with memoir and notes, by the Rev. Alexander Stewart, of Ballachulish and Ardgour, “Nether Lochaber.” Inverness: Hugh Mackenzie, Bank Lane. Edinburgh: Maclachlan and Stewart, South Bridge.

2. Vestiarium Scoticum. From the Manuscript formerly in the Library of the Scots College at Douay. With an Introduction and Notes by John Sobieski Stuart. Edinburgh: William Tait, 107 Princes Street. 1842. Imperial 4to.

The Vestiarium, referred to at some length in the Introduction, was, if we set aside the single plate issued by Logan in 1831, the first work published containing illustrations of tartans. According to Lowndes, whose information on the point was derived from the late Dr. David Laing, only fifty copies were printed, and it is curious that none of the great Edinburgh libraries is in possession of a complete copy. It contains (a) a preface giving an account of the three MS. copies of the work known to the editor; (b) a roll of the clans from the original MS. of 1571, accompanied by the ordinary Parliamentary rolls of 1587 and 1594, and the one compiled by Lord President Forbes in 1745; (c) an introduction treating very fully of the use of tartan in early times; (d) the text of the MS., wherein are minutely described (1) twenty-five tartans of the “chieff Hieland clannes;” (2) eleven tartans of the “lesser famylies or housis, the quhilk be cum frae ye chieff housis and oryginale clannes;” (3) thirty tartans belonging to the “low country pairtes and bordovr clannes;” (4) nine tartans of the “bordovr clannes;” (5) a list of clans and their badges of distinction.

The illustrations of the book consist of one plate containing reproductions of styles of dress from early seals and illuminated manuscripts, and seventy-five coloured plates representing tartans. The latter are executed by the “machine painting” process introduced by the Messrs Smith, of Mauchline, for their tartan woodwork, and for beauty of execution and exactness of detail have not been excelled by any method of colour printing subsequently invented. The wide use made of the tartan illustrations in this work by subsequent writers is duly noted under the respective works.

3. The Clans of the Scottish Highlands: Illustrated by appropriate Figures displaying the Dress, Arms, Armorial Insignia, and Social Occupations, from Original Sketches by R. R. M’Ian, Esq., with accompanying Descriptive and Historical Memoranda of Character, Mode of Life, &c., &c., by James Logan, Esq., F.S.A. Sc., Cor. Mem. Soc. Ant., Normandy, &c., author of The Scottish Gaël, Introduction to the “Sar Obair nam bard Gaëllach,” &c. London: Ackermann & Co. 1845-47. 2 vols.

Originally issued in parts, commencing in the year 1843, and terminating in 1849, in two sizes, imperial quarto and imperial folio. The quarto edition was reprinted by Willis, Sotheran, & Co. in 1857. It contains seventy-two coloured plates of figures illustrating various forms, ancient and modern, of the Highland dress, drawn by M’Ian. Two coloured frontispieces represent the heraldic shields and badges of the clans. There is a separate pagination for each of the parts, making the work of reference troublesome. Logan travelled over a great part of the Highlands and Islands collecting the interesting details relating to the clans here presented. Of the illustrations, the greater number is based on authenticated details of dress, but many are imaginative, as no records exist covering the period to which they are assigned. The tartans depicted are partly those in Logan’s Scottish Gaël, while others are unacknowledged reproductions from the designs in the Vestiarium Scoticum.

4. The Costume of the Clans, with Observations upon the Literature, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce of the Highlands and Western Isles during the Middle Ages; and on the Influence of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries upon their present condition. By John Sobieski Stolberg and Charles Edward Stuart. John Menzies, Princes Street, Edinburgh; D. Bogue, Fleet Street, London; M. Amoyat, Paris; Leopold Michelsen, Leipzig; Gottlieb Haase Söhne, Prague. 1845. Folio. Reprinted 1892, with a Biographical Introduction. Edinburgh: John Grant.

When projected this magnificent and sumptuous work was intended to extend to two volumes, of which only the first appeared, the cost of production having proved excessive, and entailed a heavy loss upon the authors. It contains thirty-five plates. Of these, six, which are uncoloured, consist of representations of Highland dress, obtained principally from sculptured stones. The coloured plates contain representations of thirty-seven figures, obtained from the following sources: Paintings, 29; engravings, 5; drawing, 1; illuminated MS., 1; medal die, 1. The work was also issued uncoloured in two states—viz., with India proofs, and with plain prints. Copies of the original coloured issue are very rare, no copy being preserved in any of the great Edinburgh libraries. I have compared the colouring of the reprint, and also the original of the plain prints, with twenty of the figures depicted in the paintings from which they are taken, scattered in various family collections throughout Scotland. The remaining nine paintings I have hitherto been unable to trace. In every instance that has come under my observation the colouring of the plates turns out to be not only incorrect, but as a rule hopelessly misleading. What makes this all the more extraordinary is that the plain outline drawings representing the original work of the authors are extremely accurate in rendering the most minute details, except the features, which are usually very indifferently copied. Of the remaining eight figures noted above as in colour, seven are represented in tartan, on what authority as to sett I have been unable to ascertain. The letterpress contains a treatise on the Highland dress, which, considering the period at which it was written, and the difficulty of access to the widely scattered materials of which it is composed, is a perfect marvel of industry and ability. It has been the productive quarry of all successive writers on the Highland dress.

5. Authenticated Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland: Painted by Machinery, with Map of the Highlands, showing the Territories of the Clans. Introductory Essay on The Scottish Gaël, by a Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. William and Andrew Smith, Scotch Snuff-Box Makers by appointment to his late Majesty, and by command to Her Majesty the Queen. Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland. 4to.

First issued in parts with the title on the wrapper, Original Tartans of the Highland Clans and Lowland Families of Scotland, the preface being dated 1st March 1850. Between the issue of the prospectus and its accompanying plates and the completion of the publication of the work several changes were made in the illustrations. For example, Plate I. of the Stuart tartan was first represented as in the Vestiarium, but was afterwards changed to the present more familiar design. For information regarding the tartans the Messrs Smith relied chiefly on the manufacturers, with whom the work remains the standard of reference. It contains, however, inaccuracies in identification and arrangement, some of which are referred to in the letterpress accompanying the tartans in the present volume. The plates, of which there are sixty-nine, are executed by the publishers’ process of “machine painting” to which reference has already been made under the Vestiarium.

A miniature edition (without date, a want the publishers are now unable to supply) of the plates in the above was issued. The only letterpress it contains is the title-page, table of contents, and the names of the tartans.

6. The Clans of the Highlands of Scotland: Being an Account of their Annals, Separately and Collectively, with Delineations of their Tartans, and Family Arms. Edited by Thomas Smibert, Esq. Edinburgh: Published by James Hogg. Glasgow: David Robertson. London: R. Groombridge & Sons. 1850. 8vo.

In this work, which deals entirely with the histories of the clans, there are included fifty-five coloured lithographic plates of tartans. No individual account of these is given, but in his notice the author states: “With respect to the Sets of the Clan-Tartans here given, the work of Mr Logan has been held, after due consideration, to be preferable as a general guide. The Vestiarium Scoticum of Mr Stuart is certainly a publication of value in various respects, having plainly been prepared with much elaboration and care, and accordingly it would be unwise to reject its indications wholly, because of the doubts entertained as to its claims to antiquity and authenticity. The parties responsible for the present work, however, have had recourse to the best original sources of information, and trust by that means to maintain accuracy, without blindly following any previous authority.” The best comment on these observations is to be found in the fact that while the bulk of the illustrations are copied from Logan, and many others are early and genuine examples of tartans never before that time illustrated, a number were adopted from the Vestiarium.

7. A History of the Highlands and of the Highland Clans: With an extensive selection from the hitherto inedited Stuart Papers. By James Browne, LL.D., Advocate. A new edition, with sixty-six illustrative engravings and numerous woodcuts. London, Edinburgh, and Dublin: A. Fullarton & Co. 1850. 4 vols. 8vo.

Contains twenty-two plates of tartans executed in colour lithography, being reproductions, indifferently executed, of designs first published in the Vestiarium Scoticum. No notes or explanations of any kind accompany the plates.

8. Highlanders of Scotland: Portraits illustrative of the Principal Clans and Followings, and the Retainers of the Royal Household at Balmoral, in the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. By Kenneth Macleay, Esq., R.S.A. With Copious Notices from Authentic Sources. In Coloured Lithographs by Vincent Brooks. London: Mr Mitchell, Publisher to Her Majesty, 33 Old Bond Street, W. Edinburgh: Blackwood & Sons. 1870. 2 vols. imperial folio.

The illustrations consist of coloured lithographic reproductions of drawings made by command of Her Majesty the Queen. Biographical notes accompany each plate. The figures are represented in various styles of the modern Highland dress.

There are also two quarto uncoloured editions of the work—one reduced from the original lithographs, illustrated with lithographic prints; the other, photographed from the original drawings, is illustrated by silver prints.

9. Clans and Tartans. Andrew Elliot, 17 Princes Street, Edinburgh. 4to.

Published 28th September 1872. A series of tartans from the work of Messrs Smith, and executed by their “machine painting” process. No notes accompany the plates.

10. A History of the Scottish Highlands, Highland Clans, and Highland Regiments: With an Account of the Gaelic Language, Literature, and Music. By the Rev. Thomas Maclauchlan, LL.D., F.S.A. Scot.; and an Essay on Highland Scenery by the late Professor John Wilson. Edited by John S. Keltie, F.S.A. Scot. Illustrated with a series of Portraits, Views, Maps, &c., engraved on steel, Clan Tartans, and upwards of two hundred woodcuts, including Armorial Bearings. A. Fullarton & Co., Edinburgh and London. 1875. 2 vols. 8vo.

A reissue on a larger scale of Dr. Browne’s work (No. 7). The thirty-one examples of tartans here given are, unlike those contained in No. 7, reproductions of those in Messrs Smith’s work, and the plates are executed by their process. Beyond including the plates no notice of the tartans is taken. The work has been frequently reissued.

11. Sketches of the Clans of Scotland: With Coloured Plates of Tartans. By Clansmen, J. M. P.,-F. W. S. Edinburgh: Maclachlan & Stewart. 1884. 8vo.

The twenty-two plates of tartans contained in this book are lithographic reproductions, poorly executed, of tartans illustrated in the Vestiarium Scoticum. A short introduction and some notes on the clans accompany the plates.

12. The Tartans of the Clans of Scotland; also an Introductory Account of Celtic Scotland, Clanship, Chiefs, their Dress, Arms, &c., and with Historical Notes of each Clan. By James Grant, author of The Romance of War, Old and New Edinburgh, &c. Emblazoned arms of the chiefs, and a map of the districts occupied by the various clans are added. W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh and London. 1886. Imperial 4to.

The seventy-one tartans illustrated in this beautiful book will, with one exception, be found to have been included in the works previously referred to. There is, as in the case of the Messrs Smith’s book, a number of errors in identification and arrangement. The illustrations are the finest examples of lithographic printing as applied to tartan designs which have hitherto appeared, and they show clearly where the method succeeds and where it fails.

13. The Scottish Clans and their Tartans: With Notes. W. & A. K. Johnston, Edinburgh and London. [1891.] 16mo.

There has never hitherto been brought together in such a compact form so many examples of tartans, the work containing ninety-six plates executed by the same process as in the publishers’ larger work (No. 12). It is necessary, however, to point out that some of them are designs invented within a few years, and of no authority as clan tartans. A second edition, with additional notes, was issued in 1892.