XXIII. MAC LEAN: HUNTING
MAC LEOD.
Diversity of opinion prevails concerning the tartan of the Mac Leods; and, unfortunately, nothing was done to settle the dispute when the Clan Mac Leod Society recently discussed the claims of rival patterns. The inspection of important collections from 1785, the date of the repeal of the statute against tartans, till the present day, proves that the design here given invariably occurs under the family designation. Certain Mac Leods claim and wear the Mackenzie tartan as their own, though the appearance of both, under their respective names, in old collections proves this to be an impropriety. The mistake doubtless arose from the fact that when the 73rd Regiment was raised in 1777 it was commanded by a son of the Earl of Cromarty, whose courtesy title was Lord Mac Leod, though his family name was Mackenzie, and whose tartan was the dress of the corps. Of comparatively recent date, the assumption has yet taken considerable hold, in consequence of its adoption in several works relating to clan patterns. The Mac Leods of Raasay wore a design in brilliant yellow whose authority is the Vestiarium Scoticum. An examination of the portraits and relics at Dunvegan Castle in Skye, the seat of Mac Leod of Mac Leod, has been made in search of records of the tartan of the clan. It has revealed the singular circumstance that in the only early portrait in tartan dress, that of the chief painted by Allan Ramsay in 1768, red is the predominant colour of the tartan plaid, while coat and trews are in “Rob Roy” check. Logan has stated, from recollection, that the plaid is in the Fraser pattern; but here he is in error. It is to be hoped further investigation will elucidate the history of the tartan in the painting referred to.
XXIV. MAC LEOD
MAC NEILL.
To establish the antiquity of this pattern of the Mac Neill it is but necessary to mention that it occurs in many old collections, including those of Craignish, Moy Hall, the Highland Society of London, and Messrs Romanes and Paterson. Several branches of the clan have other designs, but none is found in the ancient repositories either so early or so often as that now illustrated. A hitherto unnoticed reference to what is possibly the distinctive tartan of the Mac Neills appears in 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. It reads: “The illustrious son of warlike Mac Neill comes from the winding shore of Barra’s isle, around whom, as their chief, a great company of the youth of his name presses on the right hand and on the left. Carrying his battle-axe, he advances on foot, panting as he goes, leading his tall clansmen, himself the tallest, and his shoulders covered with a Tyrian mantle. He displays as many colours woven into his plaid as the rainbow in the clouds shows in the sunlight.” Whether or not the tartan here presented was that worn by the chief in Dundee’s campaign cannot be determined, but, at least, it is the sole pattern associated with the name having any trace of red. The writer of the poem was a close observer, and many of his descriptions of dress and arms are highly valuable; while the allusion to “the winding shore of Barra’s isle” evinces an intimate knowledge of the peculiarly indented character of that island.