Chapter IV: Part 4

I cannot believe there is any copy of such a work among the Cardinal Duke of York’s papers. I am one of the commissioners for examining these papers, which are to a certain extent already catalogued. I will, however, keep a look out for the work of Master Urquhart, which I think his name is. To suppose Lowlanders to be Highlanders we must suppose that they spoke the Gaelick, and held the system of clanship. Without this there could be no occasion for wearing clan tartans. Now, every law or regulation concerning clanship is limited to the Highlands and to the Borders, who seem to have it as a tie of communion calculated to bind a tribe strongly together. But we are now required to believe that there was none of that distinction of dress at all, and if not of dress, why should there have been any difference of language or laws? A nation’s dress is much more easily changed than its manners and language; but here the dress alone remains, the manners and language that associated with it are totally gone. The idea of distinguishing the clans by their tartans is but a fashion of modern date in the Highlands themselves; much less could it be supposed to be carried to such an extent in the Lowlands as the manuscript pretends. Tartan itself is unquestionably a Lowland word, and the stuff “tiretain” fetched from Flanders, and I suspect the Highlander wore a frieze mantle like the Irish chief, without what we now call the bracken.

To this letter Sir Thomas replied on 29th November 1829. By that time the terrible calamity, of which he gives so vivid a picture in the _Moray Floods_, had happened to Relugas, and he appears to have had little heart to write about anything else. But he makes an allusion to the _Vestiarium_; and a very striking one it is. With all deference to the very distinct expressions of opinion by his distinguished correspondent, he observes:—

I confess I am still a believer. What do you think of the facsimile of old Leslie’s handwriting? By-the-bye, I will thank you to send it me in Mr Hay’s parcel,[90] to save me from sending to London for another. I have examined the old copy of the manuscript in my possession,[91] and find the water-mark of the paper to be ante-Union, the supporters to the arms being two unicorns.

Here closes this remarkable correspondence, and we hear no more of the _Vestiarium_ until its publication by Tait in 1842, with the name of John Sobieski Stuart on the title-page as editor. So remarkable a work could not fail to attract attention. The most striking criticism on the book, so far as ability and bitterness went, and the only one to which any reply was vouchsafed, is that contained in the _Quarterly Review_ for June 1847.[92] This criticism the brothers Stuart believed to have been written by the late Mr Dennistoun, but it was in reality the work of the late Professor George Skene, of Glasgow University, brother of the late Dr. William Forbes Skene, from materials furnished chiefly by the late Dr. Mackintosh Mackay. One half of the criticism consists of an unsparing attack on the alleged claims of the brothers to Royal descent, and the other of an attack upon the authenticity of the _Vestiarium_. Professor Skene first proposed to discuss the printed text for indications of its genuineness, or the reverse. Had he done so, the result could hardly have failed to be interesting, the language of the work offering a fair field for criticism. He not only did not do so, but fell into a series of very extraordinary errors regarding facts. He wrote:—

We cannot find that the actual MS., “which belonged to the Douay College,” and “contains the signature of the Bishop of Ross,” has ever been exhibited to any learned society in the north, or even to any individual scholar or antiquary unconnected with the present publication; but about twenty years ago, a _description_ of the MS., with a _transcript_ of part, at least, if not the whole of it, was sent to the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, with a request that they would patronise its publication; and by their secretary the specimen was placed in the hands of Sir Walter Scott, who kindly undertook to examine it, and give the society the benefit of his opinion as to its authenticity. The secretary, accompanied by our informant, a reverend friend deeply versed in Highland lore, waited upon him shortly afterwards to ascertain the result of the scrutiny. Sir Walter assured them that the style and dialect of the specimen shewn him were utterly false, a most feeble and clumsy imitation of the genuine writing of the period, and indignantly declared his conviction that the manuscript itself must be an absolute fabrication.[93]

To this attack the editor of the _Vestiarium_ made the following reply:—

The reviewer proceeds to proclaim an opinion asserted to have been delivered by Sir Walter Scott, that the MS. was a clumsy imitation of the genuine writing of its professed period, “and unentitled to any credit.” The reviewer, however, has concealed that Sir Walter Scott never saw the original MS., and that he died some years before the publication of the printed edition—consequently that he never had any opportunity of forming a judgment even from a careful and formal copy. According to the acknowledgment of the reviewer himself, the asserted opinion of Sir Walter was founded upon a “description of the MS., with a transcript of a part, if not the whole.” How far any critic could presume to form a judgment upon any “transcript,” especially an imperfect “part,” of a work, we leave to the experience of those accustomed to the criticism of old writings. But the reviewer has farther concealed the nature of the “transcript” said to have been exhibited to Sir Walter Scott. After the originals of the _Vestiarium_ were in the possession of its editor, there never was made more than one “transcript,” that alluded to by the reviewer as “a transcript obtained by a gentleman in the north.” This copy, or, as admitted by the reviewer, “a part,” was transmitted by the transcriber to some of his friends in Edinburgh, at which time we believe, as asserted by the reviewer, it was casually shewn to Sir Walter Scott. The reviewer, however, has concealed the nature of this transcript, upon which Sir Walter’s asserted opinion is so maliciously quoted. Far from being, as might have been expected, a critical facsimile, or even matter-of-fact copy from the original, it was a sort of “Hood’s Comic Almanack” of tartans, neatly written, not in “clerks’,” “scriveners’,” or any other MS. text of the sixteenth century, but in ordinary Roman letter, consequently, exhibiting no “imitation” of the “genuine writing” of the period, said to have been contra-distinguished in Sir Walter’s observation, and still farther at variance with the original, or any object of serious criticism, by being illustrated in vermilion, with bizarre caricatures in the form of burlesque head and tail pieces, generally graphic puns and hieroglyphics for the name of each family whose title they adorned. Of their description, consequently, of the serious character of the MS. of which Sir Walter Scott’s criticism is so gravely reported, a conclusion may be formed by a few examples, such as, for “Dundas” the sketch of a small “Dun,” and on its summit an “ass.” For Brodie (pronounced in Scots Broadie), a large, _i.e._, a “Broad” “eye.” And for Montgomery the view of a mount, enlivened by several dancing figures, intended to associate the idea of “go-merry,” and the like. Such is the manuscript said to have been exhibited to and condemned by Sir Walter Scott as “of no authority whatever.” Its removal from authority, however, was farther extended by the fact that it was not even a transcript of the oldest MS. on which the reviewer sits in judgment, but of an inferior, tattered, and inaccurate copy, no older than the year 1721, and which was the only one “in the north” when the amiable and distinguished friend[94] of the possessor, designated by the reviewer after that borealian locality, made the transcript, with which he amused some idle winter days, with the conceits which, it was then predicted, would extend to the original a connection of misconception and ridicule.

According to this expectation, all those who became acquainted with the tract only through the medium of the copy supposed that the illustrations, as well as the text, were equally facsimiles of the original MS.; and if Sir Walter Scott had no explanation to the contrary, he, of course, entertained the same conclusion, and thus must have supposed the tract a greater enormity of absurdity than has even been assumed by the reviewer.[95]

Professor Skene, writing of what happened “about twenty years ago” concerning an affair in which he took no part, may well have fallen into casual error, but his “reverend friend deeply versed in Highland lore” ought to have had some memory. The correspondence between Sir Thomas Dick Lauder and Sir Walter Scott clearly shows that John Ross’s MS. was first brought under Sir Walter’s notice in June 1829, a period fairly enough corresponding in 1847 to “twenty years ago.” But the only “description,” or “transcript,” of the part or whole he ever saw was that contained in Sir Thomas’s letter of 1st June 1829, and how far the materials there given enabled Sir Walter to form a judgment of the style, dialect, or writing of the original may be gathered from the fact that he made no attempt to do so. There are Sir Walter’s own letters of 7th June and 19th November 1829 on the subject, in which his unfavourable opinion of the authenticity of the _Vestiarium_ is based, not upon the appearance or language of the manuscript, which he had no opportunity of examining, but upon its ascription of tartans to the Lowlanders, to the lack of express notices on the subject by early writers, and to the use of the tartans as distinguishing the clans. Sir Walter wrote with the knowledge of his period, and how far his views are borne out by later investigation may be gathered by a study of the contents of the preceding pages.

Professor Skene’s statements—first, that a description of the manuscript, with a transcript of part, if not the whole of it, was sent to the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, with a request that they would patronise its publication; second, that the specimen was placed by their secretary in the hands of Sir Walter Scott, who undertook to express an opinion upon it; and, third, that the secretary and “our informant” afterwards waited upon Sir Walter to ascertain what his opinion was—are unverified. All that has yet been discovered, indeed, goes to show that nothing of the kind ever took place, and that the “facts” stated in the _Quarterly Review_ had their origin only in the imagination of the learned professor’s “reverend friend.” The minutes of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for that period are yet in existence. They are kept with a careful, even a tedious minuteness; and is it possible to suppose that the series of events detailed in the _Quarterly Review_ of June 1847 as having taken place “about twenty years ago,” involving questions of such importance to antiquaries, especially to Scottish antiquaries, could have been entirely omitted from them? Yet they are. No mention whatever of the circumstances stated by Professor Skene to have occurred “about twenty years ago” appears.

John Sobieski Stuart’s position in the affair is quite plain. We find from the correspondence that all Sir Walter really saw was the description and extracts contained in Sir Thomas’s letter of 1st June 1829; but the editor of the _Vestiarium_, aware of the fact that Sir Thomas had a transcript of the work, which he had expressly offered to show Sir Walter, and confronted with the absolute statement by Professor Skene, on the authority of his “reverend friend,” that Sir Walter had seen a transcript, arrived naturally at the conclusion that the transcript Sir Walter was asserted to have seen was the only one in existence, that made by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, and directed his reply accordingly. Had he been aware of the real facts of the case, his reply to Professor Skene might have been even more crushing than it was.

Professor Skene made an attack in another quarter. He questioned the authenticity of the work on the ground that there were several and serious errors in the genealogies of the clans whose tartans are described, and he specified particularly M’Nab, Farquharson, Clan Gun, Cluny Macpherson, and Mackintosh, the occurrence of errors in regard to whose genealogies, he urged, demonstrated that the _Vestiarium_ was a forgery. To reply to these criticisms John Sobieski Stuart seriously set himself, and with remarkable ability and success.[96]

Finally, Professor Skene fell foul of the Bishop of Ross’s signature.

It matters little to the public who was the perpetrator of the present forgery. It may have been “_the late_ Mr Robert Walker,”[97] who is so ready with an entry from “the Bishop’s Diary” in its support—a “Diary” which, like Mr Sobieski Stuart’s MS. itself, formed “part of the Douay papers.”[98] It may have been the defunct porter of Auld Reekie, John Ross, from whom one of the copies is said to have been procured. And _apropos_ of this latter possibility we would recommend Mr Sobieski Stuart to again look at his original MS., and consider whether what he has taken for the signature of the well-known bishop, John of Ross, be not in fact a quaint attempt of his friend the sword-player to write his own name in an old hand, after practising upon the fever and ague notice which accompanies it.[99]

To this taunt John Sobieski Stuart made no reply. Possibly it was beyond his power to give any example of the bishop’s signature beyond the one in his possession. And yet the propriety of comparing an authoritative example of Leslie’s handwriting with that appearing in the _Vestiarium_ obviously suggests itself, and did not escape Sir Thomas Dick Lauder’s observation. He wrote on 20th July 1829,[100] enclosing Sir Walter Scott a traced facsimile of the signature for his satisfaction, and adding “it is not impossible you may know of or hear of some signatures of John Leslie’s to be found in some of the public collections in Edinburgh. If so, it would be curious to compare this facsimile with it.” Of this request no notice appears to have been taken by Sir Walter, and Sir Thomas again returns to the charge on 29th November,[101] when he asked Sir Walter for his opinion of the authenticity of the signature, and requesting him to return the facsimile. But the day of Sir Walter’s own trouble had come, and he contented himself with returning the facsimile to Sir Thomas without any attempt at verification. One obvious explanation of Sir Walter’s proceeding is that the public records were not then so accessible as they are now, and a search must have proved both tedious and expensive.

Of Leslie’s signature as Bishop of Ross (Jo. Rossen.) not many examples are available, but the Editor’s attention has been drawn to one in the _Lord Treasurer’s Accounts_. It is submitted that the reader may be able to form an opinion as to whether the facsimile in the _Vestiarium_ is more likely to represent the signature of the Bishop of Ross or the scrawl of an Edinburgh street porter of 1819.

D. W. S.

[103] [104]]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 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.]

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

[Footnote 3: _Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis_, Vol. II., p. 8.
Spalding Club.]

[Footnote 4: _Scotichronicon_, Gregory’s translation. _Transactions of
the Iona Club_, p. 27.]

[Footnote 5: _Borthwick’s Remarks on British Antiquities._ Edinburgh,
1776, p. 139.]

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

[Footnote 7: _Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials_, Vol. I., Part I., p. 114,
note.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 10: _Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, 1429_, Record Issue,
Vol. II., p. 18.]

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

[Footnote 12: _Ibid._, p. 333.]

[Footnote 13: _Ibid._, p. 359.]

[Footnote 14: _Lord High Treasurer’s Accounts_, 1537-38, fol. 63, MS., H.M. General Register House.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 17: _Register of the Privy Council_, Vol. I., p. 136.]

[Footnote 18: _The Chronicles of Scotland_, by Robert Lindsay of
Pitscottie, Edition 1814, Vol. I., Introduction, p. xxiii.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 20: _Ibid._, p. 377.]

[Footnote 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_.]

[Footnote 22: _The Booke of the Universall Kirk of Scotland_, Vol. I.,
pp. 331, 335. Bannatyne Club.]

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

[Footnote 24: _The Image of Irelande, 1581._ Reprinted by A. & C.
Black, Edinburgh, 1883, p. 50.]

[Footnote 25: _Ibid._ p. 105.]

[Footnote 26: _La Navigation du Roy d’Escosse Iaques Cinquiesme du
nom_, referred to in the _Transactions of the Iona Club_, pp. 36, 37.]

[Footnote 27: _The Great Seal Register_, 1580-1593, edited by John
Maitland Thomson, M.A., Advocate, No. 1491.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 29: _Register of Signatouris in the Office of Comptrollerie_,
Vol. XII., 1587-1589, fol. 82.]

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

[Footnote 31: _Register of Signatouris in the Office of Comptrollerie_,
Vol. XXXIV., 1617, fol. 120.]

[Footnote 32: _Ibid._, Vol. XLVII., 1630, fol. 208.]

[Footnote 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_.]

[Footnote 34: _Iona Club Transactions_, pp. 37, 38.]

[Footnote 35: _Origines Parochiales Scotiæ_, Vol. II., i. 156.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 37: _Camden’s Britannia_ (Gough’s Edition, 1789), Vol. III.,
p. 389.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 41: _Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, 1661_, Vol. VII., p.
186.]

[Footnote 42: _Brome’s Travels_, Second Edition, London, 1707, pp. 179,
180.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

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

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

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

[Footnote 49: Introduction to _Nisbet’s Heraldic Plates_, p. xlvi.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 51: _Some Account of the Battle of Killiecrankie and what
Followed thereupon._ The MS. is cited in _The Costume of the Clans_, p.
104.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 54: _A Collection of Original Papers about the Scots Plot._
London, 1704, pp. 3, 4.]

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

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 57: _The Present State of Scotland_, Second Edition, 1711.]

[Footnote 58: _A Journey through Scotland, by the author of The Journey
through England_ (John Macky). London, 1723, p. 194.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

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

[Footnote 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.]

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

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 65: _Caledonian Mercury_, 14th January 1740.]

[Footnote 66: _Ibid._, 19th February 1740.]

[Footnote 67: _Caledonian Mercury_, 4th October 1745.]

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

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

[Footnote 70: _Stewart’s Sketches_, Vol. I., p. 112, Edition 1822.]

[Footnote 71: _General Orders to the Army in Scotland, 22nd December
1748._]

[Footnote 72: _Stewart’s Sketches_, Vol. I., p. 113.]

[Footnote 73: _Orders to 20th Foot [now the Lancashire Fusiliers],
dated Bamff 1752._]

[Footnote 74: _Edinburgh Evening Courant_, February 21, 23, 26, 28,
1760.]

[Footnote 75: _Ibid._, July 9, 14, 1760.]

[Footnote 76: _Stewart’s Sketches_, Vol. I., p. 114.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 78: _Camden’s Britannia_ (Gough’s Edition, 1789), Vol. III.,
p. 390.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 80: Preface to _Vestiarium Scoticum_, pp. i.-vii.]

[Footnote 81: Advertisement annexed to _A Reply to the Quarterly Review
upon the Vestiarium Scoticum_. Edinburgh, Blackwood, 1848.]

[Footnote 82: _A Reply to the Quarterly Review_, p. 6.]

[Footnote 83: See notes on p. 47.]

[Footnote 84: _A Reply to the Quarterly Review_, p. 7.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.]

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

[Footnote 88: _i.e._, the Douay MS.]

[Footnote 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.]

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

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

[Footnote 92: _Quarterly Review_, No. CLXI., June 1847, Art. II., p.
57, “The Heirs of the Stuarts.”]

[Footnote 93: _Ibid._, pp. 63, 64.]

[Footnote 94: Sir Thomas Dick Lauder.]

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

[Footnote 96: See _Reply_, pp. 8-16.]

[Footnote 97: An evident misprint for “Watson” in the _Quarterly
Review_ article.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 99: _Quarterly Review_ article, p. 67.]

[Footnote 100: _Ante_, p. 49.]

[Footnote 101: _Ante_, p. 51.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 103: Facsimile of the signature contained in the _Vestiarium
Scoticum_ referred to on preceding page.]

[Footnote 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.]

[Footnote 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.

TARTANS:

WITH DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES.

AUSTIN AND KEITH NO. 12
BALMORAL 45
BRODIE 3
CAMPBELL OF BREADALBANE 4
DAVIDSON 5
DRUMMOND OF PERTH 6
DRUMMOND OF STRATHALLAN 7
FRASER 8
FRASER OF LOVAT 9
GLENORCHY AND MAC INTYRE 19
GRANT 10
HUNTLY 11
KEITH AND AUSTIN 12
KENNEDY 13
LOGAN 14
LORD OF THE ISLES 1
LORD OF THE ISLES: HUNTING 2
MAC CALLUM 15
MAC DONALD: FROM “THE LYON IN
MOURNING” 16
MAC DONALD OF KEPPOCH 17
MAC DONALD: LORD OF THE ISLES 1
MAC DONALD: LORD OF THE ISLES: HUNTING 2
MAC IAN (MACKEANE) 22
MAC INTYRE AND GLENORCHY 19
MAC KEANE (MAC IAN) 22
MACKINTOSH 18
MAC LACHLAN 20
MAC LAINE OF LOCHBUIE 21
MAC LEAN: HUNTING 23
MAC LEOD 24
MAC NEILL 25
MAC PHERSON 26
MAC RAE: HUNTING 27
MENZIES: HUNTING 28
MONTGOMERIE 29
OGILVY 30
OGILVY: HUNTING 31
ROBERTSON 32
STEWART 33
STEWART OF APPIN 34
STEWART OF ATHOLL 35
STEWART OF GALLOWAY 36
STUART OF BUTE 37
WALLACE 38
THE PRINCE’S OWN 42
FROM A PORTRAIT OF THE COUNTESS OF
LENNOX 39
FROM THE CLOAK OF PRINCE CHARLES
EDWARD AT FINGASK 40
FROM A PLAID WORN BY PRINCE CHARLES
EDWARD AT HOLYROOD 41
FROM A COAT WORN AT CULLODEN 43
FROM A PLAID FOUND AT CULLODEN 44

THE LORD OF THE ISLES.

The authority for the accompanying example is a portrait of Sir Alexander (afterwards first Lord) Macdonald of the Isles, in the collection of Lord Macdonald of the Isles, at Armadale Castle in Skye. Of that painting, executed by an unknown artist about 1750, the vignette on the title-page of the present work is a reproduction. The tartan is represented only in the coat of the youth holding the golf-club, the trews being in red and white check; and a close inspection reveals an important addition to what has long been accepted as the Lord of the Isles pattern—to wit, that of the black lines intersecting the red squares. The omission of these black lines from the modern sett is obviously accidental, for the tartan as now worn is based on the authority of the picture, which was believed to have been accurately copied. The origin of the error cannot be ascertained; but, probably, a mistake in the reproduction of the design when tartans became the wear after the repeal of the prohibitory statute has remained undetected till now. On the canvas, at least, the intersections are clearly depicted; and, moreover, the tartan thus conforms to the rule of breaking large squares generally observed in old clan patterns. _The Costume of the Clans_, by John Sobieski Stuart and Charles Edward Stuart, contains a presentment of the painting which, though professedly coloured from the original, is nevertheless extremely inaccurate. It may be added that the tartan, which is that usually worn by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, who bears the title of the Lord of the Isles, has never hitherto been faithfully delineated in any previous work nor properly reproduced in any textile fabric of modern manufacture.

THE LORD OF THE ISLES: HUNTING.

Like the preceding example, the present is based on a painting in Armadale Castle—a life-size representation of the first Lord Macdonald of the Isles, dating from about 1765. On the evidence of style the work is ascribed to Allan Ramsay the younger, who about this period painted many portraits in tartan costumes, in which, fortunately for our purpose, he displays as a rule the patterns boldly and brilliantly. Through the kindness of Lord and Lady Macdonald of the Isles the Editor had last year an excellent opportunity of obtaining reproductions of the tartans delineated in their family portraits. The painting in this case was photographed to a large scale, and afterwards coloured from the original by an experienced artist (a similar plan being adopted in the case of Plate I.) From these the silks were woven, carefully compared with the paintings, and so absolute accuracy of reproduction secured. Traditionally known as the Lord of the Isles hunting tartan, the pattern here given appears in the coat, vest, and kilt of the figure portrayed. The statute against the wearing of the Highland dress, including tartans, passed in 1747, was operative when the picture was painted. It may be, however, that as the Macdonalds of Sleat were adherents of the Government, in name at least, special indulgence was extended to them. During the greater part of the present century the design was not rendered in textile fabric, but recently Lord Macdonald of the Isles had it woven for his use. With characteristic inaccuracy of colouring, _The Costume of the Clans_ represents the tartan with a predominance of red, though the original contains no trace of that colour.

BRODIE.

It is not known when this design was originally adopted; but, though the pattern cannot be traced in early paintings, it nevertheless possesses internal evidence of some antiquity, since many of the oldest tartans are variations of the red and black check, popularly styled the Rob Roy,[105] with the addition of narrower lines of various hues, as in the present instance. The beginning of the century witnessed its use, as it is included in several collections of the hard tartans produced at the time; and since then it has always figured in the pattern-books and the lists both of connoisseurs and of manufacturers. Certainly, it has been regarded as the true Brodie by makers as far back as business records or traditions extend. Of late a green tartan has been sold as undress or hunting Brodie, but it seems unsupported by any remote authority. The pattern illustrated as the Huntly district tartan (Plate X.) was also known as Brodie seventy years ago; it was so called because many Brodies who belonged to the districts occupied by the Gordons, Forbeses, and others wore it in early times as the district tartan, and more recently in some instances adopted it as their family pattern.

CAMPBELL OF BREADALBANE.

The specimen here presented is a careful reproduction of the tartan of Campbell of Breadalbane, as worn by the Fencibles of that district from their embodiment in 1793 to their disbandment in 1802. The authority is a portion of the regimental uniform of Major Campbell, one of the officers, whose descendants now treasure it as a precious relic. Wherever the tartan occurs in early collections, dating from before 1790 down to 1840, the pattern agrees with the accompanying illustration. The later date, however, witnessed the inception of a delusion that has prevailed even to the present day; for a tartan similar in some respects, which appears in certain early collections under the simple designation of “fancy,” began about that time to usurp the title of Breadalbane Campbell, and is now received as the correct design. But the existence of this regimental dress now a century old, the uninterrupted record of the pattern to 1840, and the proved genesis of the spurious variety, afford the amplest justification for including the earlier pattern in the present work. It is the only Campbell tartan included in the collection made by the Highland Society of London in 1816-17. It is doubtful if any of the so-called Campbell tartans as worn at the present time were in use earlier than the middle of last century, while several are of more recent introduction. The early Campbell portraits at Langton and Loudoun show designs entirely unlike any Campbell tartans now in use, being chiefly red.

DAVIDSON.

The evidence of the early date of this design rests entirely upon specimens in collections of old hard tartans. Diligent research reveals no portrait in Highland costume of a member of the clan, whose leading representatives, moreover, are without any account of the origin either of this pattern or of another bearing the same name and differing from it mainly in the omission of the white stripe. From the collation of many authorities and the inspection of many samples, however, the conclusion has been reached that of the two the design here represented is the earlier. It is preserved in a collection of examples of tartans made by the Highland Society of London in 1822; in that of Messrs Ogilvie & Co., Edinburgh, dealers in tartan about the same period; in that of The Mackintosh at Moy Hall, and in many others.

DRUMMOND OF PERTH.