Tartan Production
When buckling up our kilt or pinning on our sash before an evening out, do we ever think of the long journey that our tartan has taken before it found a permanent home in our wardrobes? And the long list of souls and skills that have handled it on its journey?
Do we start with the shepherd on the hills fighting to save his flocks in winter blizzards? Or his Border collies without whom he would be helpless? Do we include the sheep shearers and the hauliers? We certainly must include the sorters, the washers, the scourers, the engineers, the loom minders, the spinners, the dyers, the designers, the pickers and menders, finishers and then the kiltmakers . . . . all putting their life skills and their precious hours into our tartans. And if we were to go further back and think of the weaver in some remote glen who, almost 300 years ago, first conjured up the design of that tartan that we're wearing . . . then we might really capture an image of that long timeline that stretches back to our forebears.
A typical 17thC weaver's cottage which looks pretty chaotic. The weaver and his loom are on the left, there's a cat on the beam, two dogs on the floor, Granny sat to the left of the fire and then his poor wife and their six children. A wholesome peaty smell to his finished woven pieces is guaranteed - as it is to all the drying clothes hung up in the background.
We can only just touch on the various stages of tartan's production journey in this section but we hope you'll glean a greater knowledge of what's involved and that you'll enjoy Edward Harrison's fine writing from the 1930s which imbibes the whole process with an evocative glimpse of yesteryear. When you've read his work - please do remember that it refers to the industry some 75 years ago - we've moved on a bit since then!
