MACLURE LITHOGRAPHER TO HER MAJESTY, 24 JULY 1837,VICTORIA MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY

By the time a very young Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, the Scottish novelist had so successfully glamorised the Scottish Clans and the Jacobite Cause (those loyal to Bonnie Prince Charlie) that virtually single-handed he had established the tourist industry of the Scottish Highlands.

Honour, bravery, integrity, service and self-sacrifice took on a whole new meaning and helped mould the character of Victorian society.

Appropriately Tartan carpet became the main theme in Queen Victoria’s husband Albert’s study at Balmoral and the English Royal Families Scottish estate. The royal couple assisted by cultivating local customs and pursuits with great enthusiasm, encouraging the local trades and learning to dance traditional reels.

Children’s birthdays during the Victorian (1837 – 1901) and Edwardian Ages (1901 – 1910) became celebrated events. Party clothes provided an opportunity for fashionable middle class families to display their wealth.

Mothers remorselessly imposed Kilts, Tartan dresses and velvet suits with starched white collars on their embarrassed children, to whom sailor suits alone were acceptable.

Commerce and the Industrial Revolution took over and all over Great Britain factories started weaving Tartans. This caused much consternation and a great deal of confusion as many did not understand theminutiae of detail required to produce them correctly. This caused Scottish historians to become involved and set the records aright so that commerce would, and could continue to flourish.

Today there are many types of Tartan worn for special occasions. Clan Tartan, District Tartan, Dress Tartan, Mourning Tartan, Hunting Tartan and the Chief’s Tartan. There is also the Military Tartan and Royal Tartan, both of which cannot be worn by anyone else.

With the best produced in their homeland of Scotland, producing Tartan has become big business.