Everything You Wanted To Know About Weaving
The first example of tartan is the Falkirk tartan which dates back from the 3rd century. This tartan had not been woven using different coloured wool, the stripes in the material were created by the use of different types of wool. This type of tartan was used in the highlands and lowlands for 100's of years. These so called 'shepherd' tartans were not linked to a particular name or palace. That came later with the clan tartans.
While there were professional weavers most of the tartan produced in the 1700's was produced by the woman of the household who used small hand looms - The productions of tartan on a small scale meant the only small sections could be produced at once. As a result smaller pieces of material were often stiched t6ogether to produce the desired size for example when producing a plaid.
'waulking' of the wool takes place before the wool is spun into yarn.
The process of cleaning the tartan cloth of any dirt or oil and treating it to make it more hard wearing is called 'waulking'; the cloth was soaked in warm water and urine (for the ammonia) then laid out to dry out before kneading it on a board, sometimes a door was taken off its hinges if no other surface was available. On the Island of St Kilda women would work together to move the cloth with their hands and their feet while singing a traditional 'waulking' song to help keep them in time.
Most dyes were made locally from vegetable sources: most commonly from bark, roots, heather, as well as berries which could produce a dye that didn't fade. The so called Ancient colours which are more subted and muted than synthetic modern dyes and they remain popular. ' Every good farmers wife was competent to dye blue, red, green, yellow, black, brown' notes James Logan writing in the 19th century. the use of local dyes produced a range of colour variations depending on the dyes that were available locally and small variations were accepted. There was a great deal of pride attached to the production of tartan and the different patterns created.
How is tartan woven?
The warp - When weaving a tartan the threads that go lengthways are set on the loom, after this the crossways threads are added. The checks in the patter are created by wearing sections of different coloured materials at right angles. The bottom of the kilt is called the selvedge; the is woven in a certain way to prevent the materials from fraying.
Before the Battle of Culloden in 1746 most tartans were woven by independent weavers at home. With the advent of regimental tartans traditional sources could no longer satisfy demand and specialist firms emerged to deal with these new customers. Wilson's of Bannockburn was one of the most famous.
Due to the proscription of tartan the art of weaving in homes, was to some extent lost. Lamented the loss of old cloth-making skills "Deprived of the pleasure of seeing their husbands, sons and favourites, in that elegant drapery, emulation died, and they became contented with manufacturing the wool in the coarsest and clumsiest manner?" patterns from the 17th century as well as dying methods had mainly been forgotten. For a time regimental kilts were synonymous with very cheap garments. Those in command of the troops were looking to cut costs and soldiers were often palmed off with kilts made from of a very poor quality tartan and made from less material than a standard kilt. As a result English caricaturists of the time depicted Scottish troops as wearing ridiculously short kilts. This practice ended with the intervention of Queen Victoria, who ordered that 'soft instead of hard tartan be used' for all regimental tartans.
Anna Murray is Head of Marketing at The Scotland Kilt Company - a family run business based in Edinburgh. To discuss your requirements for a kilt or kilt package please get in touch www.thescotlandkiltcompany.co.uk email info@thescotlandkiltcompany.co.uk Or call 0131 225 3555
