STEWART.
The use of this design as Stewart tartan for a period extending back to 1745, at least, is vouched by the records of manufacturers and collectors alike. Specimens gathered about 1790, now in the author’s possession, include an undated example, whose manufacture indicates great age. It is titled Clan Stewart, and in many collections the design appears as Old Stewart, so that it was obviously recognised as the clan pattern. Probably it was employed, for the most part, as a hunting tartan, by way of relief from the brilliancy of other designs of the same name. The strong resemblance between this scheme and that of the Atholl district tartan (popularly styled the Atholl-Murray), suggests that at one time they were identical. It is known that the pattern was much worn by the Stewarts of the Western Highlands, and as these, with the Stewarts of Atholl, formed the clan, there is, at any rate, a presumption in favour of a community of tartan at an early date. A remarkable example of the old belted plaid, of a design differing from the above in certain particulars but having the same dominant features, has been shown to the Editor by Mrs Stuart of Dalness. It is reported to be two centuries old, and to represent the original sett of the tartan.
XXXIII. STEWART
XXXIII. STEWART