Tartan in the Age of Scott

Tuesday 3rd March 2026

Summary of the Talk:

Dr Rosie Waine’s lecture explored how Highland dress and tartan evolved during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, particularly in the period surrounding Sir Walter Scott’s life and the famous visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822.

She argued that Highland dress should not simply be viewed as an artificial Victorian invention or a static “national costume”. Instead, it developed through a dynamic interaction between tradition, fashion, politics, military influence, and commercial production. While older Highland clothing traditions existed, the modern forms of Highland dress took shape through adaptation to contemporary tastes and circumstances.

Following the defeat of the Jacobites in 1746, the Dress Act banned Highland dress for civilians, although it remained permitted within the British Army. This exemption played a crucial role in transforming Highland dress from a symbol of rebellion into a military and patriotic emblem associated with the British Empire. When the ban was repealed in 1782, Highland dress re-entered civilian life but was already shaped by military styles and broader British fashion.

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, increasing travel to the Highlands, Romantic literature (including works by Walter Scott), and growing antiquarian interest encouraged fascination with Highland culture. Highland dress gradually became a national symbol of Scottish identity rather than a purely regional Highland costume.

Dr Waine illustrated these changes using objects from the National Museums Scotland collections, including early portraits of Highland retainers, surviving eighteenth-century garments, and outfits worn during George IV’s 1822 visit. She also discussed how women’s and children’s clothing adopted tartan as part of romanticised Scottish identity.

A major theme of the lecture was the emergence of the clan tartan system. Rather than being ancient and fixed, clan tartans developed largely in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through commercial weaving, consumer demand, and antiquarian interest. Patterns were frequently renamed after individuals, places, or events, and only later became standardised through publications and retail practices in the Victorian period.

The talk concluded by emphasising that Highland dress has always been adaptable and responsive to fashion, and that its survival into the modern era reflects this flexibility rather than strict historical continuity.

Interesting points worth mentioning

1. The Dress Act helped create modern Highland dress
Ironically, the 1746 ban and the military exemption helped transform Highland dress from a rebellious symbol into a patriotic British military uniform.

2. Tartan was not completely banned
The Dress Act restricted Highland dress rather than tartan itself, meaning tartan cloth continued to be woven and worn in other forms.

3. Clan tartans emerged through commerce and fashion
Many tartan patterns were created or renamed for marketing purposes. Early designs could change names depending on fashion trends or the identity of the buyer.

4. Consumers sometimes designed their own tartans
One example showed a customer sending detailed diagrams and colour instructions to a weaver to produce a personalised tartan.

5. Highland dress survived because it adapted to British fashion
By the early nineteenth century, Highland dress had incorporated contemporary tailoring styles. Without this adaptation it might not have survived.

6. Early evidence of “proto-clan” tartans
An early eighteenth-century portrait of a clan retainer suggested that some form of household or livery tartan may have existed before the formal clan system.

7. Tartan became a national symbol during Scott’s era
By the time of George IV’s visit in 1822, many Lowlanders were wearing Highland dress to express Scottish identity, not clan affiliation.

8. Early children’s Highland outfits existed
A rare early nineteenth-century toddler outfit shows how Highland identity was expressed even through children’s clothing.

9. Kilt pins are relatively modern
They appear only in the nineteenth century as decorative accessories rather than practical necessities.

10. Debate about who has the “right” to wear tartan
Concerns about cultural authenticity and appropriation were already being discussed during the 1822 celebrations.