Tartan is, without doubt, one of the nation's major 'brands' - instantly recognised the world over as uniquely Scottish.
Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the highland tartans were associated with regions or districts, because tartan designs were produced by local weavers who made use of the natural dyes available in the area. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that specific tartans became associated with Scottish clans or Scottish families.
The word clan in Scottish Gaelic means 'offspring, children, or descendants'. Each clan was a large group of people, an extended family, supposedly descended from one progenitor and all owing allegiance to the clan chief. It also included a large group of loosely-related dependent families, all of whom looked to the clan chief as their head and their protector.
