Clan McCulloch - McCulloch Tartans Page 1 of 5

Clan McCulloch - McCulloch Tartans Page 1 of 5

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Home Written by Stuart McCulloch
Origins of the Clan Monday, 19 March 2007
McCulloch
McCulloch Castles The History of Tartans
McCulloch Heraldry
Tartan has become the main symbol of Scotland and Scottish Culture. It is an emblem for those of Scottish descent
around the world. With Scottish National identity probably greater than at any time in recent centuries, the potency
of Tartan as a symbol cannot be understated.

McCulloch Tartans There is evidence that Celts have used striped and checked material for thousands of years. The Scoti, who settled
Links Western Scotland from 5-6thC onward and eventually gave the whole country their name, are said to have used
Contact Us striped garments to signify rank. One possible derivation of the word Tartan comes from the Irish tarsna - crosswise
Search & Scottish Gaelic tarsuinn - across. The basis of the pattern, dress style and word may date back to the time when
Clansmen E-Mails the Scots introduced their Gaelic culture into what was to become Scotland. If early Tartan, like the Gaelic language,
Genealogy Chart were used across Scotland in the 10thC, by the 13thC they would have been confined to the Highlands. Lowland
Scotland began adopting the language of the northern Angles and Norman social structure from the 12thC.

However, another derivation may be from Old French tartaine - cloth, implying the introduction of checked woollen
cloth in the early middle ages which simply became popular in the Highlands.

Username In 1538 there is a reference to 'Heland Tartan'. A Frenchman at the siege of Haddington in 1537 describes
Highlanders who were present as wearing what appears to be Tartan. From 1581 there is a description of 'variegated
Password garments, especially stripes, and their favourite colours are purple and blue'. Poet John Taylor clearly describes the
woolen Tartan garments of Highlanders at Braemar in 1618. Martin, a doctor on Skye around 1700, gives the first

Remember me descriptions of Tartan which imply their significance as regional and the importance to weavers of ensuring that their
Login cloth always has precise local patterns. Martin states that it is possible to tell from a man's plaid where he came
from. There is no implication from any of this that specific families or Clans wore their 'own' Tartans - the patterns
Lost Password? appeared to be regional.

The battle of Culloden in 1746 saw the end of Jacobite claims to the throne. Many Highlanders, but by no means all,
had backed the losing side of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. The great importance of Tartan and associated dress to
Highland Culture at this time can be deduced from the fact that the government banned it from 1746-82. This
proscription however applied only to common Highland men - not the upper echelons of Highland society, not to
Lowland Scots and not to women. But most importantly, it did not apply to the Highland regiments that were being
formed in the Government army.

The new regiments were mainly associated with specific Clans, containing the men of that Clan and often led by the
Chief or a senior member of his family. The first regiments used the 'Government Tartan', the Black Watch, but
others quickly adopted distinctive new patterns. From this it appears that specific regimental Tartans became Clan or
family Tartans and not vice-versa.

Central in this 'new Tartan' industry was the Lowland company of William Wilson. He met the growing demand for
Tartan by inventing new patterns. He supplied the Army and the flourishing demand for cloth in the Lowlands. All his
patterns were initially simply given numbers but some quickly became popular in certain areas and became known
by that regions name - thus were born the regional Tartans. Others were commissioned for a specific person and
soon the surname of that person became the name of the Tartan!

New patterns appeared each year for Wilson's salesmen to market. There is no evidence that Wilson's Tartans had
anything whatsoever to do with any ancient regional or pre-1746 patterns. The Tartans worn at Sheriffmuir or
Culloden have been lost forever. When in 1816 an attempt was made to match Clan to true Tartan, Tartans were
gathered but these had more to do with regimental uniforms and Wilson's successful marketing than any older
patterns. But the idea that Tartan and Clan be paired had become firmly established.

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By the early 19thC the Gaelic mythology of Ossian had been translated and was popular. Sir Walter Scott's novels
were popular. At times almost half the British army was Highland and the worldwide success of these regiments was
legend. When in 1822 George IV visited Edinburgh, Tartan and Highland Dress was the order of the day thanks to Sir
Walter Scott's personal planning. Tartan was seen as Scottish rather than just Highland.

The variety of Tartans has never stopped growing. Many Clan Tartans have become available in ancient, modern,
weathered, dress or hunting. Almost every surname from the British Isles has been associated with a Clan and their
Tartan. People's wish to wear 'their' Tartan has been enthusiastically meet by manufactures. Companies,
organizations and sports teams have their own Tartan.

For all its doubtful pedigree and commercialization, Tartan symbolizes Scotland and Scottish Culture more than
anything. And as a born-again Scotland moves into the new millennium, Tartan will continue to play its central
symbolic role.

The McCulloch/McCullough Tartan

In late 2006, I received an e-mail from Doug DeWitt, a piper with McCulloch ancestery who informed me that he had
a kilt of the MacCullough tartan. The MacCullough tartan is registered as number 3339 and was recorded in 1845.

At the Scottish Tartan Authority website http://www.tartansauthority.com/web/site/home/home.asp, do a
"Ferret Search" on McCulloch, MacCullough, etc or just type in the tartan #3339 you will get the details on the
tartan. Here are the details as they appear on the website:
Name of Tartan: MacCullough
Alternative name: MacDonald of the Isles MacCulloc
ITI number: 3339 Date: 1845
Category: Clan/Family
Designer / Source: Unknown

However, unaware of the existence of a McCulloch/MacCullough tartan, Donald McCullough (Maryland,
U.S.A.), commissioned Peter MacDonald, a Edinburgh tartan designer of note to create a unique McCulloch Tartan.
The Ulster, MacDougall, Ross, and Galloway tartans were used for departure points, since McCulloch is associated
with each of those. A number of designs were proposed which were subsequently posted on Donald's website and
input was garnered from interested McCullochs and McCulloughs.

Donald then had the McCulloch Tartan registered in The Tartans of Scotland and in the Tartan Museum in the U.S.A.
in the year 2000 as the MacCulloch/MacCullough Tartan. The new MacCulloch's are numbers 3340 and 3346.
Here are the details as they appear on the Scottish Tartan Authority website:
Name of Tartan: MacCulloch
Alternative name: MacCullough
ITI number: 3340 Date: 2000
Category: Clan/Family
Designer / Source: MacDonald/McCullough

What Tartan Does My McCulloch Family Wear?

There is no 'right' or 'entitlement' to wear any particular tartan. Unlike Heraldry, tartan is not strictly controlled or
governed by any particular body, individual, rules or regulations (see brief history of tartan above). However, it is
custom to wear the Clan tartan of your surname or a Clan of which your surname is a 'sept'.

The McCullochs of our family therefore can wear the following Tartans:

• McCulloch (registered as 3339 or 3340 or 3346)
• Stuart (as named)
• Brodie after my grandfather Archibald Brodie McCulloch
• Campbell after my grandmother Elizabeth Campbell Jackson
• Brown and Lamont Tartan after my mother Jessie Rita Brown
• Galloway from the District most closely associated with the McCullochs
• MacDougall, Ross, Monroe, Gunn and MacDonald (based on the rationale described under McCulloch Clan and

Tartan).

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Images of each are included here. You can click on any one of these tartans and download a ".jpg" to use as
wallpaper on your computer screen.

Clan McCulloch
Tartan
Old Version

Clan McCulloch Tartan
Modern Version

Clan McCulloch Tartan
Dress Version

Stuart
Prince Charles Edward
"Bonnie Prince Charles"

Stuart

Stuart Silver 9/25/2012
Brown

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©

Brown Watch

Brodie

Brodie Hunting
1891

Brodie Silver

Brodies wore the Huntly district tartan prior to 1820. This sett was first published in the Vestiarium Scoticum in
1842.

Lamont
Lamont

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Lamont
Clan Lamont are closely associated with Clan Campbell. A sample in the collection of the Highland Society of London
bears the seal and signature of the Clan Chief dating from around 1816.
Galloway District Ancient
Associated Clan Tartans
MacDougall Modern

MacDougall Ancient

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 March 2007 )

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