A Clan Tartan is the regular sett (pattern) of the clan or family.
The idea of Clan Tartans received an enormous boost when Sir Walter
Scott suggested, for the visit of George IV, "let every man
wear his tartan". The identification of clans with tartan
patterns became a dogma of great success and, by various means,
by the end of the 19th century all the recognised clans
had their tartans, be they Highland or Lowland.
The favoured techniques for the design of new clan tartans was a variation
of major existing designs like Black
Watch, Caledonia or MacDonald, though some valuable innovations also
came about in the 19th century. The process created a vast
range of designs that established tartan as a medium for re-presenting
Scotland's rich heritage.
All clans do not have a variety of tartans. The idea of having
different tartans for different purposes and a different time
of day (dress and hunting) is comparatively modern and Victorian
in origin. The idea was naturally taken up by a trade interested
in selling two or more kilts.
The firm of William Wilson & Son of Bannockburn were the largest,
if not the only large concern making tartan in the latter half of the
eighteenth and early nineteenth century. It is interesting to note that
in their 'Key Pattern Book' of 1839, they list only one hunting
and no dress
tartans. The lone hunting tartan is the Hunting Stewart, which is now
regarded as neither hunting or Stewart, but a universal tartan.