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The Yule Tartan
Traditionally, the Yule family has believed that it was affiliated with the Clan Buchanan and were entitled to wear that Tartan.
But that is not true for every Yule. The Yule families that are originally from the areas of Aberdeenshire, Lanarkshire and E. Lothian are not connected with the Clan Buchanan.
So, in 1999, Estella Yule Pryor decided to create a tartan specifically for this branch of the Yule Clan.
The Tartan was designed by James Scarlett who is considered the 'Dean of
Tartan Studies'. It is registered as the Tartan for those not associated with
the Buchanan Clan (which is the vast majority of Yules).
THE NEW YULE TARTAN!
The Story of Tartan
(Scottish Quest 1991)
The people who lived in the Scottish Highlands before the mid-18th century left few illustrations or written descriptions of their way of life. This has left many gaps in our knowledge of life in clan society; gaps which have proved both a frustration and a boon. A frustration because our understanding is restricted; a boom because it has been possible to graft new traditions - perhaps more applicable to the current needs - to what is remembered of the old. The development of the clan tartans is a case in point.
A thumb through one of the numerous guides to Scottish tartans gives the impression that the designs (or 'setts') were developed by individual clans or families at some distant period as uniforms or badges of membership. In fact, many of those families whose tartans are illustrated are of Lowland or Border origin, and the ancestors of those now bearing such names would never have dreamt of wearing the garb of the despised Highlanders. Furthermore, many of the Highland setts illustrated date back no further than the 19th century, while those that do cannot be linked with certainty with individual clans.
This is not to say that tartan itself is bogus. As early as the 16th century infrequent visitors to the Highlands remarked on the colourful woolen plaids of the male Highlanders while 17th century illustrations show garments which are clearly decorated with complicated checked patterns, similar to those used today. What cannot be found is any direct connections between individual patterns and specific clans, though there do seem to have been differing regional traditions from an early date.
Some Highland chiefs attempted to achieve a degree of conformity amongst their clansmen in the early 18th century, but they seem to have been largely unsuccessful; at any rate, the men who constituted the Jacobite army in 1745 seem to have lacked any kind of uniform tartan, even within individual clans. In contrast, the Black Watch (the first Highland regiment in the Hanoverian army) had by that time already adopted its distinctive dark tartan, and it and the other Highland regiments which followed were to have an important influence on the development of both the tartan and Highland dress in general.
Following the Jacobite defeat at Culloden, the wearing of the tartan (amongst other things) was proscribed for a period of 36 years. Since this law was backed by the threat of severe punishments (including transportation to the Americas) it effectively stopped the development of tartans amongst the general population. In the Highland regiments, however, the kilt was retained as a uniform, and as growing numbers of Highland soldiers distinguished themselves in foreign wars, both they and their exotic dress became objects of general interest.
By the start of the 19th century there was a growing fascination with all things Highland, and a number of collections were made of tartans - some more authentic than others. Clan chiefs and heads of families chose appropriate setts, and for the first time these came to be firmly linked with the individual clans and families, thus establishing the orthodoxy which remains to this day.
Purists will argue that the tartans worn today are all wrong, but for millions of people around the world they feel right; and if the origins of some of the setts are not so ancient, the sentiments, which inspire the wearer are quite genuine. Tartans are an expression of the link between past, present and future kin, and as such, are a source of real pride.
In Search of One's Rightful Tartan
by Michele McDonald
(Travel Weekly's Guide to Europe Nov. 7 1994)
Any Scotsman who knows his clan will tell you that the clan incorporated not only the immediate family; it embraced all who swore allegiance to, fought for or married into the clan. That is why there are "associated" family names. In the case of the McDonalds, the MacLeods, MacNeils and MacArthurs are associated with the clan because they stood with the Lord of the Isles.
Ergo, having married one McDonald and mothered another, I can legitimately don the tartan. Never mind that the McDonald in question, calls himself an Irish-American; if you go far enough back they are all related. Besides the McDonalds originated in Ireland, arising from an ancient family of the line of Colla Usais, high king of Ireland in the fourth century.
So it is with a sense of rightness that I stride into Clan Donald Center and purchased shawl whose design, they tell me, was copied from a fragment of the suit with which flora McDonald outfitted Bonnie Prince Charlie during his flight from Culloden Moor. And it is with a complete lack of any sense whatsoever that I purchase a green velvet beret with a band of the McDonald tartan and, so help me a peacock feather.
Ironically, the notion of a clan tartan didn't arise until long after the clan system broke down. Clansmen did indeed wear plaid, but they were long rectangular things that were wrapped and belted and bore little resemblance to what we call a kilt.
A painting of the battle at Culloden depicts eight clansmen who among them wore more than 20 tartans, none identifiable as a modern "clan" tartan. The whole tartan thing actually began as a dumb joke. After Culloden, Highland dress was banned. Then in 1822, Sir William Scott persuaded George VI to visit Edinburgh. The two of them showed up in kilts, in a semi-show of honor to the Scots and a semi-attempt to poke fun at them. It caught on. Before long, every Scottish family had its own tartan. Go figure.
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