What’s Your Tartan?

THE Scottish connection in the Upper Hunter has been strong since the first European explorer, a Scot, Allan Cunningham came to the area, many of the first settlers in the area were Scottish, townships and properties were given Scottish names and today the Aberdeen Highland Games continues to grow.

Doug Manger, a kiltmaker from St Kilda Australia will be at the Games and said people connecting with their Scottish roots through their tartan is as strong as ever.

“When we started more than twenty years ago, people were just happy to hire a Gordon or a Stewart or a Blackwatch, but now with the power of Google they can find out exactly what tartan they should be wearing if they are entitled to wear one and that’s what they want to wear,” said Mr Manger.

“There are literally thousands of tartans, there is 240 odd recognised clans and there are tartans for those clans, but for example there are 62 MacDonald tartans, there’s MacDonald of Glen Gowrie, MacDonald of Clanranald, MacDonald of the Iles, it’s scary how many tartans there are and then we have the dress tartans, hunting tartans and it goes on,” he said.

“There is a book ‘Scots Kith and Kin’ and it directly relates the name to a clan,” he said.

“But just because you are Scottish doesn’t mean you have a tartan, my wife’s father was a Wamen and it has no direct connection to a tartan whatsoever,” he said.

“People can just wear a generic one a ‘spirit of Scotland’ or a ‘Scottish National’ or something like that,” he said.

“The kilts are all made in Scotland or England with 80 percent Australian wool and we donate a kilt for Aberdeen to raffle each year and the people get to chose their tartan for that, which is a fundraiser for the Games,” Doug Manger said.