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At the turn of the nineteenth century, there were about 90 tartans
that had names. Today, there are over 2800, with more being registered
each year. In 1963, a group of tartan scholars and Highland Dress
enthusiasts formed an organization called the Scottish Tartans Society.
A central body was needed that could serve as a tartan authority and a
resource for information about the history of Highland Dress. This
body was given the authority by the Crown to maintain the official Register
of All Publicly Known Tartans. This database of over 2800 tartans
contains official clan tartans, district tartans, business tartans, and
historic and artefact tartans--in other words, any tartan that can be proven
to have been woven and worn. This is a living Register, and between
30 and 40 new tartans are added each year. |
| Our museum has over 500 of the most common tartans on display in
our museum gallery. If you cannot find your tartan here, our computer
database has over 2800 tartans from the Register. You can access
this same database one the web at the Scottish
Tartans Society's web site.
Our staff are equipped with the neccesary resources to reccomend
a tartan for you, weather clan, family or district. From function
to fashion, the kilt has become one of the most widely recognized Scottish
symbols in the world, and is now worn by people of Scottish descent in
Scotland, America, Canada, Australia, and the world over in honor of their
heritage. |
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 We
thank you for taking the time to take this virtual tour of the Scottish
Tartans Museum and hope you can visit us at our Franklin location soon.
Tartan is a vibrant and living tradition, and it is not enough for most
of our visitors to see their tartan or find their clan, but they need to
take the tartan home with them, to wear it, and make it a part of their
family's traditions as well. To this end, we are glad to offer a
large variety of tartan items from our gift shop. Our gift shop provides
all of the revenue for the museum, so any purchases made will go directly
to support this unique heritage center. We appreciate all of our
supporters! |
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