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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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tartan
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Cloth in brightly coloured rectangular patterns, worn as a kilt or other garment in Scotland. Scottish plaids were traditionally woven with designs of this kind and were recognized by the 18C as characteristic *Highland dress, but there were not at that time any firm links between individual tartans and particular *clans or regiments. After the collapse of the '45 Rebellion at *Culloden, Highland dress was forbidden (until 1782). From the late 18C Scottish regiments wore tartan again, each now using an individual pattern as an identifying feature.
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The creation of clan tartans seems to have followed a surge of interest in all things Scottish, prompted by the works of Walter *Scott, and it gathered impetus after *George IV, in Edinburgh in 1822, acknowledged the Scottish part of his ancestry by wearing the tartan now known as the Royal Stuart. The Scottish Tartans Society runs a museum at Comrie in Tayside, with a collection of some 1300 tartans, where traditional methods of dyeing and weaving are demonstrated.
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