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- Mah Jongg Tile Set Description
-
-
- Tile Set Name: TARTAN.TIL
- Subject: Scottish Clan Tartans
- Created by: Barbara Beckham, Ph.D.
- 3377 Mavis
- Corpus Christi, TX 78411
-
-
- Tartan refers to a plaid fabric, particularly one with a pattern
- distinctive to a particular clan of the Scottish Highlands.
- Although the design of a tartan cloth appears complicated, it is in
- fact very simple. It consists of a sequence of colored stripes of
- various widths, starting at the edge of the cloth and running its
- full length. Next to this the same sequence is repeated but in
- reverse order, as though the sequence had been hinged over along
- its edge. And so the sequence continues repeating and reversing.
- Exactly the same sequence of stripes is repeated across the width
- of the cloth. The two repeating and reversing series of stripes,
- woven together, make up the tartan.
-
- The simple sequence of colored stripes and their proportions (sett)
- is the basic element in a tartan. Owing the the unique abstract
- basis of the sett, the size of the colored stripes does not matter
- at all. A small version of a "sett" for a silk necktie and a large
- version for a blanket both show the same tartan. Any system of
- measurement can be applied to these "setts" and still give the same
- tartan, for example, "four" in a sett can be "four" feet or "four"
- threads, and provided the same units of measurement are used
- throughout, the result will still be the same tartan.
-
- The colors of tartans have always varied widely, depending on the
- dyes used, from the soft colors of ancient organic dyes to the
- brilliance of the 19th-century aniline dyes.
-
- Scottish clan tartans as defined and worn today have developed
- extensively within the past two centuries. During this period their
- principal function has been to identify their wearers with a
- particular name. However, the name of the wearer may not always be
- the same as the tartan worn. Today the list of clan and family
- tartans numbers over a thousand. Several clans have a "dress"
- tartan to be worn on formal occasions, and there are also "hunt-
- ing" tartan, usually of quieter shades.
-
- This tile set is based on 35 tartans from "The Official Tartan Map
- (of Tartans Approved by the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs or
- the Lord Lyon King of Arms)," John Telfer Dunbar, FSA (Scot) and
- Don Pottinger, M.A. (Hons). D.A., Publisher: Elm Tree Books -
- Hamish Hamilton LTD., 90, Great Russell St., London WC18 3PT.
-
- The clan associated with each of the tartans in this tile set is
- listed below. In many cases it was not possible to use the entire
- "sett" for a tile. In such cases, the center portion of the sett is
- shown.
-
- 1. Arbuthnott
- 2. Barclay (Dress)
- 3. Borthwick
- 4. Brodie (Red)
- 5. Bruce
- 6. Clan Chattan
- 7. Douglas (Green)
- 8. Fraser
- 9. Gow
- 10. Hamilton
- 11. Henderson
- 12. Kincaid
- 13. Leslie (Dress)
- 14. Livingston
- 15. MacAulay
- 16. MacBeth
- 17. MacCallum
- 18. MacIain
- 19. MacLaine of Lochbuie
- 20. MacLeod of Lewis
- 21. MacMillan
- 22. MacQueen
- 23. MacTavish
- 24. Menzies (Dress)
- 25. Moncreiffe
- 26. Montgomerie
- 27. Napier
- 28. Ogilvy
- 29. Ramsay
- 30. Robertson
- 31. Ruthven
- 32. Scott
- 33. Scrymgeour
- 34. Sinclair
- 35. Stewart (Dress)
- 36. Stewart (Dress)
- 37. Stewart (Dress)
- 38. Stewart (Dress)
- 39. Stewart (Royal)
- 40. Stewart (Royal)
- 41. Stewart (Royal)
- 42. Stewart (Royal)
-