Tartan and the Christmas Tradition

Lamplight reflects off the silver backed mirror inside your boudoir, the steady drum of hoof-falls on snow dappled cobbles filters in through the paned window of your well lit and warmed townhome. A series of chimes ring out from the hall, it's six thirty, and you're placing the final touches on your ensamble. You smooth down the front of your tartan dinner dress or silk waistcoat and exit the room, ready to alight a carriage for an evening amongst friends of good food, parlour games, merriment and revelry.

But why tartan?

Many Victorians, especially those in the upper and middle classes, worked to emulate the customs set by the Royal Family. Though it is important to note all social mores set by the royals would be aspirational for all classes of British citizens, practicing them would come down to financial and social resources.

None was more of a fad in clothing than the recent Tartan craze, or “Balmorality” as some scholars have coined. This craze can be traced back to its setters both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, after the construction of their Scottish castle at Balmoral in 1853. In tandem with the construction of the castle the middle of the century was the height of the Romantic, and Transcendentalist movements. These philosophies emphasized a connection to and exaltation of nature and fascination with history. Among the literature, art works and poetry being created at the time, in England, there was a special attention paid to the romanticization of Scotland, its history, and heritage. Scotland captured the imaginations of both Albert and Victoria when they constructed Balmoral and it was this fascination that made it a hub of their social lives, especially at Christmas. The couple often wore tartans to show their interest in the culture and Albert even designed several different tartan patterns for Balmoral. The Queen was often seen sporting these patterns and helped re-popularize the historic Stuart (Stewart) tartan. The trend was reportedly so popular that it was even being worn as underclothes, as the Hon. Eleanor Stanley, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen in 1859 wrote in her diary. In an accident undertaken by the Duchess of Manchester at a picnic that year, she unfortunately caught her crinoline and tumbled head over heels revealing her scarlett tartan knickerbockers to the entire party! 

Many speculate the popularity of tartan at Christmas time can be traced back to this infatuation with Scotland by the Royal family under Victoria’s reign. Victoria and Albert are often credited with originating many of the western Christmas traditions we still practice today, like decorating trees (a practice imported by Prince Albert from his native Germany, though it was first Queen Charlotte who first introduced the practice to England in 1800) as well as engaging in charitable acts, setting and giving gifts around the decorated christmas tree, and hosting shocking parlour games (like brandy snaps: a game where one would be asked to snatch raisins out of a lit bowl of brandy!). 

It has also been theorized that the popularity of sporting the weave around the colder months was out of practicality. Tartans were traditionally woven out of wool fibers, and while fashionably, you might spot a tartan gown out of silk, most times the fabrics were made for wear in the cold Scottish Highlands and the association was simply a happy accident. Others might suggest that the trend was perpetuated by Scottish clans and families gathering in the colder months both for Christmas, and the winter solstice, a special time of year long held by native Scots and their ancestors. Culturally, it was expected that when clans gather in large groups they would sport their family tartan, and the coincidence of the two events eventually simply melded into a broader tradition. 

Speculation aside, most seem to fall back on the theory that Queen Victoria is responsible for this imported trend. This is considered especially likely as for nearly four centuries in Scotland celebrating Christmas was banned! From 1640-1958 celebrating the holiday was either illegal or simply frowned upon, though for centuries before the 1590 Reformation within the Catholic church the date was a wildly popular feasting holiday for the Scottish peoples. Religious puritanism drove the Scottish Parliament to pass a law making yuletide celebrations illegal, even going as far as criminalizing the baking of yule bread. Eventually, though, by the mid 20th century it, alongside Boxing Day and New Years day a few decades later, was made a national holiday for Scotland.

Can we discernibly state that Queen Victoria is responsible for the popularization of tartan around the Holidays? Not entirely, though, it is most likely that she is to thank for our association between Christmas and the storied weave. Would you sport this fashionable Christmas trend?

Sources:

“The Art of Weaving Tartan.” National Museums Scotland, 29 Nov. 2024, www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/the-art-of-weaving-tartan.

“Brief History of Tartan.” The Scottish Tartans Museum and Heritage Center, Inc., The Scottish Tartans Museum and Heritage Center, Inc., 28 Apr. 2023, scottishtartansmuseum.org/education/brief-history-of-tartan/.

Cheedle, Eliza. “Chapter 11: Dinners .” Manners of Modern Society : Being a Book of Etiquette, 1600th ed., vol. 1, Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, London, 1875, pp. 127–156.

Cunnington, C. Willett. English Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century. 2nd ed., Faber and Faber Ltd, 1875. 

English Heritage. “Victorian Christmas Traditions.” English Heritage, www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/victorian-christmas-traditions/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

“Highland Style: Tartan Trends in Georgian Britain.” National Museums Scotland, 29 Nov. 2024, www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/highland-style-tartan-trends-in-georgian-britain.

“The Royal Residences of Queen Victoria - Balmoral Castle.” The Lothians, 28 June 2012, the-lothians.blogspot.com/2012/06/royal-residences-of-queen-victoria.html.

Gardiner, Karen. “The Real History of Tartan, from the Scottish Highlands to the Streets of Tokyo.” Travel, National Geographic, 29 Mar. 2023, www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/scotland-tartan-plaid-real-history.

Scotland, National Records of. “Tartan Details - Balmoral (Original).” Tartan Details - the Scottish Register of Tartans, 1 Jan. 1970, www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=182.

“Scottish Christmas Traditions.” National Trust for Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, www.nts.org.uk/stories/scottish-christmas-traditions. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

Stern, L. R. “Balmorality: Queen Victoria’s Tartan Craze.” Plaid Petticoats, 11 Mar. 2013, plaidpetticoats.blogspot.com/2013/03/balmorality-queen-victorias-tartan-craze.html.

Stern, L. R. “Returning Heroes Recovery.” Plaid Petticoats, 11 Mar. 2012, plaidpetticoats.blogspot.com/2012/03/returning-heroes-recovery.html.