Careful and extended examination of the various authorities establishes
that the example here represented illustrates the earliest tartan worn
by members of the Clan Donnachie having red as the dominant colour.
The qualifying clause as to colour is introduced because, since the
plates for this work were prepared, the author has been indebted to Mr
Charles Robertson of Kindeace for a specimen of the recognised sett
worn by his family and other Robertsons in the North, wherein the
colours are mainly green and blue, with red and white lines. Familiar
enough to connoisseurs, this design was not generally esteemed ancient;
but Kindeace mentions that his family and others have long regarded
it as their oldest clan pattern, and he adds: “The late Strowan told
me the red was made in Atholl, and presented to his father, who never
used it. In those days it had a white line, which is never seen now.”
And this confirms the view that the illustration given is the earliest
form of the red tartan. That it is an early clan pattern there can be
no doubt, for it is duly recorded as such in the Craignish and Moy Hall
collections, and in others formed from ninety to one hundred years ago
by manufacturers and dealers in high repute.
[Illustration: XXXII. ROBERTSON]