The use of this design as Stewart tartan for a period extending back
to 1745, at least, is vouched by the records of manufacturers and
collectors alike. Specimens gathered about 1790, now in the author’s
possession, include an undated example, whose manufacture indicates
great age. It is titled Clan Stewart, and in many collections the
design appears as Old Stewart, so that it was obviously recognised as
the clan pattern. Probably it was employed, for the most part, as a
hunting tartan, by way of relief from the brilliancy of other designs
of the same name. The strong resemblance between this scheme and that
of the Atholl district tartan (popularly styled the Atholl-Murray),
suggests that at one time they were identical. It is known that the
pattern was much worn by the Stewarts of the Western Highlands, and
as these, with the Stewarts of Atholl, formed the clan, there is,
at any rate, a presumption in favour of a community of tartan at an
early date. A remarkable example of the old belted plaid, of a design
differing from the above in certain particulars but having the same
dominant features, has been shown to the Editor by Mrs Stuart of
Dalness. It is reported to be two centuries old, and to represent the
original sett of the tartan.
[Illustration: XXXIII. STEWART]