Muirhead Family Tartan

Muirhead Family Tartan Rediscovered by Clan Society
Thanks to United Effort and the Help of the Internet

Continued from Page Four

Raymond L. Morehead, President of Muirhead Clan Society, Click for Larger Image Several e-mails I received over the last few months have said that the Muirheads were not a clan, they were lowland families not Highlanders. A few have even suggested that they would not, therefore, have had Tartans. In reply, I have stated that any group of people acting with a common interest can and was called a clan.

In several books both Highland and Lowland families are described as Clans, in line with the many historical references which use the term for both. Tartans of branches of the main clans are also described as clan tartans.

In the old days one of the roles of the chief was to decide the pattern and color of the plaids to be worn and this tradition is maintained to the present day in many cases. A tartan of a clan is determined by the clan chief and clansman wear the tartan of the chief. In most cases the sett has been acknowledged for generations and is well known to the chief and clansmen alike.

The Muirhead Clan will be officially re-established at the Enumclaw Highland Games in Washington in July, 2000, Click for Larger Image I think that if there is one thing that visually symbolizes a Scottish clan or family group it is the tartan, plaid. I am personally for a Muirhead Tartan and I would like to adopt the William Muirhead tartan as our own.

Dr. Smith has stated it will be recorded as the Muirhead Tartan based on evidence and his research. It was obviously important enough to William Muirhead to bring it to his new home in the U.S. It was important to him that Grace, his granddaughter, keep it for the Muirhead descendants and she, like him, passed it on to be preserved for later descendants after her death.

The William Muirhead tartan already has about 150 years of history associated with the Muirhead name near as we can estimate and as Philip has said it has great "provenance" and is an "historic set" that will, by the way, be in his next book. It is, after all, one of my stated purposes that the Muirhead Clan Society "preserve our common historical heritage".

In the end, the Scottish Tartans Society awards an accreditation status to tartans, including clan, family, district, regimental, corporate and clan society tartans, in the Register of All Publicly Known Tartans.

Vernon Muirhead also helped in the rediscovery of the Muirhead Family Tartan, Click for Larger Image The Lord Lyon maintains the Lyon Court Books and Public Register of All Arms and Bearings, in which are registered those clan and family tartans appearing in the family's coats of arms, usually as the background to the clan badge.

In the spring of the year 2000, I proposed to the Council of Elders that we accept the Muirhead tartan as is, in its original colors and thread count as our own. By a majority vote the tartan that William Muirhead so cherished and passed on will be given a breath of new life and soon the looms of a Scottish weaver will once again weave back into an active existence a tartan, our tartan, bringing forth a Muirhead Tartan to symbolize the tradition and culture of Scotland that is our ancestral home.

This article was contributed by Raymond L. Morehead, President, Muirhead Clan Society, July, 2000

Links:

Muirhead Clan Society Website

Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games

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