Scottish Tartans Society

The Scottish Tartans Society, or STS, is a now defunct society, which was committed to the recording and preservation of woven tartan designs from around the world. The society's register of tartans was known as the Register of All Publicly Known Tartans. The society was first formed in 1963 and existed for about 40 years. The Scottish Tartans Society ceased to record new tartan designs in about the year 2000, having recorded about 2,700 different designs. Today, the archives of the society are kept by Scottish Tartans World Register, or STWR. The Scottish Tartans World Register has assumed the job of recording new tartans upon request, and has about 3,000 different tartan designs recorded and registered.

Creation and closure

The Scottish Tartans Society was first formed in 1963, by several scholars of tartan and highland dress, with the encouragement of the Lord Lyon King of Arms. The society set out to preserve and record every woven tartan known, including clan tartans and artifacts from several museums and private collections. The society also strove to promote the research into highland dress, and to assist in the designing of new tartans. It was also a recognised charity, under Scots law. The society's register of tartans was known as the "Register of All Publicly Known Tartans". This register was originally a physical collection, consisting of tartans and fabrics. Later, however, the register was eventually transferred to computer in the form of an electronic database.cite web |url=http://www.scottish-tartans-world-register.com/scottish_tartans_Society.aspx |title=Scottish Tartans Society |accessdate=2008-09-07 |work=Scottish Tartans World Register (scottish-tartans-world-register.com) ] cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/pdfs/mb-consultations/Tartan-consultation-as-issued.pdf |title=Consultation on the Creation of A Register of Tartan |accessdate=2008-09-09 |format=pdf |work=The Scottish Parliament (www.scottish.parliament.uk) ] In 1976, the society was accounted as an "Incorporation Noble in the Noblesse of Scotland", being granted a coat of arms by the Lord Lyon King of Arms.cite web |url= http://www.albanach.org/official.htm |title= What’s the “official” word about tartans? |accessdate=2008-09-09 |last=Newsome |first=Matthew A. C. |year=2004 |month=December |work=(www.albanach.org) ] The society established a museum of tartan, In 1988, the society established a museum of tartan and highland dress in Highlands, North Carolina, USA. In the 1994, the museum moved to Franklin, North Carolina, where it exists today.cite web |url=http://www.scottishtartans.org/aboutus.html |title=About Us |accessdate=2008-09-09 |work=Scottish Tartans Museum (www.scottishtartans.org) ] In 1996, several members of the society left to create their own organisation, called the Scottish Tartans Authority, or (STA). The Scottish Tartans Society ran into financial difficulties and ceased to record new tartan designs around the year 2000. By this time, about 2,700 tartans had been recorded by the society. Among the tartans recorded by the society are clan or family, district, individual, commemorative and various other tartans. The society is now defunct.

Birth of the "Scottish Tartans World Register"

Today, the archives of the Scottish Tartans Society are kept by the Scottish Tartans World Register, or STWR.cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/08-TartanBill/b8s3-introd-pm.pdf |title=SCOTTISH REGISTER OF TARTANS BILL |accessdate=2008-09-08 |format=pdf |work=The Scottish Parliament (www.scottish.parliament.uk) This document relates to the Scottish Register of Tartans Bill (SP Bill 8) as introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 25 March 2008] This organisation is a non-authoritative body, which aims to record any tartan, new or old, upon request.cite web |url=http://www.tartans.scotland.net/world_register.cfm.htm |title=The Structure of the Scottish Tartans World Register |accessdate=2008-09-07 |work=Tartans of Scotland (www.tartans.scotland.net) ] This organisation was formed by the consultant to the Scottish Tartans Society. The STWR is the trading name of a registered company called "Tartan Registration Limited". This company is also a registered Scottish Charity.cite web |url=http://www.scottish-tartans-world-register.com/about.aspx |title=About the Scottish Tartan World Register |accessdate=2008-09-07 |work=Scottish Tartans World Register (www.scottish-tartans-world-register.com) ]

The STWR is based upon the "Register of All Publicly Known Tartans", and consists of a computer database, of about 3,000 tartan designs. The STWR currently registers any tartans upon request. The STWR will either "note" a design, free of charge, or formally "register" any tartan at the cost of £50.cite web |url=http://www.scottish-tartans-world-register.com/recording_tartan.aspx |title=Recording Tartan |accessdate=2008-09-07 |work=Scottish Tartans World Register (www.scottish-tartans-world-register.com) ]

ee also

*Scottish Tartans Authority

References

External links

* [http://www.scottish-tartans-world-register.com The Scottish Tartans World Register] , official website of the Scottish Tartans World Register. Contains free information on its list of registered tartans.