[MitzaLizalor]

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Well that was an interesting read. Particularly poignant, I thought, was the following passage:

“For this design I wanted as much colour as possible to weave into the wool – the most colours you can put on a loom,” explains Halley. “The grey backdrop symbolises the miserable gloom homeless people can find themselves in, and the colours represent the support and opportunities available if they can get on to the system. Each of the colours are woven the same thickness to form a network, which to my knowledge makes it unique.”

It would be comical if it weren't so sad. Homeless people need Bibles - not tartan. But what led me to the page was the main design which evidently is based on the MacGregor tartan. Curious what its effect would be as a fabric, I joined a few repeats together (nearly went boss-eyed doing it too, due to op-art effects) and am happy to share the result. Along with actual MacGregor tartan and a quote likely to be reliable. Firstly, what the designer said in that BBC piece:

...being in a region associated with the MacGregor clan, Wilton used the colours of their tartan (blue, green and white) as a springboard for a design that added new layers of resonance – both visual and conceptual.

.https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/Results?search=1049653&page=1.

According to Sir Malcom MacGregor of MacGregor, Chief of Clan MacGregor – a bit of a mouthful but I thought he'd probably know what he was talking about – ‘The MacGregors transported to Aberdeenshire by the Earl of Moray who came from his estates in Menteith to fight the Mackintoshes in about 1624, were almost certainly MacGregors of Glengyle and would have worn that tartan. Another specimen of this sett is in the possession of Andersons of Edinburgh, believed to date from 1750. It is in red and blue colours as opposed to red and black ... why there is blue instead of black is a mystery.’ [below (left)]

There are a few MacGregor setts in the Scottish Tartan register. Sir Malcom MacGregor of MacGregor continues, regarding the Cardney variation [above (right)] ‘The origin is as follows. My great uncle Alasdair MacGregor of Cardney decided to have some red and green MacGregor tartan made using wool from his own sheep and the old vegetable dyes which had been used in the 17th Century.’ That's about the best I could do for blue, green and white but there's more in the link if anyone's interested. The great big elephant in the room, however, probably having convulsions and trumpeting is how that thing [below] can be any sort of MacGregor? Not even mad uncle Alasdair would sign off on this one!