Whether you’re new to exploring your ancestry or you’ve been studying Scottish history for years, one of the first questions that comes up is:
“What is my clan’s tartan?”
For Clan Mackenzie, that question has never had just one answer. Over time, many tartans have appeared, from older patterns to modern designs, from the popular weathered look to even pop-culture variants like Outlander. Whatever the version, the Mackenzie name has long been tied to a distinctive and storied tartan. (Even if the Sobieski Stewarts once tried to invent an entirely new origin story for it!)
As you search through Google results, Clan Society pages, and Facebook discussions, you’ll quickly find a commonly repeated claim, that the modern Mackenzie tartan is most likely based on the original color and pattern worn by the clan.
And then, almost without fail, you’ll come across a single famous sentence, one that appears in the most widely republished article about our tartan:
“There is a certified sample in the Collection of the Highland Society of London, signed by Mrs. Mackenzie of Seaforth, 1816.”
It’s quoted everywhere. And so your mind connects the Modern Mackenzie tartan that we all know with this “certified sample” from 1816 that is rarely if ever seen.
But what never follows in any article online, from any source, friendly blog or Clan Society with authority, is an image of the actual tartan.
Until now.
Through research into the archives of the Highland Society of London, we have located the documented 1816 Seaforth tartan sample, signed in the name of M E F [Mary Elizabeth Frederica] Mackenzie of Seaforth. What you are about to see may represent the first publicly accessible publication of this textile in digital form.
And it’s worth noting, the often quoted line “signed by Mrs. Mackenzie of Seaforth” is historically inaccurate. The signature on the 1816 sample actually reads M.E.F. Mackenzie of Seaforth, referring to Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie, who would never have styled herself simply as “Mrs.” This clarification restores the correct identity behind the 1816 certification.
These images are not a reconstruction and certainly not a modern reinterpretation. They are direct visual evidence of the tartan connected to the Seaforth family in 1816, the very source cited for over a century but never shown. Also included is the note signed by Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie of Seaforth. Enjoy.
The Clan Mackenzie Initiative would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Mhairi Maxwell, Curator of Modern and Contemporary History for the National Museums of Scotland, who of helped us track down this beautiful, rare piece of Clan Mackenzie history.
Images in this article are the copyright material of the Clan Mackenzie Initiative.
