Every industry has its colourful characters. The Scottish tartan industry has two of the greatest.
Meet John and Charles Allen – or Allan… or Hay… or, as they would later style themselves, John Sobieski Stuart and Charles Edward Stuart.
If you've ever wondered why so many clans have their own tartan today, these two extraordinary brothers played a much bigger part than you might imagine.
Two Brothers with a Very Big Story
Around 1820, two English-born brothers from Wales settled in Moray. After arriving in Scotland they began subtly reinventing themselves. First, they changed their surname from Allen to Allan to sound a little more Scottish, before later shortening it to Hay.
It wasn't long before the rumours began.
Following Sir Walter Scott's spectacular visit of King George IV to Edinburgh in 1822 – the event that sparked Scotland's great tartan revival – the brothers quietly let it be known that they were the grandsons of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie himself.
Not only that, but they claimed to possess an extraordinary manuscript dating from 1571, containing the authentic tartans of Scotland's leading clans.
According to the brothers, the manuscript had been given to Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Scots College of Douai during the Jacobite Rising of 1745 before eventually passing down through their family.
There was just one small problem.
Nobody was ever allowed to see it.
Sir Walter Scott and the Royal Society of Edinburgh were keen for the manuscript to be examined by the Register House in Scotland. However, the brothers' father, who supposedly owned it, steadfastly refused every request.
No manuscript.
No evidence.
Just a remarkable story.
Yet somehow, people believed it.
Reinventing Themselves
By 1842 the brothers had reinvented themselves completely.
Now calling themselves John Sobieski Stuart and Charles Edward Stuart, they claimed they had actually been born at Versailles. The surname Sobieski came from the family of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's mother, adding another layer of royal glamour to their tale.
Their story became even more elaborate.
They claimed Bonnie Prince Charlie and his wife, Princess Louise of Stolberg, had secretly produced a legitimate son who had been spirited away and raised in Britain by Admiral O'Halleran – or Admiral Hay… or perhaps Admiral Allen, depending on which version of the story was being told.
It sounds more like the plot of a Sir Walter Scott novel than genuine history.
At a time when the British Government closely monitored every movement of the exiled Stuarts, the existence of a secret legitimate heir would have been politically explosive. Yet the brothers never managed to explain why such an heir would have been hidden away, or why, when Prince Charles died in 1788, everything passed elsewhere rather than to this supposedly rightful successor.
Historical facts mattered little, however.
John and Charles were intelligent, handsome, charismatic and wonderfully persuasive. They could probably have sold stings to midges.
Jacobite sympathies still lingered throughout Scotland, while the Romantic movement had created a huge appetite for Highland history and legend. Before long, Scottish nobility welcomed the brothers into their homes and Highland estates, treating them almost like royalty themselves.
The Vestarium Scoticum
It was during this period that the mysterious manuscript reappeared.
Drawing upon its supposedly ancient contents, the brothers published a lavish two-volume work called the Vestarium Scoticum.
The books illustrated 49 Highland clan tartans and 29 Lowland tartans, complete with beautifully coloured plates.
The problem?
The original manuscript still hadn't been seen by anyone else.
Scholars immediately questioned its authenticity.
Sir Walter Scott himself remained deeply sceptical. Linguists pointed out that the Latin and Gaelic used throughout the manuscript contained forms that simply would not have appeared in the sixteenth century. Historians found no convincing evidence that Highland dress had ever been worn throughout Lowland Scotland in the way the brothers described.
The tartans themselves raised even more questions.
Of the 49 Highland tartans illustrated, only around six are generally considered historically accurate. Several have recognisable sett patterns but incorrect colours, suggesting they may have been copied under artificial light, where greens can appear blue and blues can appear green. Others seem to have been reconstructed from memory, while some appear to be entirely new creations by John himself, using simple box setts with little more than different colour combinations.
In modern terms, you might call it creative branding.
Marketing Before Marketing Existed
Of course, facts weren't everything.
The brothers dressed magnificently.
They appeared in extravagant Highland outfits, draped themselves in tartan and carried themselves with all the confidence of Jacobite princes. They understood something that every successful brand understands today.
Presentation matters.
People wanted to believe them.
Did Clan Tartans Already Exist?
This isn't to say clan tartans didn't exist before the brothers.
Some almost certainly did.
Powerful chiefs may well have commissioned distinctive cloth from local weavers, with thread counts passed quietly through generations. Old family portraits may also have preserved particular tartan patterns, while surviving fragments of cloth could have been copied by later weavers.
However, much was lost after the Act of Proscription of 1746, when wearing Highland dress became illegal following the Jacobite Rising. Possessing tartan could carry serious consequences, so preserving family patterns was hardly a priority.
Then came Sir Walter Scott's royal pageant in 1822.
Suddenly everyone needed a clan tartan.
Some were revived from older examples. Others were newly designed. In many cases, chiefs simply chose a tartan they liked and declared it to be their own. Before this period, many weavers identified tartans by pattern numbers rather than clan names.
Even King George IV wore Highland dress for the occasion.
Mind you, his kilt was famously a wee bit on the short side. I often wonder if the kiltmaker happened to be a Jacobite enjoying a private joke.
Their Lasting Legacy
Whatever the truth behind their extraordinary claims, John and Charles had an enormous influence.
Alongside Sir Walter Scott's promotion of Highland culture, they helped cement the idea that every Scottish family should have its own tartan. Many of the designs published in the Vestarium Scoticum are still worn proudly today as recognised family tartans.
Ironically, one of the greatest successes in Scottish heritage grew from one of its greatest historical hoaxes.
The Fall
The brothers' remarkable story finally unravelled in 1847.
An anonymous but devastating article published in the Quarterly Review systematically dismantled both their royal ancestry and the authenticity of the Vestarium Scoticum.
Their reputation collapsed almost overnight.
John attempted to defend their claims in 1848, but by then public opinion had turned against them. Soon afterwards the brothers left Scotland for continental Europe, where they lived quietly with relatives for the remainder of their lives.
A Curious Legacy
I sometimes wonder what John and Charles would think if they could see Scotland today.
They would find a thriving tartan industry, hundreds of recognised clan tartans and millions of people proudly wearing them across the world.
Would they smile?
Perhaps.
Whatever the origins of your family tartan—whether it genuinely dates from before 1745, was created during the great tartan revival of the nineteenth century, or first appeared in the pages of the Vestarium Scoticum—it has become part of Scotland's story.
And that's something well worth celebrating.