Myth buster: Was tartan really banned after Culloden?
Peter MacDonald, Head of Research & Collections at The Scottish Tartans Authority, examines a common claim that tartan was banned following the doomed 1745 Jacobite Rising.
One of the widely believed facts in the history of tartan is that it was banned by Act of Parliament following the defeat of the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.
The 1747 Act, often referred to as Proscription or the Dress Act, has also been credited with banning the playing of bagpipes, speaking Gaelic and gathering family members together in public, none of which is true.