Menzies Mourning Tartan

This Black and White tartan is now called the mourning tartan although it originally appears to have been the tartan of the Menzies families of the South West Scottish borders - Durisdeer and Enouch. This is said to have come from their shield granted in 1370 - 'a chief sable' - black band across a white shield.This has a black background with seven white check lines in exactly the same sett as the others. It is recorded that clansmen attending funerals of their chiefs would wear the full-dress red and white kilts, therefore it is not exactly clear how this became the mourning tartan - perhaps as a shawl worn by the women. In modern times it has certainly been a fashionable choice at different times and it would be no problem to find jackets, skirts, trousers to buy in shops - all in various different sizes of the sett.