Tartans wanted

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33819, 16 April 1975, Page 6

Tartans wanted

The Scots want their old tartans hack. If New Zealanders are hoarding fabrics made in Scotland they could consider sending them back to their country of origin. An appeal has been launched for examples of types of Scottish-made cloth. The National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland is mounting a new display of costume and textiles. So far a collection of knitted underwear is one of the major contributions. It has been presented by Braemar, Ltd, of Hawick, which is one of the centres of Scotland’s world-famous woollen industry. The display will provide a permanent record of Scottish textile products. Scottish i mills have some illustrious customers. The silk for Queen | Elizabeth H’s wedding dress | was produced in Scotland. From traditional silk, linen, and woollen manufacture. the Scottish cloth inidustry has moved into production of man-made fibres, i It is the more recent products the museum is seeking. Mrs Helen Bennett, the research assistant in charge i of the costume collection, says there are fragments of I cloth in Scotland that were I made before Roman times. “It’s twentieth century ma-

terial we are short of, so we’ve made an appeal to all manufacturers,” she says.