Latha a’ Bhreacain sona dhuibh! Happy Tartan Day!
Bradan Press is celebrating Tartan Day with the announcement of Tartans of Eastern Canada by Paul McCormick, a new book to be published in September 2021.
Tartans as we know them today originated with the Gaels of Highland Scotland. In Scottish Gaelic, the word for tartan is “breacan,” deriving from “breac” meaning spotted, speckled, chequered, or variegated. Starting in the 18th century and continuing today, tartans have been developed as symbols of geographical areas, military units, Highland clans, Scottish families, organizations, concepts, brands, and more.
Tartans of Eastern Canada is a guide to the tartans that represent the Scottish and Gaelic heritage of eastern Canada. More than 15% of Canadians—nearly five million—claimed Scottish descent in the 2006 Census. In Eastern Canada, the numbers were even higher: Two out of five Prince Edward Island residents reported Scottish ancestry, while one in three Nova Scotians, one in five New Brunswickers, and 17% of Ontarians traced their roots to Scotland.
This book catalogues the tartans of the 50 family names best represented on passenger lists from Scottish immigrant ships landing in eastern Canada during the 18th and 19th centuries. Sketches of famous clan members complete each of these entries.
Further chapters explore the unique tartans of eastern Canadian military units, organizations, towns and counties, and of course the provinces themselves, showing that tartans are for everyone to use and appreciate!
Author Paul McCormick is a native of southwestern Nova Scotia and a graduate of the NSCAD University communication design program. For more than three decades, he served as a staff officer in communications with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union before retiring as communications coordinator in 2009. An avid political junkie, cook and organic gardener, McCormick is the author of four books and has edited and designed more than 20 Maritime volumes.
For more information, please visit https://www.bradanpress.com/books/nonfiction/tartans-of-eastern-canada/. To be notified when this book is published, please subscribe to the Bradan Press monthly e-mail newsletter.
Latha a’ Bhreacain sona dhuibh!
Clockwise from bottom left, the provincial tartans of: Quebec, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland & Labrador.