Tartan Night May 2023: Tartans with a tale to tell

It was so nice to look around the hall and see so much tartan at our Tartan Night on 29 May.

Dancers displaying an array of tartans while dancing Violynne, the dance devised by Rod Downey for musician Lynne Scott

I already knew the history of some of the tartan regalia, but some of the items were new to me. With time to chat, I found some interesting stories behind those ‘new’ tartans.

Janet Thomson: Her mother’s kilt brought back to life

Janet was wearing her mother’s muted Thomson Hunting tartan kilt skirt for the very first time on Monday. The story of how Janet and the kilt skirt arrived on the dance floor involves many twists and turns, and a lot of detective work on Janet’s part.

Janet dancing Violynne, wearing her restored kilt for the first time

In 1977, Janet’s mother placed an order for a kilt to be made for her trip to visit clan places in Scotland the following year. At that time Janet’s parents lived in Timaru, and her father was doing research in Southland for a school centennial publication—the right neck of the woods to commission a kilt.

After her mother’s death, the kilt was passed on to Janet’s stepmother who pulled it apart with an eye to re-modelling it, but that never happened. The kilt sat in pieces until recently, when Janet decided to see if she could have it restored so she could wear it.

Amazingly, Janet managed to search out the original order docket for FP Helean Kiltmakers of Dunedin (now Helean and Co). She packed up all the pieces (lining, zip, waistband and a small remaining piece of cloth) and sent them off to Kathryn Corry, Frank (FP) Helean’s granddaughter.

Janet says Kathryn was keen to see the work her grandfather had done over 40 years ago and did a fantastic job of restoring the kilt ready for the tartan night. Or almost ready—at 5.00pm the night before, Janet realised she had better cut away the tacking which had held the pleats in place.

Veronica Young: From Melbourne to Wellington

Less than a month before the tartan night, Veronica became the proud owner of one of the kilts in the club’s second-hand collection. It was love at first sight for this subtly coloured, beautiful fine wool kilt skirt by Fletcher Jones.

The kilt had barely made it onto the club night display table when Veronica walked in the door, spotted it, and said she’d take it—before even trying it on.

This is the second of two kilts donated to the club by Jane Aim. The first was from her childhood and is now worn by Lizzie Tan. It was the first kilt to emerge as Jane cleared out her house prior to moving.

Some months later, at the end of the clearing out process, Jane found a second kilt, which she also donated to the club. Jane told me she bought this second kilt for herself on a trip to Melbourne as an adult and wasn’t sure if she ever actually wore it.

I kept the kilt at home for a few months, wondering if it might be right for me, but eventually brought it along to club. Now this second kilt has found a good home with Veronica and got a second lease of life on the Scottish Country Dance floor.

Veronica at the right wearing the kilt donated by Jane Aim, while Ian at the left is wearing a kilt that’s had many previous owners

Ian Leask: The latest in a long line to own his kilt

We’ve grown used to seeing Ian at club tartan nights wearing a Clan Leask tartan tie given to him by his father. But on Monday, there he was looking very much the part dressed in a kilt.

This kilt was passed on to Ian by Johnsonville dancer Bruce Jones and should have become Ian’s at the club’s 2022 Halloween theme night. However, a medical emergency took priority and the kilt has only recently made its way to Ian.

In trying to find out more about the kilt, it became apparent that Ian is just one in a long line of Scottish Country dancers to own the kilt.

Ian knew it had been passed from Pat Reesby to Bruce, before coming on to him. Contacting Pat, it turns out the kilt came to her from Jill and David Andrews, past Johnsonville and Ngaio dancers. After David’s death, Jill gave it to Pat to find a good new home for it.

We can trace the kilt even further back—David himself inherited the kilt from longstanding Ngaio dancer Murray Allardice.

Murray Allardice at the right at the 2001 Johnsonville Annual Dance. Ian now owns the kilt Murray is wearing. The club’s first Life Members Isla and Eric Norris are second from the right—Deborah Shuker now wears one of Isla’s kilts.

Ian did a little research to find out which clan tartan fabric the kilt was made from. Using the Reverse Tartan Search facility at House of Tartan UK he determined it was the tartan of Clan Murray of Atholl.

It should be noted that as a first-time kilt-wearer, Ian was very careful to wear some shorts underneath his ‘new’ kilt on Monday night. He’d been warned that blokes don’t realise they need to learn how to sit in a kilt!

Prisilla Conroy: A vintage waistcoat

Now that Prisilla dances at two clubs, her tartan wardrobe is coming under pressure.

Prisilla dancing Argyll’s Fancy, wearing her blue tartan waistcoat

On Thursday night, Prisilla wore her usual red tartan skirt to Tawa’s Tartan Night, so what to wear to the Johnsonville Tartan Night the next Monday? As it turned out, she was there in a very smart blue tartan waistcoat.

The waistcoat is not new, in fact Prisilla bought it for around £25 when she was in London in 1978-79. It wasn’t bought for any special event, rather because it was beautiful, but somehow it disappeared to the back of the wardrobe after her trip and was never worn.

At our tartan night, Prisilla’s Laird-Portch of Scotland pure new wool waistcoat finally came into its own, adding colour to our tartan night. From what I see on the internet, Laird-Portch no longer exists as a company, but their high-quality pure wool tartan items are now sought-after vintage items.

It was wonderful to have all these tartans adding colour to our Tartan Night. Knowing their stories adds that extra touch.

Of course, there are plenty more tartan tales to tell. Three of our dancers wear tartan regalia bequeathed by life member Isla Norris.

Read about Maureen Sullivans special connection to Isla’s Macdonald of the Isles tartan sash and see photos of Isla wearing the kilt Deborah Shuker wears today. Mandy Clark’s tartan ribbon was also once Isla’s.

Additionally, many of our members have taken the time to write about their Scottish connections, including other tartan tales. Explore their stories here.

Click on the gallery below to see all of Loralee’s photos of this evening of fun and friendship.

Kristin Downey
31 May 2023

All photos by Loralee Hyde

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