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Augustan Lecture Series 2026

Join us for free, public Zoom lectures on the first Saturday of each month. Members are welcome to invite family, friends, and colleagues.

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February 2026 Lecture

Discover Scotland’s Tartan Tradition with Peter MacDonald, OBE, TD

Presented by the Society for Descendants of Scotland

Saturday, 7 February 2026 | 9 AM Pacific / 5 PM GMT

Free Registration Here

While tartan textiles have appeared in archaeological and historical contexts across Europe for more than two millennia, it was in the Scottish Highlands that tartan survived—and flourished—into the richly patterned, multi-colored designs we recognize today as one of Scotland’s most enduring cultural symbols.

Join us for a special presentation by Peter MacDonald, OBE, TD, Scotland’s foremost historian of tartan and an internationally respected authority on its design, history, and production. MacDonald’s interests span the evolution of tartan from Jacobite-era patterns and traditional weaving techniques to the early commercial output of the famed firm Wilsons of Bannockburn.

As Principal of The Peter MacDonald Design Studio, he has consulted on and created tartans for over three decades, serving clients ranging from individuals and clan societies to major organizations and multinational companies. His designs have been commissioned by institutions such as British Airways, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and the Scottish Tourist Board, as well as many personal patterns, including Ayre, Belfrage, Herriot, McClafferty, Nichol, and recently, the King Charles III tartan. Visit Peter MacDonald's website here.

This is a rare opportunity to deepen one’s appreciation of tartan not merely as historical artifact or cultural decoration, but as a disciplined and historically grounded textile tradition.

Sponsored by: The Society for Descendants of Scotland, an Augustan Society lineage group. Validate and honor your Scottish heritage and participate in Society research projects. The SDS invites those descended from Scottish kings or families native to Scotland over at least three generations to petition for membership. Learn more here.

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