Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

An article he sent to Mac Millans Magazine in 1871 to coincide with a
competition of pipers at the Crystal Palace was rejected. ‘Obviously anything which
throws doubt on the authenticity of clan tartans would be unpopular’ he noted. 88 In the
end he abandoned his study concluding that ‘It would be foolish to print it. It is good for
trade to believe in clan tartans’. 89 He kept his notes, however, and his final verdict on the
authors, ‘who first caused me to be arrayed in Highland Costume in 1825’ was added in
1873, the year after John’s death. 90 It is poignant, both as a record of a long, strange
friendship and also as an epitome of the way in which affection, nostalgia and romance,
as well as commercial interests, mingled with historic research to perpetuate the Sobieski
Stuarts’ antiquarian interventions in Scottish history.
The Authors
Note. Anything here noticed about these gentlemen personally I wish not to be published. They are old
friends, and I really have no proof that they are not grandsons of Prince Charles. They have never said to
me that they are. It is vaguely understood that they are supposed to claim to be the rightful heirs to the
throne, and people argue about their authenticity, and write about it. In looking to the authenticity of
Campbell tartan, I was led first to the book, then to the author, and to the question of his descent. I have
noted all that I heard but I wished only to get at the genuine Campbell Tartan. Therefore if anybody ever
takes to printing this I beg the editor to avoid any injury to the authors of the Vestiarium, or to their
memory. 91
At this distance in time, after Trevor-Roper’s assault on them, perhaps
Campbell’s wishes to honour their memory are better respected by publishing than by
suppressing what he wrote.
88 National Library of Scotland adv.ms.50.3.9,f3.
89 National Library of Scotland adv.ms.50.3.9, f7v.
90 National Library of Scotland adv.ms.50.3.9, f7.
91 National Library of Scotland adv.ms.50.3.9, f7.
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