Northumberland Tartan

Today I had a trip to Morpeth in Northumberland and stopped off at a cafe for lunch.  The crockery was decorated with the pattern of Northumberland tartan.

The tartan, also known as the Border or Shepherds tartan and has links to the the Percy family (the Dukes of Northumberland) and was worn by shepherds tending their flocks in the Borders area. 

Textile historians have been able to date a fragment of the tartan found in a bottle back to the 3rd century AD making it one of the oldest known plaids.