the tartan as we know it today is not thought to have existed in scotland before the 16th century. by the late 16th century there are numerous references to striped or checkered plaids. it is not until the late 17th or early 18th century that any kind of uniformity in tartan is thought to have occurred. martin martin, in "a description of the western islands of scotland", published in 1703, wrote that scottish tartans could be used to distinguish the inhabitants of different regions. he expressly wrote that the inhabitants of various islands and the mainland of the highlands were not all dressed alike, but that the setts and colours of the various tartans varied from isle to isle. as he does not mention the use of a special pattern by each family, it would appear that such a distinction is a modern one.