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Find a Rainbow Day
"One wet, early evening in the sheep-shearing season
I saw that occasional, rare thing-
A broken shaft of a rainbow with its trembling light
Beyond the downpour of the rain."
~ Hugh MacDiarmid, The Watergaw, 1925
This tartan was designed to evoke the image of a double rainbow breaking through a "dreich" grey sky after a thunderstorm. The word dreich—a favorite among Scots, according to a government poll—beautifully captures the essence of a Scottish sky at its gloomiest: dreary, bleak, grey, and thoroughly devoid of sunshine.
While the single and double rainbows tend to steal the spotlight, there's a lesser-known phenomenon called a "watergaw"—an "almost rainbow." Unlike the full arc, a watergaw appears as a single, broken fragment of color, often seen just as a downpour ends. The word hails from the Scottish Borders and is perhaps best remembered through Hugh MacDiarmid’s poignant poem, where the narrator, tending to ewes shivering in the cold after a storm, spots the trembling light of the watergaw "ayont the on-ding" and reflects on the loss of his father.
This tartan carries with it a quiet hope, much like the promise in the sky it represents—that after the greyest of storms, color will return. May blue skies be in all our futures. 🖤 🤍 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️ 🌧️🌈
"If you like the weather in Scotland, wait half an hour and it will change."
~ Traditional
Ae weet forenicht i’ the yow-trummle
I saw yon antrin thing,
A watergaw wi’ its chitterin’ licht
Ayont the on-ding;
An’ I thocht o’ the last wild look ye gied
Afore ye deed!
There was nae reek i’ the laverock’s hoose
That nicht -- an’ nane i’ mine;
But I hae thocht o’ that foolish licht
Ever sin’ syne;
An’ I think that mebbe at last I ken
What your look meant then.
Hugh MacDiarmid: The Watergaw, from Sangschaw, 1925
This poem is composed in what Hugh MacDiarmid called "Synthetic Scots". His standard-English approximation:
One wet, early evening in the sheep-shearing season
I saw that occasional, rare thing --
Broken shaft of a rainbow with its trembling light
Beyond the downpour of the rain
And I thought of the last, wild look you gave
Before you died.
The skylark’s nest was dark and desolate,
My heart was too
But I have thought of that foolish light
Ever since then
And I think that perhaps at last I know
What your look meant then.
***
The proverb "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers", first recorded in 1886,and the shorter, trochaic version "April showers bring May flowers" (originally "Sweet April showers/Do spring May flowers", part of a poem recorded in 1610 are common expressions in English speaking countries.
The phrase is referenced in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales: "Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote".
By designer Carol A.L. Martin, this tartan represents a double rainbow in a grey sky after a thunderstorm.
For a list of uniquely Scottish words and expressions for the weather, click the double rainbow over Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.