Much of what we know, or think we know, about Scottish tartans originates in a book that was published in 1842 and entitled Vestiarium Scoticum. It was the work of two brothers, who called themselves John Sobieski Stuart and Charles Edward Stuart. They claimed to be descended from Prince Charles Edward Stuart, but their real names were John Carter Allen and Charles Manning Allen. They were probably born in Wales.
The Sobieski Stuarts, as they are together known, claimed that their book was a copy of a 15th century manuscript. It was the first document to present tartans as 'belonging' to particular families or clans, and although it is now universally denounced as a forgery, it is arguably the source of the whole tartan industry and its perceived role in the definition of Scottishness.
According to Wikipedia, "tartan as we know it today is not thought to have existed in Scotland before the 16th century." A book published in 1703 describes how the inhabitants of different parts of Scotland (and especially different islands) could be distinguished by their tartans; but does not mention the use of a special pattern by the members of any one family.
Government forces in Scotland were issued with a standard tartan in 1725, and this was formalised in 1739 when the Black Watch regiment was formed. According to the Scottish Tartans Museum (of Franklin, North Carolina!) the Black Watch pattern "is the common basis for many clan tartans and is considered a good tartan for general use."
Tartans were closely associated with Jacobite forces, and following the defeat of the rebellion in 1746 they were outlawed. The Act was repealed in 1785, by which time tartans had more or less disappeared; many of the weavers had died, and with them the details of the old patterns were lost.
The Historic UK website then tells how "The great tartan revival started in 1822, when George IV visited Edinburgh and suggested that people attending the official functions should wear their respective tartans." This led to the reinvention of the tartans, which in turn seems to have paved the way for the Sobeski Stuarts and their fraudulent Vestiarium Scoticum.
In the system that grew up subsequently, each clan had a standard tartan for general use, and up to four variations of it. Dress tartans were originally worn by the women of the clan; they generally had a white background and lighter–coloured patterns. Hunting tartans were dark in colour and worn for sport, especially in clans whose tartans were brightly coloured and thus unsuitable for hunting. The last two variations are chiefs' tartans and mourning tartans, both of whose purposes are self–explanatory; mourning tartans were generally of black and white.
The Scottish Register of Tartans mentions a "profusion of Prince Charles Edward tartans", and attribues it to the Young Pretender's "habit of honouring his host 'of the day' by wearing his tartan."
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