All too often I read of the dreaded Tartan Police, who say which tartan an individual has the right to wear.

Then I'll read that the experts say it is OK to wear any tartan,. and there are no rules-so wear what you like and ignore what misguided people might say-for the experts have spoken.

Sadly this is akin to the British constitution-many people think there is a constitution-there is not. Rather there is a complex web of 'understandings' that have been built up over the years: common law rather than statute law.

It is the same with tartans: the experts might claim one thing, but underlying that there is a whole raft of unwritten 'understandings' as to which tartan an individual might wear. Now pople might be polite to a wearers face, but they could be thinking something very uncomplimentary about the visitors choice of tartan.

So unless one has a very clear claim to this or that tartan it is better to play safe: here the many district tartans and others that are not affiliated to a regiment or clan offer a safe alternative.