Is Stewart Hunting REALLY universal??

[MacLowlife]

I know of three tartans worn by regiments: Hunting Stewart, Black Watch, and Leslie. Are those the only ones? My guess is that the HS was considered a better choice than the Royal Stewart because it was either a little harder to spot or a little easier to keep clean. That is only a guess. Can anyone expound on any of this?



OUTSIDE OF THE UK, Open or Universal or Unrestricted seems to be mostly a question of etiquette, isn't it? I recognize that a restricted tartan can't be bought from the mill and its availability or use otherwise might be subject to some kind of copyright action, but beyond "It is not done" and of course the self appointed tartan rights enforcers, aren't we talking about one's own conscience for all non-restricted ones? I am all for etiquette, but oughtn't we recognize that a man named Paderewski or Schulz or Cacciotto ( or Stuart or Stewart or Steward, for that matter) is just as "entitled" to wear the MacLeod, say, as anyone else, if he lives anywhere outside the United Kingdom?