I've heard many people, especially in Scotland and Northern Ireland, bemoan "cookie cutter" pipe band dress: so many bands dressing alike, including wearing the same tartans.

Only a few years ago one could go to a major competition in Scotand and see every single band wearing black Glengarries, black Argyll jackets, black neckties, white shirts, black leather sporrans, gleaming white hose, black flashes, and black ghillies. Add to that black bagcovers. In many cases only the tartans set bands apart, or whether the band wore white drone cords, black cords, or two-colour black and white cords.

And often the tartans didn't set bands apart either, with so many wearing the same.

So, in a slow moment yesterday, in my Rain Man-like manner, I took out the programme of the 2004 World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow and actually made a count of the tartans worn. (Bands are required to state their tartan for some reason.)

There is certainly grounds for bemoaning Cookie Cutter dress.

Here are the most common tartans amongst the 206 bands:

23 Royal Stuart
20 MacLean of Duart
18 MacPherson (red)

10 Black Stuart
8 Fraser (red)
7 PCE Stuart

So one third of the bands were wearing only five different rather similar-looking red tartans.

There were six bands in MacKenzie and five in Gordon so the old military green/blue tartans made a bit of a show.

Flower Of Scotland, a new "trade" tartan, was worn by five bands making it by far the most popular new tartan.

As opposed to this, 56 tartans occur only once.

These included some interesting ones, ones I've never heard of, such as:

Princess Elizabeth
Princess Margaret Rose
Lady Borrowdales Gift
William Murdoch
Watsonian
Welsh Piping Society
Glengarry Highland Games
Bagad Breig