Was Tartan ever actually banned?

[Mike_Oettle]

Speaking as a historian by training, I am afraid I must side with Cajunscot here.
He has evidence of the institution of the ceremony of Kirkin the Tartan from the man who introduced it.
All we seem to have on the other side of the argument is unsubstantiated folklore.
Now it may be that there is substantiation somewhere, but so far it has not cropped up. Reference has been made to articles in publications far from where the ceremony was instituted, but the sources of those articles have not (so far) been examined.
The abstract discussions of scientific proof are all very well, but need to be refined by historians’ definitions, not silly extrapolations about pink elephants.

With regard to the proscription of tartan, I will concede that the wording of the Act is tortuous, but it does clearly outlaw a) the kilt and b) the wearing of tartan, albeit in separate parts of the same long sentence.
Although tartan was specifically forbidden solely when worn as upper clothing (plaid or coat), its proscription in that sense went hand in hand with a ban on the kilt, which was at least frequently, and probably usually, made of tartan.
The word plaid is not more precisely defined, and could be applicable to either the belted plaid (breacan feile) or the plaid as worn with the philabeg (pinned to the shoulder).
The reference to “trowse” may be solely to trews in the sense of hose made of tartan on the bias, fitted to the leg, or could apply to all tartan trousers. It nonetheless bars leg-coverings deemed to be “Highland Clothes”.
The region in which the Act was (theoretically) effective seems to be the lands north of the Forth and Clyde, but since the Act specifically refers to “that part of Great Britain called Scotland”, with the rider “other than shall be employed as officers and soldiers in his Majesty's forces”, in a legal sense it should have applied everywhere north of the English border.
It does appear that the Act was only applied with rigour in the areas closest to the Great Glen, but we are (I believe) focusing on the wording of a piece of legislation.
While the wording “man or boy” does seem to exempt women, the question must be asked whether, when the law was enforced by His Majesty’s forces, women were permitted to retain their tartan garments, and whether thorough searches were made to discover and destroy all tartan remnants.
Regards,
Mike