It is intriguing how a post about “tartan tat” shops can develop into two such divergent themes with a soupcon of cultural hubris thrown in to add some spice to the mix.

First of all I seem to have missed the trigger which sparked off a heated discussion over non-Scots being allowed to wear the kilt. I know this has been a contentious subject in the past and that there are a couple of contributors who express the view that kilts should only be worn by a select band of individuals. To qualify you must have lived in a closely defined (their definition of course) area of Scotland since time immemorial. Not only this but heaven forbid that any individual not a member of this select and exclusive group should express any view, whatsoever, concerning the wearing of kilts. I would just say, however, that this is not and never has been my view and if anything that I wrote gave anyone cause to interpret my words as such then I must sincerely apologise.

The second theme that has reared its ugly head results from an innocent remark about the aboriginal inhabitants of America and which has elicited the response of wishing Scots people go and drown themselves. This is not a route that this discussion should take and if my clumsy attempts to explain myself have resulted in such opprobrium then I must, once again, apologise.

The actual point I was trying to get across is that Scots, and by this I include all individuals who live and work within the boundaries of the land known as Scotland, in general prefer not to be seen as some sort of anachronistic kilted society, mired in the beliefs and traditions of a bygone age. Here I can only speak as one of these resident Scots and I would not presume to speak for the Scottish diaspora elsewhere in the world.