NickScotweb

Thanks for starting the ball rolling! As it happens my granddad used to be a haggis hunter by profession so I picked up a little about it. But like anything else, the sad truth is they're mostly farmed nowadays. But always get free range if you can. They're much tastier!

Ha! I can, as it happens, as I've recently written a blog piece which forced me to get my head around it. Basically they're all criss-cross patterns, and they're all "plaids". But a tartan is a plaid with a name.

That's important. It's the fact that some community identifies themselves by it, historically or recently, that makes it a tartan. Nowadays this can be formally registered. But it doesn't have to be. Just design your own for your group and get them to wear it, and it's your tartan!

EDIT: here's the article mentioned: https://clan.com/blog/plaid-vs-tartan-vs-check-whats-the-difference

The other confusion is that 'plaid' has three meanings - for the pattern, the fabric, and the garment. That article tries its best to tease it all out.

You read my mind! (Except, er... I can spell whisky correctly!)

Honestly, Lagavulin is an acquired taste for many. But I adore its peaty glory. I've a bottle in my cupboard that's been there for a couple of years and still has a dreg. Because I don't want to spoil the specialness of the experience.

Thanks. I didn't fully answer. Every hunter has their own techniques of course. But I've always thought that surprise is simplest, because as you'll be aware they have longer legs on one side. So just get one on a steep enough hillside and jump out from behind some gorse to make it turn around. By the time they roll to the bottom you've got it at least stunned. Dead easy.

Lol. For me, absolutely no. I'm laughing because when I was on the steering group that set up the official Register of Tartans, there was a huge (sometimes heated) debate between parties who became known as the 'wovenists' and 'non-wovenists'. Some traditionalists felt that a tartan should have to be woven to be registered. I'm much more liberal and think it's all about the pattern and community. My example was that it could be on the tail-fin of a plane and still be valid. And funnily enough, a few years later we designed one for the Canadian airline Westjet. But I've never heard anyone say it had to be twill in particular anyway.