The tartan we see around us today bears little relation to the original McCoy.

The "plaid" cloth was a simple woven fabric first worn by the Pictish tribes of Northern Scotland, usually coloured with whatever natural dyes were to hand.

As often as not it was a pretty plain and uncolourful affair, made with practicality rather than any fashion statement in mind.

Real Highland Dress (but where's the tartan ?)

By night, the pleated "feiladh mor" served as a sleeping blanket and by day, by means of various wraps, tucks and folds, it was transformed into the garment we would recognise today as highland dress.

The whole concept, however, of each clan having their own set tartan as a means of family differentiation is a relatively modern one, and has no real basis in history or fact.

No organised system of clan or family identification through tartan existed until after it was "invented" on the back of the romanticisation of the Celts and all things highland that took place in the early 19th century and which so heavily influenced today's "shortbread-tin" image of Scotland to the world.

In other words, tartan is a major scam of international proportions and, like mugs, we have all been taken in.

How and why did this happen?

Tartan Shortbread

It's simple. Money. Greed. Business. Opportunism. And the visit of an English King who spoke only German.

Dubbed a "Tartan Extravaganza", George IV's State Visit to Edinburgh in 1822, the first by a reigning monarch for over 200 years, was a quite extraordinary affair, attracting the leaders of "new" highland society bedecked in an audacious array of kitsch and ahistorical finery and which, along with the writings of Sir Walter Scott which gloried in taking the notion of the bold, brave highlander to new extremes, sparked off a tartan frenzy.

It wasn't long before the Borders weavers spotted their big chance and started to cash in big time to meet this new demand.

As in any good business, marketing and new product development are key to growth.

So it was, then, that new and brighter patterns were developed and the manufacturers were quick to spot the desire of their customers to have "their" tartan, and were only too happy to promote the myth if it meant increasing sales.

It certainly did the trick and, sure enough, today anyone can create "their own" tartan as long as it's not a direct copy of any other existing pattern.

There are now some 2000 named tartans in existence, despite the fact that there are only around one hundred recognised clan names.

Work out the Maths for yourself.