Letter: Tat's symptoms

The tartan tat sold in Edinburgh's Royal Mile is a function of consumer perception and demand, and shops sell it to stay in business.

Like it or not, people like the late Sir Harry Lauder sold Scotland worldwide as the home of a tartan-clad clan of dancing and singing Brigadonians, and the image has stuck. Contemporary performers such as Billy Connolly and Gregor Fisher don't do much to dispel the illusion, and the media inevitably portrays a stereotyped Scot because it has no other image to develop.

Deirdre Kinloch Anderson (Letters, 17 August) is therefore trying to cure the symptoms, instead of addressing the disease.

MALCOLM PARKIN

Gamekeepers Road

Kinnesswood, Kinross