20 JANUARY 1956, Page 7

WHEN I WAS A boy I was once told that

no gentleman wears a kilt south of Perth. So I suppose that judged by the simple test of latitude Herr Werner Sczepanek, a postal sorter of Ham- burg, would commit no solecism by wearing a kilt in his free time. But a Hamburg court has taken a sterner view and ruled that civil servants look 'undignified' in kilts. That puts a dif- ferent complexion on it, and should cause a row in Scotland. I am glad that Herr MacSczepanek is to go to a higher court in defence of the feilebeag, which 'even south of Perth' is no less 'dignified' a garment than those comical short pants affected by so many grown-up members of the Germanic race in their free time