North Eastern Scotland Plaids?

[neloon]

I've never heard the term "Northern Lowlands" and I don't think you can assume that it refers to the Northeast in general which, although it has a good deal of rich agricultural land,
http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/02/...3_0a591fad.jpg
extends westwards into the large swathe of the eastern Highlands that defines the Grampian Mountains. e.g. Lochnagar, Ben Macdui, Beinn a' Bhuird
http://www.scotlandinprint.co.uk/med...ar-photo-1.jpg
http://www.munromagic.com/MunroImages/MM7975.jpg
http://www.braemarhighlandsafaris.co...d-River-De.jpg
Highland dress would certainly have been worn and Gaelic spoken west of, say, Aboyne until relatively recently.
However, Aberchirder (always known around here as "Foggie"!) shown in the first picture is indeed somewhat pastoral and I doubt if tartan was ever the norm in those parts - I suspect the picture may have been painted with some licence at a later date.

Alan