you could n't walk more than a few feet on the main street of any highland town without encountering a shop selling shortbread , edinburgh rock , handkerchiefs embroidered with thistles , toy bagpipes , clan badges of cast aluminum , letter-openers shaped like claymores , coin purses shaped like sporrans ( some with an anatomically correct `` scotchman '' attached underneath ) , and an eye-jangling assortment of spurious clan tartans , adorning every conceivable object made of fabric , from caps , neckties , and serviettes down to a particularly horrid yellow `` buchanan '' sett used to make men 's nylon y-front underpants .