Tweed: A rough-surfaced woollen cloth, usually of mixed flecked colours, originally produced in Scotland. (O.E.D.)
I think of tweed as the official material of the U.K., if there is such a thing. Purists might consider it more properly Scottish or Irish, but it has been worn by enough English princes, dukes, academics and fictional detectives to make it a national treasure. Expressive, in fact, of elements of the British character ('Tweedy: characteristic of the country gentry, heartily informal'- from my O.E.D. again.). It's not difficult to see why; I'm looking at the 'why' out of my window as I write. It's raining, it's chilly, the sky is one, long, miserable stretch of grey cloud. A little bit of nice, cosy, weather-resistant tweed just fills the bill, so beautifully reflective of the heaths and hills of rural Britain that sheep would look right at home on my shoulders.
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