WE all have misconceptions in life.

It’s perfectly natural. Not even the most brilliant scientist can get everything right.

A common misconception concerns how we assess the character of others.

Many years ago, I knew someone I regarded as a grumpy so-and-so, with an apparent lack of compassion for anyone other than himself.

I seem to recall only once hearing him laugh, and even then I wondered what was going through his mind. While never in his company socially, it struck me this was one individual unlikely to be regarded the life and soul of any party. Only after his death did I learn there was another side to his character.

It transpired that he and his wife spent much of their free time caring for a disabled grandchild to take some of the weight off their son or daughter and partner.

Perhaps the most frequent misconception is to judge a person by the way he or she dresses.

Over the years I have come into contact with a few members of the landed gentry — those who live on estates owned by their families for generations. I should make it clear that this has been largely by chance and not as a guest on a shooting party.

One might imagine that males falling into this category will always appear immaculate, favouring outerwear specially made by tailors or bought from high class stores whose customers include the Royal Family. In addition, they will never be seen behind the wheel of anything less than a Range Rover.

I once took a long walk along a remote road during a holiday in the Highlands. It started to rain heavily and I was grateful when the elderly driver of a battered van stopped and gestured that he would give me a lift.

By his tattered clothing I guessed the driver had stolen the clothes of a tramp who had stripped off to wade into a loch for a wash.

It turned out the fellow owned an estate covering tens of thousands of acres. My initial assessment proved to be a classic case of misconception.