'Tartan Bill Row as a result of McGrigor’s Bill'

A little known Bill is being pushed through the Scottish Parliament. It is the 'Scottish Register of Tartans' Bill. Its' aim is to change the way Tartans are recorded in Scotland. The purpose to establish a statutory Scottish Register of Tartans and designate a Keeper of the Register who is required to maintain and oversee the Register and new registrations. Additionally, he/she will need to establish a process for registering new tartan designs in the Register.

This Register will incorporate the 3,000 tartans held in the Scottish Tartans World Register (STWR) and the 6,000 tartans held in the Scottish Tartans Authority’s (STA) register.

There is support for a Scottish register, in particular from Jamie McGrigor MSP, the proponent of the Bill. He said “I strongly believe my Bill offers a valuable and workable way forwards towards a Scottish Register of Tartans. It will create the first ever publicly held Register on a statutory basis. The key principles are that it will be independent, publicly accessible and sustainable and held permanently and in perpetuity for the Scottish nation.”

However, Keith Lumsden, of the current Scottish Tartans World Register has some concerns. He says “As this Bill stands there is a danger that it will encourage an environment where tartans will exist outside being registered. This happens because the application criteria of what can be on the Register are too restrictive. If a tartan looks like being profitable then it will be produced regardless. Commercial conflict will be likely with some other business formally registering a different tartan but with that name, trying to cash in on the profitability in the use of the Register”.

So the question is, does Scotland need a 'Statutory Tartan Register' or not? I wonder… we have managed without one for hundreds of years. It maybe a bit late now to have much impact on the outcome of the Bill but you can always write to your MSP. Better still why not vote in our survey below. Another alternative is to write to the committee clerk prior to Stage 2 on 12 September 2008. The e-mail address is sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk.

Article subscribed by Charles Litster