| Public Register of Tartans |
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A Bill to create a Public Register of Tartans has been presented to the Scottish Parliament by Jamie McGrigor MSP. With all-party support the draft Bill will go through Committee stages before being introduced to Parliament. It is hoped that this Bill could be enacted before the Parliamentary elections in May 2007. When the Act becomes law then, and only then, will there be a recognised authority for tartan and de facto official tartans – the elected authority in Scotland. On 28th September 2006 there was a successful press launch outside the Scottish Parliament building. The Enterprise and Culural Committee called for written evidence on 3rd. October and met on 14th. November. This showed a large majority in favour of a National Register. Jamie McGrigor gave evidence to the Committee on 5th. December. Written evidence from the Scottish Executive will be presented at the next Committee meeting on 16th. January 2007. The original petition to the Scottish Parliament for the creation of a public register of tartans was made by a Mr. James Anderson of Woodland Hills California. His aim was two-fold. Firstly to ensure that this extraordinary national icon was controlled by its rightful owners: the people of Scotland, and secondly to make it more affordable to the millions of Americans who claim Scottish ancestry and wish to express it through tartan. Current legislation in the USA includes tartan cloth in the list of goods subject to a high level of import duty intended to protect the US cotton industry. The creation of legislation in Scotland defining tartan as a ‘national treasure' would doubtless be helpful in persuading Congress to examine a level of duty which prevents so many US citizens from celebrating their ancestry. |
Tartan Facts & Snippets
| Australia and New Zealand hold Tartan Days on 1 July to mark the date the law banning tartan and kilts was repealed. |