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I Very Much Welcome the Bill and Entirely Agree with Its Main Principles

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I Very Much Welcome the Bill and Entirely Agree with Its Main Principles SUBMISSION FROM LORD LYON KING OF ARMS I very much welcome the Bill and entirely agree with its main principles. When I became Lord Lyon in 2001 I was surprised to discover that the Court of the Lord Lyon did not have any jurisdiction at all in respect of tartan, given the importance of tartan as a symbol so closely connected with Scotland and particularly with the Scottish clans, in relation to which the Lord Lyon has a crucial role. The legislation governing the Court of the Lord Lyon limits the Lord Lyon’s functions to heraldic and ceremonial matters and does not permit the Lord Lyon to widen these functions. In view of this I have been closely involved in the discussions amongst members of the tartan community which have led to the Bill. These discussions began late in 2001 and led to a meeting of representatives of various interested parties, including the Scottish Tartans Authority (STA), the Scottish Tartans World Register (STWR), National Archives of Scotland, Museum of Scotland and the Standing Council of Scottish Clan Chiefs, in March 2002. Since then many meetings have been held to progress the idea of a tartan register and since mid 2003 these have been attended by Jamie McGrigor MSP. I have attended most of these meetings as have representatives of the STA and STWR. These meetings have been constructive and have proceeded with the agreement of all parties. Because of concerns expressed at one point by the STA a meeting was held in my office with the Chairman, the Director and one of the other governors of the STA when these concerns were discussed. The concern of the STA was that they believed that legislation should be sought by which the register which they currently operate should be given official status, but still continue to be operated by the STA. The STA is an organisation representing a number of commercial and other interests. The possibility of the STA being converted into some kind of statutory body was discussed but this idea did not commend itself to the STA governors and the STA accepted that it was not a practical proposition to seek legislation to give official status to their register. The STA thought that it might be possible, if the legislation proceeded in the form proposed, for the Keeper of the tartan register, if he or she so decided, to enter into an arrangement for the STA to manage the new register on behalf of the Keeper, but it was accepted that this could not be prescribed by the legislation in any way. Would the creation of a Scottish Register of Tartans be beneficial? The Court of the Lord Lyon receives numerous enquiries about tartan. It is widely believed that there is in existence an official register and that the Lord Lyon has jurisdiction in relation to tartan. Enquirers are astonished to be told that this is not the case. The Lord Lyon has a very limited role in relation to tartan. As part of his heraldic function the Lord Lyon can record in his books, documents such as nominations of successors to coats of arms. This facility has been used by Clan Chiefs to define the design of their Clan tartan and have the design officially recorded in the books of the Lord Lyon. The Lord Lyon has no role in regard to tartan apart from receiving such requests and recording the information. Roughly 100 tartans are recorded in this way. It is an unsatisfactory state of affairs that the two main registers of tartan that exist have no official status and are not able to provide definitive official information about tartan. They are run by commercial interests and they are not safeguarded in any way against the possibility of discontinuance for commercial reasons. I would prefer that the proposed Register was called the “Scottish Register of Tartan” rather than “of Tartans” since it is tartan as a generic concept that the Bill hopes to safeguard through the recording of individual designs. What should happen to the current registers? In the course of the discussions that led to the Bill the representatives of both the Scottish Tartans Authority and the Scottish Tartans World Register indicated their willingness to make available a copy of their computer-held data to the Keeper of the proposed Register free of charge. This would be available as a historic record of data that these bodies held but would not necessarily be incorporated into the proposed Register. The Bill proposes at Section 11(3) that details of tartan from existing registers may be recorded in the new Register free of charge. This goes beyond what was discussed but would be a useful provision. It may be that there will be a reluctance on the part of the STA and the STWR to register details from their holdings in the new Register. However I do not think that this should detract from the main object of creating a vehicle which, over time, should become the definitive source of information on all tartans. There is no reason why the existing registers should not continue as commercial operations. There are many sources of information about tartan available to members of the public. The databases of the STA and the STWR are two of these, but there are other tartan databases and information on tartan is also available from museums, shops, academic records, libraries and many other places. The creation of an official register would not seek to force any of these existing sources to discontinue providing information. The situation would be analogous to heraldry where there are many heraldic databases and collections but there is only one official register. Definition of tartan I do not think that the word “alternating” in Section 3 is necessary. A tartan design does not need to have a particular band or colour appearing more than once in each direction. What information should be registered? I believe that what is proposed is satisfactory. What would the role of the Keeper be? I believe that what is proposed is satisfactory. Who should appoint the Keeper? I believe that what is proposed is satisfactory. In the course of the discussions that led to the Bill it was suggested that the Lord Lyon should be the Keeper of the tartan Register. This would require amendment to the legislation establishing and governing the operation of the Court of the Lord Lyon. In my view it is not desirable that the tartan register should be run by a Court of Law whose proceedings rely on rules of evidence and procedure appropriate to cases which may be contentious. Such rules and procedure, which are essential for disposing of contested claims to arms and associated titles and chiefships, are not necessary for the management of a register such as is proposed. What are the likely costs and fees for registration? I believe that what is proposed is satisfactory. .
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