KATE FORBES: Tartan Act would unlock huge benefits for Badenoch and Strathspey
The sight of tartan instantly prompts thoughts of Scotland across the globe.
But while tartan remains one of Scotland’s most recognisable cultural exports, in the Highlands, one of the regions most associated with its heritage, there is only one tartan-producing mill left.
Two million tourists a year visit the Cairngorms alone, with many of them passing through Aviemore, Newtonmore, Kingussie and the surrounding area.
They see tartan everywhere – in shop windows, on hotel furniture, and worn proudly by street buskers.
What many don’t realise is that these tartans don’t originate in the Highlands – and not always in Scotland either.
In recent months I’ve been getting to know Clare Campbell, who founded Prickly Thistle Mill in 2018. Her tartan weaving mill is the only one like it in the region.
I’ve been delighted to support Clare’s campaign to establish a Highland Tartan Act, and having successfully persuaded Westminster to allow her petition for a Tartan Act, I’ve been encouraging everyone to sign it.
Should the campaign prove a success, new legislation has the potential to bring a whole raft of benefits and opportunities for local communities.
Tartan production was once abundant throughout the Highlands. Weaving was largely a domestic, cottage-industry activity.
Families would spin, dye and weave wool in their homes on simple hand or floor looms, producing cloth for household use and local sale. Each community developed its own distinctive patterns and production methods.
This connection between maker and meaning created tartans that carried authentic Highlands identity in every thread which is undoubtedly one of the many reasons for their worldwide renown today.
Unfortunately, tartan production in the Highlands declined throughout the 20th Century.
The effects of new transport methods, globalisation and the pursuit of cheaper costs saw production shift away from the Highlands.
The good news is that we know this decline can be reversed.
The Harris Tweed Act of 1993 provides a template for how legal protection can revive and protect traditional industries while preserving cultural authenticity.
Harris Tweed’s protected status has preserved traditional methods, and it has created a thriving modern industry that has a premium reputation – precisely because consumers know it’s the real thing.
A Highland Tartan Act could establish similar protection for tartan woven in the Highlands.
Protected Highland tartan would be instantly recognisable and could become as widely appreciated as Harris Tweed has.
Local production would mean jobs returning to communities that have fewer opportunities for employment. For too long it’s been a trend that young people leave the Highlands because there aren’t enough local opportunities to stay.
Should the campaign be a success, the benefit to the Highlands could be immense.
The proposed changes in legislation would need to be passed through the UK Government. The Westminster petition, which closes in March, needs 100,000 signatures to guarantee parliamentary debate.
Clare and the team at Prickly Thistle deserve enormous credit for kickstarting this campaign, and I’ll be doing everything I can to champion the cause.
Scotland deserves a Tartan Act. Our Highland communities deserve the economic benefits that revitalising this lost art could bring.
The millions of visitors to our country would stand to gain from the guaranteed provenance of their Tartan goods - connecting them to the landscapes and traditions it represents.
Sign the petition at: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/713728
Kate Forbes (SNP) is MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and Deputy First Minister of Scotland.