ONE of the most interesting facts I have picked up this week is that the good burghers of Linlithgow like themselves to be known as black bitches.
This is on account of the tale of loyalty shown by a female greyhound, with a black coat, who swam to her owner while he was imprisoned on an island in Linlithgow loch.
Legend has it the dog swam across the water to deliver regular supplies of food to keep her master alive. Once caught in the act, the black greyhound was taken to another island, where she too was tied to a tree.
The black bitch thus became a symbol of loyalty and faithfulness. An image of the greyhound tied to an oak tree features on the town’s coat of arms, and a sculpture of a black greyhound was recently unveiled in its High Street.
A 17th century pub in the town is also called the Black Bitch and includes the loyal dog on its sign too.
But that is all about to change as pub giant Greene King, which is based in Suffolk, has decided the name now has racist connotations and must be changed, much to the apoplexy of locals.
It is now going to be renamed the Black Hound, which is hardly any better in terms of a racism.
Greene King CEO Nick Mackenzie said: “As part of our commitment to being an anti-racist organisation we want our pub names to be welcoming and inclusive and that means taking action when there is a need to make a positive change for the better.”
So there we have it, centuries of tradition wiped out a stroke, in case it causes offence to an unknown group of people.
It is, sadly, yet another example of something being deemed potentially racist by someone who is white and joins a long list of dubious examples.
Back in the day, blackboards in school, written on in white chalk, were deemed potentially racist and were replaced, naturally, with whiteboards written on with black marker pens, which are perfectly fine.
Then this year, some organisations banned the word spooky around Halloween because spooks was a derogatory term used by US pilots in WWII against their black colleagues.
As spooks is also the universally used term for spies and secret agents, maybe M15 and MI6 should have a look at the organisation.
Racism is a very real issue that sees victims suffering appalling abuse on a daily basis.
We all have a part to play in eradicating it and insisting we are not part of the problem doesn’t really wash.
However, this nonsense from Greene King and others really must stop as pandering to the wokes does absolutely nothing to help the genuine problem of racism in society and only succeeds in encouraging the extremists.
Racism exists in all sectors of society and nobody needs mainly white, corporate HQ’s with a conscience looking for it in places it doesn’t - like on a pub sign.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel