Tractor Rally, Bute

A busy constituency Saturday.

The tenth annual Bute vintage tractor rally was taking place in Rothesay and it was the largest ever with over 90 tractors on show. I last saw it (& blipped it) three years ago and it is now so well attended they all have to line up on the Promenade which makes for an amazing spectacle. Cllr Robert MacIntyre, himself a farmer, took me round.

Then there was a commemoration event for the "Men of Bute" , who fell in the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 and for whom a memorial stone was erected in 2003 outside the Winter Gardens. The Society of William Wallace organised the event and used it for the handover of the official certificate for their tartan, presented by George MacKenzie who retired recently as Registrar General, Keeper of the Records & Keeper of the Tartan Registry ( and for whom I was responsible when I was Culture Minister). George spoke very well and there was a good crowd around to hear him, the Provost and myself as well as the designer of the tartan and the Convener of the Wallace Society and pay tribute to the "Men of Bute" themselves.

Then we drive over to Kilmun for Jeanette Valentine's Garden Party in support of YES Scotland. . It too was well attended and her lovely garden looks over the Holy Loch so it was good to sit and talk there - the first sitting I had done all day!