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LITTLE
LAIRDS It seems that there are
many more Lairds and Ladies around the glens and remote peat bogs of
Scotland these days. Have the Highlands suddenly become the next
destination of choice for the great and the good? Well no actually. A gaggle of web-based
companies has suddenly sprouted into existence, and for the princely sum
of around £30 can furnish you with land and a title. What, thirty quid
and one join’s the ranks of the titled and landed aristocracy? Well not quite. These
companies can sell you a square foot of land in the Scottish Highlands,
probably a speck of worthless peat bog. With that ownership of land they
claim, you get to call yourself ‘Laird or Lady’ ‘because as a
registered owner of Highland land, comes the right to use the title’. A bold claim indeed, as
the land registry authorities in Scotland no longer register such trivial
parcels of land. The ownership of the one square foot speck of land is
granted to you, by the registered owner of the main plot in the form of an
Indenture.
A clever scam? Is this all a clever scam?
There are those who say that it is, because the unique selling point of
the enterprise is flawed. Nobody in Scotland would take you seriously as a
Laird or Lady for owning a square foot of land. In fact, you would most
likely be met with amused and knowing smiles, the kind usually reserved
for small children. If the sheer fact of owning a piece of land in
Scotland made you a Laird or Lady, then the majority of the population
would be so titled, and being known as plain Mr, Mrs or Ms would be far more
exclusive. To be a genuine Laird or
Lady and taken seriously for the fact, would entail ownership of a
respectably sized estate. Laird simply means ‘landowner’, but is
usually applied to those with more than a few thousand acres of good
productive land.
That foot square speck of peat bog just won’t cut the mustard. Most people in full
control of their faculties will no doubt realise that these tiny
plots are nothing more than a novelty, a fancy looking legal document one
can hang on ones wall as a little conversation piece. It is a unique and
interesting gift, a piece of fun or nostalgia and nothing
more. To that extent
they are all fine and dandy.
America and the MacZeppelins What is highly amusing, are the amount of buyers from across the pond who are taken in hook line and sinker. Many of these have no real Scots connections but just thought that Mel Gibsons outrageously inaccurate and fantastical film, Braveheart, was 'cool'. Does anybody
in America really imagine they can be called something
like, ‘Randy
Bumgardner the 3rd - Laird of Glen Haggis’ and still be
accepted as being on the right side of a space cadet academy? Imagine coming across
this noble fellow in a business meeting, as he hands you his card with the
impressively embossed title. You just know you will be awarding him
the contract. There are a surprising
number of German websites selling these Lairdships too, they must appeal
to those members of the well-known Germanic Scottish Septs of the
MacZeppelins and the MacRicthoffens. And even more amazingly, buyers of
this micro real estate often make special trips to see
their little estates in Scotland, doubtless wearing a kilt in the
appropriate tartan. Such antics are at least giving the locals something
to laugh about, as there is certainly nothing amusing about the weather in
the Highlands of Scotland.
Educational tools These little pieces of
land have their niche though. Anybody with an ancestral connection to
Scotland can own a token bite of the country, and if they treat the
‘Laird or Lady’ nonsense with a pinch of salt, it can give some
personal satisfaction. It may also be a useful educational tool to
encourage ones children to take an interest in history and geography. If you are looking to gain
a genuine title and respect, I am afraid that these ‘Laird or Lady’
packages are not for you, there are just too many of your fellow micro ‘Lairds
or Ladies’ out there. There is even a website on the net for you all to
get together in cyberspace and compare notes. One site is even encouraging
you to design your own tartan to give that air of 'lairdliness' to your
tiny piece of the Highlands. If you just want a novelty item that is to be taken lightly and act as a fun icebreaker around the dinner table, as a prop to encourage your kids to study, or even as a sentimental reminder of the ‘old country’ then these tiny plots of land certainly have a place, if at a price. If they also help to attract more money directly to the Highland communities by increased tourism and via internet commerce then that is all to the good as well.
©Copyright - James of Glencarr |
