After seal ban, kilt makers lament “end of an era”

This sealskin sporran is sold online at www.heritageofscotland.com.

RANDY BOSWELL
POSTMEDIA NEWS

Europe’s ban on imports of Canadian seal products, which came into effect late last month in Scotland, has left Scottish kilt makers lamenting the “end of an era” and trying to cope with “poor” alternatives to sealskin sporrans – the purse-like pouch that has adorned the tartan-patterned national costume for generations.

Sales of sporrans have reportedly plunged in the wake of the ban, according to industry representatives.

Synthetic fur substitutes or replacement animal skins from muskrat, horse and rabbit “don’t have the same appearance as the seal skin,” Inverness kilt maker Ian Chisholm told Postmedia News Sept. 13.

“They don’t lend themselves to the blend of colours to match the tartans … and the beautiful texture. It’s really taking away from the traditional Highland dress.”

Chisholm, who runs a family kilt-supply business that began in the 1950s, said his shop still has about 150 sealskin sporrans in stock and that several suppliers have enough seal fur stockpiled to last a number of months.

“That can be used up” under the seal-ban regulations, he said. “But these (stockpiles) will gradually be run down.”

Chisholm’s brother, Duncan, had been one of Scotland’s leading critics of the planned seal-products ban before it was passed last year by the European Parliament. As head of the Kilt Makers Association of Scotland, he had petitioned – unsuccessfully – for exemptions for makers of sealskin sporrans to preserve their place in Scottish history.

“This is going to change that tradition and it really is the end of an era,” Duncan Chisholm said at the time.

Ian Chisholm said industry members are continuing to press Scottish politicians in hopes of overturning the ban and re-stocking their shelves with sealskin sporrans.

Meanwhile, another battlefront has been opened in the fight over the future of the animal-pelt pouch, traditionally used by Highlanders to carry food, money or other possessions to compensate for the kilt’s lack of pockets.

Animal-rights activists are now pressing kilt makers to abandon all animal-based materials in manufacturing sporrans, urging them to acquire synthetic, “vegan” alternatives.

The campaign is modelled on the long-running battle in the U.K. to ban imports of fur from Canadian black bears for use in manufacturing “bearskin” hats for formal uniforms in some British military units.

Muskrat pelts from Canada are among the sealskin substitutes now being used for the kilt accessory, but the aquatic rodent is on a list of “victims” that animal advocates want saved from makers of sporrans.

An Edinburgh-based group called Ethical Voice for Animals is planning a march in the Scottish capital on Oct. 2 to push for an end to the use of all animal fur in making the waist pouch.

The group is promoting the demonstration under the slogan: “Sporrans: For Scotland’s Sake … Make it Fake!”