A third rally was held on Sunday to protest the name change of a popular West Lothian pub.
Dozens of protestors stood in the wet weather at Linlithgow Cross to again fight the decision by the chain pub Greene King to change the name of the Black Bitch pub.
It was the first protest since the company decided on a new name - The Willow Tree - but the third rally in total.
The controversial choice to change the name began in November last year, when Britain’s biggest pub retailer took over the 17th century pub.
At the protest one of the lead campaigners, Alastair Old, said: “Greene King came here in November with the sole purpose of changing the name of this historic Pub.
“They tried to pretend that they had done a consultation and spoken to local organisations.
“They embarked on a series of smoke and mirror statements quoting a “number of people” and a “number of organisations” had been contacted.
“It is clear that they did not actually carry out any consultation in the town.
“They came here with the absolute determination to wipe out this pub with no regard to the historical context or for the feeling of the people in this town.”
Greene King representatives say they have spoken to a number of representatives from Linlithgow including the West Lothian Community Race Forum and a local historian - with the CEO, Nick Mackenzie, even visiting the town amidst the controversy.
The new name for the historical pub, The Willow Tree, comes from the nearby statue of Katie Wearie and her willow tree, which was planted in 1832 to mark the Reform Act in Scotland.
The pub has been known as The Black Bitch since it opened in the 17th century.
The name itself a reference to the 13th century local legend of a dark greyhound that swam across Linlithgow Loch to an exiled owner, bringing him food and water until the day they both died.
The greyhound features prominently in the town, on Linlithgow’s coat of arms, on Linlithgow Academy’s tie, a statue of the dog on the main street, and sold in local shops adorned on whisky glasses, jewellery, and quaichs.
West Lothian Council stepped into the argument last week, unanimously agreeing to a cross-party motion, urging Greene King to ‘reflect on the wishes of the community and issues raised’.
The composite motion read: “For generations people who were born within the boundary of the royal burgh have been proud to be known as Black Bitches given their association with the town.
“The original reason given for the name change, that it was racist effectively, now makes this a slur on the reputation of these residents.”
Protestors also claim that the company has ignored their petition to halt the change in name, which had over 12,000 signatures.
The company put a poll out into the community with three possible new names for the pub, most protestors stood against this however, refusing to even consider a possible change to the historic pub’s name.
Campaigners claim their feedback was ignored when they were told the name of the pub was changing.
Alastair Old added: “Once again they ignored the feedback and this time didn’t even pretend that the name had been picked by anyone - they simply told everyone the name was changing.
“No consultation whatsoever and absolutely no regard for the feelings in the town or the damage to local shops and the tourist trade in the town.
“It’s all about their image and no one else counts.”
A Greene King spokesperson said: “We respect the proud history of Linlithgow and listened to community feedback about our original choice of name, which is why we’re now renaming our pub to The Willow Tree to mark another important piece of local heritage.
“It has never been our intention to cause any upset but we cannot ignore that we’ve heard from many people, including people living in the town, who don’t feel comfortable with the existing name written on the front of a pub, even when the context is known.”
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