The owners of the Black Bitch pub in Linlithgow are pressing ahead with controversial plans to change its name after announcing it will now be called The Willow Tree.
Campaigners have been fighting against the plans since pub bosses at Greene King announced their intentions to make the name more “welcoming and inclusive”.
They said the company would be ignoring the wishes of 11,000 people if it went ahead and held two rallies in the town.
Former First Minister Alex Salmond also criticised the plans, labelling them as “daft”.
The company announced today that the pub’s name will be changed to Willow Tree, following a community consultation over whether to continue with the original choice of the Black Hound for the new name.
The name is a nod to the nearby statue of drover Katie Wearie and Katie Wearie’s willow tree, which was planted originally in 1832 to mark the Reform Act in Scotland.
Greene King said it had decided that the name would change to The Willow Tree, which recognises another important piece of Linlithgow’s history, and was one of the options put forward in the consultation.
Greene King CEO Nick Mackenzie said: “Changing the pub’s name has been something we’ve been considering for some time and I’d like to thank people who’ve written to us to offer their views.
“There’s been plenty of publicity around those who don’t agree with our decision, but we’ve also had letters of support from people in Linlithgow.
“This is a difficult balance and throughout this we have continued to highlight our respect for the history of Linlithgow. Our decision is not meant to diminish or denigrate the heritage of the town but at the same time we recognise that language has changed and the name can be extremely offensive to people.
“Our commitment to changing the name is unwavering, as we strongly believe it is the right thing to do for our teams and our customers, but we do understand why our original idea to just change the one word on the sign from Bitch to Hound was not well-received by all. It was done with the best of intentions to retain the spirit of the story, but we’ve listened to people who felt it would impact negatively on the town’s emblem.
“We’re pleased therefore to be instead changing it to The Willow Tree, which retains links to the town’s heritage, and look forward to this next chapter of the pub’s history.”
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