Linlithgow museum has gone where no one has gone before in displaying a plaque to commemorate the 200th ‘future birthday’ of ‘Star Trek’ character Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott.
The sci-fi star ship engineer, played by acting legend James Doohan, was said to have been born in Linlithgow on June 28, 2222.
The blue plaque titled ‘Federation Heritage’ places of birth for Montgomery Scott in Linlithgow, Scotland,on Earth in the Sol System under the United Federation of Planets.
First unveiled in 2007, the plaque was revealed by James Doohan’s wife Wende upon the opening of an exhibition celebrating the life of the actor following his death in 2005 - the exhibition was on display at the former museum site in Annet House in Linlithgow.
By redisplaying the plaque, Linlithgow Museum aims to tie it in with a ‘future heritage project’ in collaboration with Heriot Watt University on September 17 - examining Linlithgow’s connection with science-fiction, and comparing it to science as we know it now.
While disputed by a few Scottish towns and cities - like Elgin, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen - original series script-writer and Star Trek novel author, Dorothy ‘D.C’ Fontana in 1989 wrote in ‘Vulcan’s Glory’:”Lieutenant Montgomery Scott had no trouble finding his quarters.
“The Enterprise’s corridors and decks were already as familiar to him as his mother’s house in Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland.”
This claim was apparently backed up by James Doohan himself, who always identified the character as coming from Linlithgow, with a mother who still stayed in the town.
Linlithgow Museum community co-ordinator, Julia Branch, said:”James Doohan knew his character really well, and if Scotty said he was born in Linlithgow - that’s where he was born!
“One novel by D.C. Fontana even mentions Scotty’s mother hanging laundry up at The Vennel in Linlithgow.
“We’re very proud of our Star Trek connection in Linlithgow - as a trekkie myself it’s wonderful to have that link here to a TV show I grew up with.
“I think they chose Linlithgow because it’s a central town in Scotland - of course it’s famous for many other reasons - like being the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, so I suppose it was building off the town’s legacy.
“We’re not as well known or as big as Glasgow or Edinburgh or Dundee - and I think James Doohan and Fontana saw his character as an opinionated little Scotsman who worked his way up from a small town in Scotland.”
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