Campaign to protect Lorne sausage

A Scottish comedian could well be turning in his grave and spouting his popular catchphrases after Scotland’s butchers revealed yesterday they were seeking European protection for the sausage named after him.

Tommy Lorne is widely credited with creating the square and flat Lorne sausage so it could be more easily put into the sandwiches he ate between shows.

The late comedian, who was a pantomime star in Glasgow in the 1920s and early 1930s, coined numerous phrases, including “In the name of the wee man” and “Sausages are the boys”.

Butchers’ chief Douglas Scott said the time had come to permanently protect a true Scottish delicacy and prevent it being made elsewhere in the UK and Europe.

The bid by Mr Scott’s Perth-based Scottish Federation of Meat Traders’ Associations would give the sausage the same status as Arbroath Smokies, Melton Mowbray pies, Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb, Parma ham and Champagne, providing European Commission officials agree it can be added to the list of prestigious regional foods covered by the protected geographic indicator (PGI) marque.

The Scottish Government and promotion agency Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) are both supportive, as are butchers across the country.

Mr Scott said: “I was running the judging for a national butchery competition and just thought what would have happened if we had Lorne sausage entries from butchers outwith Scotland and then gave them a diamond or gold award for it. It just hammered home to me this is a genuine Scottish food.

“We think there’s a lot of mileage in this as we’re not wanting imposters to imitate the real thing. There’s tonnes of Lorne sausage sold across Scotland every week and for many butchers, particularly in the west, it’s a huge part of the business.”

Aberdeen butcher Andrew Paxton, of Laidlaws in McCombie’s Court, agreed.

He has just had an order from a customer in the south of England who wants the firm’s Lorne sausage shipped south so he can have it for his breakfast on Christmas Day.

Mr Paxton makes up to 20 3lb traditional Lorne sausages weekly that are then sliced and sold in his shops in the city and Banchory. He also manufactures one with black pudding through the centre of it. He said: “It’s high time we were doing more to protect our traditional products and our industry.”

QMS head of marketing Laurent Vernet welcomed the bid, saying Scotland failed to make full use of the PGI scheme to protect its many unique and special foods.

He added: “Compare Scotland's seven protected food products with Portugal, which has twice the population of Scotland but more than 10 times the number of protected foods.

“With the changes in EU labelling regulations coming into effect, the PGI label is going to increase in its importance as a sign of national food identity and a true guarantee of tradition, quality and provenance.”

A bid to secure PGI status for Stornoway black pudding is already progressing through the commission.