Want to be a Scottish Laird, Lord or Lady?

[demmiblue]

Source: WDIV

A title company in Scotland is offering a unique opportunity -- one that they say is a great Christmas gift for someone who already has everything.

Highland Titles, an innovator in land preservation, is selling souvenir plots on its new estate in Lochabar, Scotland, which will grant owners the legal use of the Scottish title of Laird, Lord or Lady.

After many forests in Scotland have been destroyed by industry and farming, Highland Titles says by purchasing a plot you will be giving back and helping to increase the eco-conservation initiative around the world.

The idea of selling the plots is a new approach to land conservation, one that will help fund the rescuing of woodlands, tree planting, maintenance and acquisition of land, ensuring that it can't be purchased or developed on.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/want-to-be-a-scottish-laird-lord-or-lady/29845870

They even encourage you to visit your plot:

What can I do with my land?




As the new owner, you can come and find your plot; take a walk in the woods, take a photograph of your Estate, and picnic by the river.

The land is managed as a nature reserve, and you will be able to enjoy bird watching, fungi spotting, country pursuits and lots of tranquillity.

You are welcome to plant a tree or scatter ashes. If your estate is a large one (100 sqft or larger), you may wish to put your tent up and stay for a few days. As there may be a tree on your plot (it IS a wood), we permit large plot owners to camp anywhere on the estate.

Read more: http://www.highlandtitles.com/

Cool Christmas gift idea!

[frazzled]

1. Hey, I own land in Scotland

Five or so years ago I bought a bottle of Laphroiag at the liquor store and when I opened the box there was a tag on the bottle. It gave me a number and directed me to a web site where I could claim my one-square foot of peaty land on the property of the Laphroaig distillery. I went, registered, and was able to look on a map to locate "my" one square foot, in addition to seeing the people (from all over the world) who owned surrounding mini-plots. A few months later they sent me an actual "deed" in the mail: an impressive document!!

[pinboy3niner]

2. One square foot?

We're gonna need a smaller tent.

[msanthrope]

3. 12 inches is pretty impressive, no matter how you square it. nt

[frazzled]

4. Yeah, that's the beauty of it

If you drink enough Islay malt, you get good laugh about it. After a few sips, you realize it's not big enough to park your posterior on. But hey, you own a bit of good peaty bog that produces some fine single malt, and it was essentially free. And if you ever go there, they promise to give you waders and a map to find your square foot plot.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Hmmm ...

Highland Titles, based in the Channel Islands, offers plots of land measuring a square foot on a 750-acre area known as the Keil estate, and tells buyers that owning the land allows them to adopt the title Laird, Lord or Lady of Glencoe.

But critics say the titles are meaningless and that the land itself is nowhere near the famous glen. The Keil estate is 16 miles west of Glencoe on a spit of land that juts into Loch Linnhe.
...
One source familiar with the situation said: “The land is nowhere near Glencoe. If you buy into the theory that this company is selling plots to put money back into the environment, so be it. But ‘caveat emptor’ – buyers beware.”

The titles have also brought bemusement in the area itself. “A lot of people are unhappy about it in the local community,” said a Glencoe local who declined to be named. “The name of Glencoe is being exploited. A lot of people over the years have tried to exploit it and this is yet another example. They’ve called the wood “Glencoe Wood” but why would it be called that when it’s not even in Glencoe?”

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/30-title-to-lord-it-over-glencoe-1-2125806

WARNINGS from Forestry Commission Scotland that owners of woodland face £5,000 fines if they fail to tackle diseased ash trees present a new problem for the already questionable business of selling tiny parcels of land and telling punters that purchase entitles them to call themselves Laird or Lady.
...
Highland Titles, which is registered in, er, Guernsey and run by self-styled “philanthropist, conservationist, biologist” Peter Bevis, advertises that its woods consist of “native Scottish broadleaf, either oak, ash, rowan, hazel…” A Forestry Commission Scotland spokesman tells the Eye that statutory plant health notices could be served on either the owner or manager of woodland, which would be decided on a case by case basis. Fines are imposed for failure to comply.
Lairdship companies could of course reassure customers that there is no such risk by admitting that since souvenir plots are not registered in the Land Register, buyers don’t actually own the land any more than they do the title (as Registers of Scotland warned in a law journal article earlier this year). But then, what could they claim to be selling?"

http://lochaberhighlandestate.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/highland-titles-glencoe-estates-in.html

When this was pointed out, Highland Titles changed their list of the trees on the land from having both 'ash' and 'rowan' to just 'mountain ash (rowan)'. That doesn't mean the ash trees were cut down, of course, so if you do own a plot with one on, you're liable.

All in all, I have my doubts about a company run in the Channel Islands (not actually part of the United Kingdom or EU) selling 'plots' which can't be officially registered, at the other end of the British Isles. You're basically sending money to a guy who says "trust me, I'm an ecologist, I'll look after this land".