"Trapped" in a "heritage funding Catch-22"

The Invergordon Museum is "trapped" in a heritage "funding Catch-22" fighting to keep the bust in Invergordon, it says in a press release on its Facebook page :

𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 - 𝟮𝟮 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐔𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐒 £𝟑.𝟏𝐌 𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 '𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇-𝟐𝟐', 𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐘
• 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹’𝘀 '𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹' 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀.
• 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗼𝗻 𝟭 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝟭 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲.
• 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗺'𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗢𝗜𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.
• 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗺.
• 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 '𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲', 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱.
• 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗱ings.
𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐎𝐍, 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 — The campaign to save the 1728 Bouchardon bust of Sir John Gordon for the nation has hit a critical impasse. The UK’s primary heritage grant bodies have confirmed they cannot provide a single penny to help the community retain the £3.1m artwork, while local authority non-compliance has escalated to defying Scotland's independent information regulator.
Following an Option Agreement signed with Highland Council on 1 July 2026, the museum has been given until 1 December 2026, the end of the second deferral period recommended by the RCEWA to the Minister, to raise £3,135,900 or halt the sale before the masterpiece is sold commercially.
The Museum Trustees approached the National Heritage Memorial Fund and National Lottery Heritage Fund for grant support to meet this target. However, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐇𝐌𝐅 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐊-𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐲-𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 '𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡-𝟐𝟐'
This procedural choice by Highland Council has trapped the community of Invergordon in an untenable situation as the 1 December 2026 deadline ticks down:
• 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: Following the 1 July 2026 Option Agreement, the clock is running on a £3,135,900 fundraising target.
• 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱: Highland Council’s commercial sales route directly locked the community out of the UK’s largest public heritage funds.
• 𝗨𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻: The people of Invergordon are expected to raise over £3.1 million privately to buy back an asset they already beneficially own, while denied access to national grant funds due solely to the council's procedural choices.
"𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙’𝑠 𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑎 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚," 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑚. "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙'𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑢𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠."
𝗗𝗲𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱
The opacity surrounding the council’s handling of the bust has escalated from administrative delay to active defiance of statutory oversight:
• 𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗙𝗢𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀: The museum submitted formal Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to inspect documents, correspondence, and valuations regarding the bust. Highland Council repeatedly missed promised response dates and failed to produce the documentation.
• 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: The museum escalated the matter to the Scottish Information Commissioner, who investigated and determined that the museum's position was right and the council was in breach of information law.
• 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲: Despite the independent regulator upholding the museum's appeal, Highland Council continues to refuse to release any documents regarding the bust.
• 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: This non-compliance follows the council's refusal to allow the trustees to inspect the written decision of Tain Sheriff Court, which ruled that the bust is no longer unalienable Common Good property.
𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗮𝘄𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵
The crisis has further deepened following the discovery of a material flaw in Highland Council’s statutory consultation process. The Trustees of the Invergordon Naval Museum & Heritage Centre have submitted an urgent formal complaint to Highland Council Chief Executive Derek Brown regarding a breach of statutory duty under Section 104 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015:
• 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀: Under Sections 104(4) and 104(5)(c) of the Act, the council is legally required to directly notify and invite representations from any community body known to have an interest in the property.
• 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱: Highland Council possessed explicit, documented knowledge of the Museum's interest, having entered into a formal loan agreement in 2011 for the Museum to physically house and display the bust. Despite this contractual history, the Museum was entirely excluded from the January 2024 statutory consultation.
• 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲: A direct invitation to Chief Executive Derek Brown to visit the museum and discuss community-led alternatives was formally acknowledged by the council, but followed by a complete failure to engage or provide a substantive reply.
• 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱: The Trustees are questioning whether this failure to consult a contractually linked community body was disclosed to the Sheriff when Highland Council sought court approval to clear the title for sale.
The Museum has demanded an immediate standstill agreement on the progression of the sale. If Highland Council proceeds based on an unlawful consultation process, the matter will be escalated to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and formally reported to the UK Government’s Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art because the legal integrity of the sale is under formal dispute.
𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
In response to statutory breaches, funding locks, and systemic non-disclosure, the Trustees of Invergordon Museum and the Save the Bust Campaign have submitted formal legal representations to the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and the Minister for Local Government.
The submission challenges the Scottish Government’s stance that it 'cannot intervene' because Highland Council is the 'legal owner', clarifying that under Scots Common Good law, Highland Council holds bare legal title purely as a statutory trustee, while beneficial ownership remains with the people of Invergordon.
The Museum is formally requesting that Scottish Ministers:
1. Convene an Emergency Stakeholder Summit between Highland Council, Invergordon Museum Trustees, National Galleries of Scotland, and Historic Environment Scotland to establish a national co-acquisition framework.
2. Order a Statutory Inquiry under Section 211 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 into Highland Council’s compliance with Section 104 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, investigating the unlawful exclusion of the Invergordon Naval Museum, total responses from only 67 residents (~1.5% of the population), and the disregard of explicit objections from both Invergordon Community Council and Saltburn Community Council.
3. Broker a Contractual Standstill to pause execution of the sale and suspend the 1 December deadline while national retention options, legal disclosures, and statutory consultation breaches are investigated.
“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡 — 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑤, 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦,” 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛. “𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑝𝑟𝑒-𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟, 𝑛𝑜 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑢𝑝, 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒.”

Invergordon Museum Page on the Bust of Sir John

Crowdfunder to Bring Sir John Home