Pope's visit to Scotland gives tartan boost

The scarf was seen by millions of people around the world

The Pope's visit to Scotland has brought an unexpected boost for Scottish tartan producers.

Millions watched as Pope Benedict XVI donned a special tartan scarf made in his honour at the start of his state visit to the UK.

Orders have since poured in to Ingles Buchan of Glasgow, one of two firms behind the St Ninian's Day tartan.

The scarf was seen by millions around the world as Cardinal Keith O'Brien draped it over the Pope's shoulders.

The limited edition tartan, designed by Matthew Newsome, had already been presented to all 129 MSPs in the form of a tie or a scarf by Scotland's Roman Catholic leader.

'Complete surprise'

But Ingles Buchan managing director Colin Brown said it came as a complete surprise to see the Pope wearing the scarf.

He said: "It was absolutely fantastic just to see the Pope going along Princes Street and one of our scarves round his neck.

"We had handed over five metres of material which I knew was being gifted to the Pope but we certainly didn't know he was going to be wearing a scarf."

Since then, the company - which created the tartan in conjunction with Clan Italia of Falkirk - has seen orders rolling in.

Mr Brown said: "As soon as the Pope was wearing the scarf, our phones started ringing off the hook. We had calls from Poland, America and Canada, asking: 'Where can we buy your products?'."

The firm said it had already received hundreds of orders, with 50 or 60 further e-mail inquiries overnight.

Mr Brown added: "It is just going to grow and grow. We have already got more material being woven at the moment and we hope to have that ready at the end of September, beginning of October."