ABSTRACT
This article considers how, as policies towards the traditional arts in Scotland developed, these arts began to assert their value in the context of the creation of the national companies, and a continuing concern with the ‘mythic constructs’ (Craig 1982) of the Kailyard and Tartanry. The rise of the Folk Revival and a concomitant advocacy sought a response from the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) in particular, the body increasingly tasked with making an equity of provision to the burgeoning of creative work taking place outside of the canon and the modernist discourse. A series of surveys and reports with SAC backing succeeded in redressing the history of neglect of the traditional arts in formal support structures, with the result that the groundswell of work by activists over decades now enjoys a place in cultural policy, backed by some financial recognition and a move towards some parity of esteem.
