ONE of the most interesting facts I have picked up this week is that the good burghers of Linlithgow like themselves to be known as black bitches.

This is on account of the tale of loyalty shown by a female greyhound, with a black coat, who swam to her owner while he was imprisoned on an island in Linlithgow loch.

Legend has it the dog swam across the water to deliver regular supplies of food to keep her master alive. Once caught in the act, the black greyhound was taken to another island, where she too was tied to a tree.

The black bitch thus became a symbol of loyalty and faithfulness. An image of the greyhound tied to an oak tree features on the town’s coat of arms, and a sculpture of a black greyhound was recently unveiled in its High Street.

A 17th century pub in the town is also called the Black Bitch and includes the loyal dog on its sign too.

But that is all about to change as pub giant Greene King, which is based in Suffolk, has decided the name now has racist connotations and must be changed, much to the apoplexy of locals.

It is now going to be renamed the Black Hound, which is hardly any better in terms of a racism.

Greene King CEO Nick Mackenzie said: “As part of our commitment to being an anti-racist organisation we want our pub names to be welcoming and inclusive and that means taking action when there is a need to make a positive change for the better.”

So there we have it, centuries of tradition wiped out a stroke, in case it causes offence to an unknown group of people.

It is, sadly, yet another example of something being deemed potentially racist by someone who is white and joins a long list of dubious examples.

Back in the day, blackboards in school, written on in white chalk, were deemed potentially racist and were replaced, naturally, with whiteboards written on with black marker pens, which are perfectly fine.

Then this year, some organisations banned the word spooky around Halloween because spooks was a derogatory term used by US pilots in WWII against their black colleagues.

As spooks is also the universally used term for spies and secret agents, maybe M15 and MI6 should have a look at the organisation.

Racism is a very real issue that sees victims suffering appalling abuse on a daily basis.

We all have a part to play in eradicating it and insisting we are not part of the problem doesn’t really wash.

However, this nonsense from Greene King and others really must stop as pandering to the wokes does absolutely nothing to help the genuine problem of racism in society and only succeeds in encouraging the extremists.

Racism exists in all sectors of society and nobody needs mainly white, corporate HQ’s with a conscience looking for it in places it doesn’t - like on a pub sign.