Sign that has been mistakenly welcoming people to Penis Island for over six years corrected

A Scottish council has been welcoming visitors with a Gaelic sign saying “Penis Island”. The sign welcoming ferry passengers to Bute has been in place for at least six years, but it only just came to light that it was missing a vital accent above a vowel. The result meant that instead of reading “Welcome to the beauty of the Isle of Bute”, the sign proclaimed “Welcome to the beauty of Penis Island”.



A missing accent on one word changed “Bhòid meaning “Bute” to “Bod” - which is Gaelic for the male member. Isle of Bute independent councillor Len Scouller said: “It makes us look bloody stupid. I’m not a Gaelic speaker but I would apologise to people who are Gaelic speakers and we will rectify it right away. He added: “It’s beside the pier, it’s where people are walking off the ferry. It’s welcoming people to the island.

“I’m sure it’s the big sign the council put up many, many years ago. It would probably be about 9 years ago, the exact day I don’t remember. I will make enquiries as to who ordered the sign.” Gaelic coach, Àdhamh Ó Broin, explained the cock-up. He said: “It’s meant to be the genitive case, not the genital case. A genitive case is when one noun follows another and its form changes. Bhòid is Bute but Bod is penis.



“You would need the accent over the “O”. It says, ‘Welcome to the doorway to the beauty of Penis Island’.” Following the discovery of the gaffe, which was spotted by Coinneach Combe, a visitor from Johnstone in Renfrewshire, during a trip to the Bute Highland Games, which were held in Rothesay on Saturday, the mistake was rectified on Monday with the addition of an accent above the ‘o’ in Bhòid.