Robbie the Pict, born in 1945 as Brian Robertson, is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

political activist, notably campaigning for the removal of tolls from the

Skye Bridge The Skye Bridge () is a road bridge over Loch Alsh, Scotland, connecting the Isle of Skye to the island of Eilean Bàn. The name is also used for the whole Skye Crossing, which further connects Eilean Bàn to the mainland across the Carrich V ...

, and former Scottish Parliamentary candidate for the

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act o ...

. He is the founder of the "Pictish Free State"

micronation A micronation is a polity, political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from list o ...

Career

Pictish Free State

Robertson first gained exposure as the leader of the micronation of the Pictish Free State, established in 1977 as a means of promoting awareness of the

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

culture. He started the project with one

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

of his own land on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

. Since then the Pictish Free State has grown to over through supporters donations. Robbie, under 'Pictish High Commission' auspices, has in the past been in conflict with

HM Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

over his use of Pictish diplomatic

registration plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...

s and non-compliance with UK laws.

Skye Bridge toll campaign

Robbie the Pict was a leading figure in the ultimately successful campaign to abolish the toll on the

, during which he argued that the legal paperwork for the tolls was incomplete, and that consequently the tolls themselves were illegal. The toll was finally abolished in 2004 after the Scottish government bought the bridge from its private owners. Robbie the Pict also appealed unsuccessfully to Prince Charles to help overturn the criminal convictions of those who had been prosecuted for refusing to pay the toll.

Asylum seeking

For a time in the early 1990s Robbie was in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, where he sought political asylum. Robbie ultimately felt that he had been undermined by the influence of the

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

British intelligence agency on the serving Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trivimi Velliste, to prevent Robbie becoming a

cause célèbre A ( , ; pl. ''causes célèbres'', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate. The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for th ...

by being officially granted political asylum. Robbie believed, and still believes, that Velliste's Soviet past made it possible for him to be compromised by foreign intelligence services.

Political candidacy

Robertson was a candidate for

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

in 1999, standing as additional member for the Highlands and Islands. He received 1,151 votes, securing 0.57% of the vote.

Speed cameras challenges

In 2006 Robbie the Pict launched a campaign to have traffic light surveillance cameras declared illegal on the grounds that they have not been formally approved by Parliament. He was convicted in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

of running through a red light. In April 2009, his appeal to the High Court in London was rejected. In May 2009 he lost a test case in the Scottish Court of

Criminal Appeal An appeal was a procedure in English law to bring about a prosecution by a private party of an individual accused of a heinous crime. Generally According to Blackstone, " he term 'appeal'is derived from the French, '' ... which signifies to ...

challenging the legality of speed cameras.'Robbie the Pict' loses speed camera test case
''The Scotsman'', 15 May 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbie the Pict Living people 1948 births Scottish activists Micronational leaders 1977 establishments in Scotland 1977 in British politics Micronations in Scotland Pictish culture Politics of Highland (council area) Isle of Skye