Confiscated sporran released for wedding

A wedding has gone ahead in Australia three months after the bridegroom's ceremonial Welsh sporran was quarantined over foot-and-mouth fears.

Gareth Moore, 46, whose family is originally from Barry, near Cardiff, south Wales, postponed his wedding to 35-year-old Karen Wood in September when customs officials seized the sporran.

Gareth Moore was determined to marry in the kilt

The sporran - or 'sgrepan' in Welsh - had been flown out from the Welsh Tartan Centre Cardiff along with a full ceremonial Celtic outfit of a cilt (the Welsh version is spelt this way), waistcoat,jacket and tie.

But officials in Australia feared the Welsh cob and goat's hair on the leather sporran could contain the foot-and-mouth virus which was spreading across the UK at the time.

However, after three weeks of irradiation treatment at the hands of quarantine inspectors, the sporran was finally released and the delayed wedding was able to go ahead.

Officials used gamma rays to kill any possible trace of the virus on the sporran.

The software engineer and Ms Wood, who is orginally from Norwich, were married in a church ceremony close to their home in Menzies Creek, Melbourne on New Year's Eve.

Mr Moore has to pay around £25 to get the impounded sporran back after its quarantine treatment.

I felt ten foot tall wearing the kilt

Gareth Moore

"I was hesitant because they could not give any guarantees about what would happend to the sporran when it was treated with the rays," said Mr Moore

"But it was a tremendous day.

"My new wife and children looked absolutely wonderful in their wedding gowns and dresses.

"And I felt ten foot tall wearing the kilt."

Mr Moore said he would look for any opportunity to wear the sporran in the future - and the next available date would probably be on 1 March - St David's Day - at the nearby Celtic pub where the landlord is Welsh.

He also revealed that the sporran had sparked the interest of a Tasmanian poet who has written a soon-to-be published poem about it following all the publicity.

"It must be the most well known sporran in Austalia," he said.

The Welsh wore kilts 2,000 years ago - but theirs were named after regions rather than family names as in Scotland.