AS work on the Great Tapestry of Scotland gets underway, who has made an impression on our country worthy of inclusion? Here’s a chance to have your say.
The recording of events, both great and small, on cloth is nothing new. The most famous example, of course, is the Bayeux Tapestry, which is one of the world’s best-known works of art. More recently, the completion of the Prestonpans Tapestry in Scotland has reminded us of just how effective this method of narrating history can be and, in 2013, as readers of The Scotsman will be aware, a new tapestry will be completed – the Great Tapestry of Scotland. Hundreds of stitchers across the country are hard at work, turning Andrew Crummy’s designs for the Great Tapestry of Scotland into a work of art.
The project, which is funded through private donation and with support from Creative Scotland, will take two years to complete, with each panel taking more than 400 hours to stitch. And while work is continuing apace, a debate is going on as to which individuals should be depicted in four of the final panels to be designed. Space is available in these panels to show 129 individuals who have made Scotland the great nation that it is. The four panels on the 160-metre long stitched tapestry – the world’s longest – will represent “a parliament of those who made us”.
Not a parliament of politicians, but of our ancestors and present day heroes and heroines alongside those from living memory whose contributions have shaped our modern Scotland. Who could argue against Alexander Graham Bell taking his position on this list? Who would not include John Knox? And surely Scotland and Britain’s greatest ever Olympian, Chris Hoy, with six gold medals (and honoured with two gold post boxes) should also be there? Does he deserve a place beside St Columba?
Should Calgacus, the first recorded king of the Picts who led the Caledonians at the battle of Mons Grapius in 83AD be there? And what of James Small who invented the iron swing-plough, revolutionising farming in the mid-1700s? Or Queen Margaret, sainted by Pope Innocent IV in 1251? Elsie Inglis, the surgeon and suffragette who set up a maternity hospital staffed only by women?
What of John Muir, father of conservation, Lord Reith, the first director-general of the BBC, Norman MacCaig – one of the 20th century’s greatest poets and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes? Each person in Scotland will have their own thoughts.
The four first ministers and respective presiding officers are already allocated space on the panels and the future will be represented by images of children. The remaining 129 places are up for discussion and members of the public can join Alexander McCall Smith, Alistair Moffat and Rosemary Goring as they bring together writers, artists, academics, historians, scientists, those who live in Scotland and those who have an interest in her history as they have their say at the Festival on Politics today in Edinburgh.
“The making of the tapestry has now begun,” says McCall Smith. “The linen panels are out and people are working on them. I am extremely excited about this – the stitchers are making something that will give immense pleasure to people all over Scotland not only now, but down the years. A work of great beauty is being created. Friendships are being formed as people work on this – it is bringing people together in a vast project of artistic co-operation. It is, quite simply, wonderful!”
Nominations are welcomed from Scotsman readers and should be sent to {mailto:anna.renz@janrutherford.co.uk|anna.renz@janrutherford.co.uk|anna.renz@janrutherford.co.uk}