The Prestonpans Tapestry

Today I went with a friend to see the Prestonpans Tapestry. This isn't actually a tapestry, but an embroidery inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry - which is also actually embroidered. As Scottish people know, the Battle of Prestonpans happened in 1745 and was a victory for the Jacobite cause - the attempt by the descendants of the deposed James VII and II to regain the throne of Britain. James, who was a Stuart king, was supported by many Scots, particularly Highlanders, and his grandson Bonnie Prince Charlie was the centre of this part of the campaign. Defeat later came in the Battle of Culloden but the tapestry doesn't extend to that. The final panel shows the Highlanders marching down towards England, full of hope.

The tapestry came about as the idea of one local man, who later recruited an artist to design all 104 panels - 104 metres of drawings. These designs were then drawn on to linen and embroidered by 200 women and two men - mainly in Scotland but in some cases overseas. The idea was to celebrate the Jacobites but also to create tourist interest and local pride in the Prestonpans and East Lothian areas. This is of particular interest to my friend and me because in 1973 we started our teaching careers in Prestonpans. In those days, many of the pupils went on to jobs in the coal mines or in fishing. However, the mines closed years ago and fishing is greatly reduced in this area. (We used to find that some of the pupils didn't see the point in spelling and punctuation because their career plans were "gaun doon the pits" (going down the mines) or "off tae the fishing". We did somewhat see their point.)

The tapestry is touring the country and abroad, but today it was in Loretto, a very posh school just outside the city boundary, in this rather lovely building (where Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed at one point).

The room has a painted ceiling, which is traditional in 18th century Scottish houses.

The panels illustrate the progress of the campaign in chronological order. The top one above is the first, depicting 9th January 1744.

Look, Anna! Men in kilts! The embroidery is amazing - who would have thought that you could embroider tartan?

I particularly like these ships passing the Bass Rock.

Here is BPC at Duddingston, near where Daughter 1 and SIL 1 live. The Sheep Heid pub is still there, as is the house where BPC had a council of war.

This is Colonel Gardiner (an Englishman fighting for the other side - George II) dying under a tree. You can see a few other Englishmen in a poor state in the middle distance. The tree looks good, though.

The conquered Sir John Cope's carriage is pulled past Duddingston by sturdy Highlanders.

Highlanders in training for the next battle. More men in kilts.

It's all well worth seeing, should you find that it comes near you. I believe it's going to Paisley next and then Prestonpans and then Inverness and then Kingussie (all places in Scotland) - and then "somewhere in France" said the lady who sold me a book about the tapestry. I've just checked the website and it turns out that the "somewhere" is Bayeux. You might think this would be memorable.

After that, Derby (in England). Eventually they hope to raise enough money to give it a permanent home in Prestonpans.

On the way home, I popped in for a fix of the grandchildren. Grandson picked up his elephant (or to be strictly accurate, Granddaughter's elephant, but currently what's hers is his. Might is right).

Me: Can you say "elephant"?
Grandson [obligingly] : Hello, Phant.