It’s not everyday you get a fierce eagle and a lion in the same room – especially in the company of a rampant unicorn. But that’s heraldry for you! I’m leading a small team of ladies who are making superbly embroidered cloths of estate carrying the coat of arms of Mary of Guise, the young widow of James V, who lived in the royal palace at Stirling Castle.
Recently we brought together the elements of one of the cloths for the first time. It was stunning – the central shield with its great red lion had been made by Mary McCarron from South Lanarkshire, the eagle and unicorn by Eileen Rumble from near Dundee and the royal crown, stitched with pearls, by Liz Boulton of Cumbernauld.
It’ll take a full year to make both the cloths – which will hang in the queen’s chambers when the palace reopens next Easter. And when you see the exquisite craftsmanship, and realise that the larger will be 1.5m high, you start to understand why. The ladies use a lot of traditional materials, which can also add to the time. Heraldry demands a lot of sparkly gold, so in keeping with ancient practice, the ladies were sewing using metal wire. That’s far from easy.
What’s more everything has to be accurate. I put together the original designs, all of which had to be approved by Scotland’s Lord Lyon King of Arms, to be sure the heraldry was spot on. Despite having to keep to the designs, there is a lot of artistry involved in the embroidery. Eileen spent a long time judging exactly how to place the eagle’s eye. Just like painting a portrait, the tiniest alteration can transform the effect. Palace visitors will, I’m sure, have the very spooky feeling that Eileen’s eagle is staring at them no matter where they stand in the room.
I hope that if Mary of Guise were to revisit the palace she would be pleased by the cloths of estate. Bright, strong and showy – they are truly in keeping with the tastes of the time. After all your heraldry was there to impress, leaving guests in no doubt that you were very important. In some ways it all seems very alien, having mythical beasts and crowns and other symbols to announce who you are. On another level, in our celebrity-obsessed era, it should be very familiar. Just think of it as marketing – having a trademark look – your own personal brand.
Emeritus Professor Malcolm Lochhead of Glasgow Caledonian University is a leading textile artist.
See and read about the palace project
● See our new four-minute mini-movie about the palace project at www.youtube.com/historicscotlandtv.
● Read about the craftsmen and women who are helping recreate the palace interiors in the online version of Heritage Homes magazine at www.heritagehomesmag.co.uk/comp.html.