Window 7: The Scottish Window
The seventh window in the Creation and the New Creation series of windows at the church of
Saints Leonard and Fergus, Dundee.
I have already noted a few times in the write-ups of these windows that Dad and Fr McInally, the parish priest of the church at the time, worked together to give the windows a Scottish flavour. Scottish features were introduced subtly with a small acid-etched image of the nineteenth century Tay whale skeleton in Window 4: The Firmament; continued with the Tay pearl, salmon leaping up the River Tay and the suggestion of a saltire in Window 5: Baptism; and became unmistakeable Scottish in the highly detailed painting of Dundee as the location of the Temptation of Jesus in Window 6: The Temptation.
Grasses and heather, indicative of dry land, with a grasshopper, honeybees and a golf ball, half hidden in the rough.
In Window 7, this celebration of Scotland reaches its zenith in that every detail in it relates explicitly to Scottish life while religious themes take a back seat. Appropriately, this window is called Window 7: The Scottish Window. It is also the last of the Winter series of windows, which is reflected in the latticework background pattern with its more Spring-like light greens and yellows replacing the cold blues of Winter.
These lovely bright colours of Spring are especially noticeable in the bottom of the window, which contains an abstracted design of dry grasses and Scottish heather in soft shades of pink. These plants love dry earth, a development from the damp, shady earth of Window 6: The Temptation. Together these two windows mark the third day of Creation, the creation of dry land (see The Days of Creation theme). Among the grasses and heather is a little grasshopper, plus some worker honeybees happily foraging for nectar and pollen (heather is a great source of nectar). These are the first honeybees of the series that are buzzing
around in their natural habitat (remember the snorkelling bee in Window 4: The Firmament!). The honeybees, painted by Dad’s daughter Ester when she was nine years old, represent the people of the parish, busily going about their work. Dad gave her free reign to do what she liked as he enjoyed her uninhibited approach, sadly often lost as children grow up.
In keeping with the Scottish theme of this window there is also a golf ball, half hidden in the rough, right at the bottom of the
Window 7: The Scottish Window.
window. Golf holds a special place in Scottish sport and the modern game of golf was developed and established here. Near the top of this window is a diamond of glass that has been painted to look like a golf ball has smashed it. The golfer, responsible for breaking the glass and losing his golf ball in the rough can be seen, at the end of his swing, in the window opposite this one, Window 20: The Sower (forthcoming).
Three jays representing 'the 3 Js' of industry in Dundee: Jute, Jam and Journalism.
Travelling up the window, we see three painted jays, jays being the most colourful birds of the crow family. In relation to The Days of Creation theme weaving its way through these windows, they represent birds, created alongside fish, on the fifth day of Creation. More specific to this window, they represent the three industries for which Dundee is famous, ‘the 3 Js’ of Jute, Jam and Journalism.
For almost two hundred years, Dundee’s prosperity was dependent on the textile industry, most notably on the manufacture of jute. While there are no longer any working jute mills in Dundee, the chimney of Camperdown Works called ‘Cox’s Stack’ still stands and at 282ft high, is Scotland’s tallest surviving industrial chimney. This links back to Window 6: The Temptation, in which Dad painted this chimney in his stylised scene of Dundee as the setting for Jesus’s temptation.
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The ‘jam’ association refers to Dundee marmalade. While recipes for marmalade have been found dating back to at least 15th century Spain and Portugal, legend has it that Janet Keiller of Dundee invented it in 1797. Janet and her son James Keiller went on to create the first commercial brand of marmalade in Great Britain, which was exported worldwide. Their company, James Keiller & Sons, ceased to exist in 1992.
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The last jay represents journalism, which has also been an integral part of Dundee’s history and is still going strong. It is the home of D.C. Thomson, one of the leading media organisations in the UK with a large portfolio of well-known newspapers and magazines. Established in 1905, it is the largest employer in the city after the health and leisure industries. Dad gave another
The Black Watch tartan representing the combining of military forces in Scotland. Note also the 'hole' made by a golf ball!
nod to this company in Window 20: The Sower, in a little glass painting of Dennis the Menace, a much-loved character in The Beano, one of the brands in D.C. Thomson’s portfolio. The reason for Dennis’s inclusion will become clear in the write-up of that window.
The blue shield with white lilies, the centrepiece of the city of Dundee's coat of arms with a row of thistles on top, thistles being Scotland's national emblem.
At the top of the main window, is a spread of Black Watch tartan, representing the combining of military forces in Scotland and therefore unity. It is also seen as a symbol of bravery and tradition. The deep colours are particularly striking against the lighter, fresher colours of early Spring.
In the transom is a copy of the centrepiece of the city of Dundee’s coat of arms as it was at the time of the making of these windows: a blue shield upon which are three white lilies, and above the shield, a coronet topped with thistle heads.
The blue shield is a piece of clear glass flashed with a strong blue; the flowers are created by removing the blue flashing with acid. Similarly, but more subtly, acid was also used to remove a thin layer of blue on the shield while retaining the darker border. The white lilies are the emblem of the city’s first patron saint, St Mary (Dundee’s other patron saint is St Clement). St Mary is returned to in Window 9: The Almond Tree. The thistle is, of course, Scotland's national emblem. (The design of the coronet was revised in 1996. The shield is now topped with a mural crown representing the city walls.)
