Alexander McCall Smith answers call to arms

Published on Monday 14 February 2011 16:33

SCOTLAND Street author Alexander McCall Smith has joined the campaign for a visitor centre to commemorate the Battle of Prestonpans.

Enthusiasts from the Battle of Prestonpans Heritage Trust dressed in period costumes yesterday to launch an appeal to raise 2 million towards the 7m visitor centre to be located at the Prestongrange Museum.

At the heart of the new permanent centre will be a pavilion designed to display the Prestonpans Tapestry - part of which went on display yesterday at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.

Mr McCall Smith said: "This is one of the most exciting arts projects there have been in Scotland for a long time.

"I saw the tapestry when it was on display at the Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh - I was looking at the reaction of people when they viewed it and people were just blown away by it.

"It is a remarkably accessible portrayal of a bit of Scottish history and to see it brings it to life. It is an example of what people can do when they sit down together to create something."

The Prestonpans Tapestry, which is longer than the tapestry of Bayeux, was designed by artist Andrew Crummy and completed last year by 250 volunteers from as far afield as France, America and Australia. The work consists of 104 metre-long linen panels - each of which took about 250 hours to complete.

The tapestry tells the story of how Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army defeated the government forces led by General John Cope. The victory was a great triumph of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion - but has been overshadowed by the story of the defeat at Culloden.

Gareth Jones, chairman of the Battle of Prestonpans Heritage Trust said: "Visitors will come to Scotland and visit Culloden - but Prestonpans is part of the same story. The idea of the tapestry was to tell the story.

"We would be doing everybody a great disservice if we didn't find the tapestry somewhere to live."

The Battle of Prestonpans Heritage Trust, which is also supported by actor Brian Cox, hopes to raise 2m towards the centre and has petitioned the Scottish Government to give 5m to make the project a reality.

East Lothian council has agreed to donate the land for the Pavilion and for the existing Bath House at the museum to be converted into a visitor centre.

The pavillion design is based on a circular cloister surrounding a whitethorn tree - to commemorate the fatal wounding of the government leader Colonel Gardiner.

Stitch co-ordinator Dorie Wilkie said: "It must have a permanent home. It gets more and more popular wherever it goes. People are more and more enthusiastic about it."

Designer Andrew Crummy said the creation had taken on a life of its own. "We never thought this would happen. It is about all these people coming together to create this artwork - linking community and linking stories."Arran Johnston, author of a biography of Prince Charles Stuart said: "The story of Prestonpans gets lost behind the story of Culloden, Prestonpans could have changed everything."