Friday, 30 December 2022

BURNS memorial window St Giles

 

Burns Memorial window St Giles


I have wondered that there is no memorial to Burns in central Edinburgh. I discovered after visiting there is a new memorial window to Burns in St Giles – commissioned in the 1980s. However it is not highly noticeable without reading all the blurb. Edinburgh had a big effect on Burns when he stayed there several times between 1786 and 1788, in order to publish his second edition of poems. He spent time at William Creech’s publishing house near the Mercat Cross. He went to gentlemen’s clubs and was feted at the ploughman poet at the parties of the Edinburgh literati. 

One of Breidfjörd’s largest commissions, this window celebrates major themes in Robert Burns’ poetry. Burns was a Scottish poet who lived during the 1700s. He is celebrated throughout England and Scotland as a great peasant-poet. Most of his poem was written in Scots and portrayed traditional Scottish culture.  

In the window, the lowest section is filled with vivid green in order to represent the natural world. The middle sections represents human unity through the many different human figures portrayed. This is supposed to be regardless of race, colour or creed. 

The top portion portrays a sun with a heart being a sunburst of love which blossoms like a rose. The window panes that surround this portion appear to be shaped like a heart

http://www.stgilescathedral.org.uk/history/architecture/burnswindow.html