The
Shrine of Saint Mungo Glasgow Cathedral
This project was the first completed to the design and under
the direction of Malcolm Lochhead. Commissioned in 1971 by
The Glasgow and West of Scotland Embroiderers' Guild for
the
communion table on the tomb of the patron saint of Glasgow,
Kentigern or Mungo in the lower church of Glasgow Cathedral.
The design is based on the rhyme concerning the miracles
of Saint Mungo:
Here is the bird that never flew
Here is the tree that never grew
Here is the bell that never rang
Here is the fish that never swam
The patchwork cloth uses fifty shades of silk dupion in patches
ranging from half an inch by two inches to two inches square.
The front of the cloth which faces west represents the warmth
of the Church permeating the city and the world superimposed
with a gold kid shape representing a tree (Mungo) a burning
bush (Church of Scotland) or the cranes of the ship yards
which
made Glasgow great. The east face has a green passage
representing the river Clyde and mounted over it is a silver
bell
and a fish to represent Saint Mungo's attributes. The furnishings
are completed by a set of six kneelers in canvas work in
wool
and metallic gold using designs based on ships' rigging to
suggest both the church and Glasgow's illustrious past.
The embroideries were worked by fifty-four members of the
guild
and bring colour and richness to the austere gothic
perpendicular interior.
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