The Edinburgh Reporter July 2020

14
FEATURE
The Edinburgh Reporter
Bronze bards broke the mould
Words and photos by Martin P
McAdam
Statues have featured a lot in
the news recently especially in
relation to Black Lives Matter
protests. In the Edinburgh
statuescape there is a lack of
many featuring women. We
recently discovered four heads
Bronze statues of Jackie Kay and Naomi Mitchison.
By Stephen Rafferty
Hats off to Edinburgh milliner
Sally-Ann Provan who is turning
heads with the launch of her new
summer collection.
The ‘Solis’ range of summer
straw hats is perfect wear for
those enjoying the sun at home or
opting for a stay-cation holiday.
Sally’s hats are wedding
favourites and often feature at
Royal Ascot, Royal garden parties
and other special events, but the
lockdown has given her time to
create a collection of timeless
wearable casual straw hats that
will last for summers to come.
After an Honours degree in
Jewellery, Sally trained in couture
millinery under the late Queen
Mother's milliner, and in theatrical
millinery with The Royal Opera
House.
Her clients include HRH The
Duchess of Cambridge and HRH
Princess Beatrice, First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon, mezzo soprano
Katherine Jenkins, ITV’s Charlotte
Hawkins, Edith Bowman and the
BBC.
She is Scottish Opera's milliner,
and other clients include Scottish
Ballet and The Royal Lyceum
Theatre. She also worked on the
Robert de Niro film 'The Good
Shepherd' and the stage musical
'The Lion King'.
With no access to a model or
hair and make-up artist, Sally
made a rare appearance in front
of the camera to model her own
collection.
Known for her beautifully crafted
at Lochside Crescent celebrating
Scottish Literary greats. Two of
the bronze heads are of prominent
women - Jackie Kay (sculpted by
Michael Snowden) and Naomi
Mitchison (sculpted by Archie
Forrest). The other two are
Norman MacCraig and William
Sydney (WS) Graham.
Hat tricks for staycation shade
handmade hats and headpieces,
she said: “I wear my hats all
the time and although I’m very
nervous anywhere near a camera,
my clients encouraged me to give
it a go.”
Sally applied her own make-up
and styled the shoot with pieces
from renowned womenswear
boutique Jane Davidson, linens
from Elizabeth Martin Tweed, and
jewellery from Carla Edwards, Kaz
Robertson and Pauline Edie.
She added: “The lockdown has
been particularly hard on small
business and I wanted to help
highlight some of the amazing
Solis hat range putting summer in the shade
Jackie Kay (b. 9 November 1961),
is Scotland’s Makar, or national
poet until 2021. Born to a Scottish
mother and Nigerian father, she
said that growing up in Scotland,
she “got beaten up quite a lot”
because of her mixed heritage.
Adopted by a Scottish couple
(Helen and John Kay) and raised in
talent and shops in Edinburgh.”
The shoot was only made
possible by calling on the talents
of professional commercial and
fashion photographer Alistair
Clark, who happens to be Sally’s
husband.
During the Covid-19 lockdown
Sally has been working behind
closed doors and accepting online
orders. Visits to her Edinburgh
Hat Shop and Studio will resume
when possible in Phase 3 of the
Scottish Government routemap,
with consultations resuming in
Phase 4.
www.sallyannprovan.co.uk
Crossword Answers by David Albury
Across: 1 Ember, 5 Aisle, 8 Calendar years, 9 Lists, 10 Snowy,
11 Reappearances, 12 Ideal, 14 Abbot, 16 Inconvenience, 17 Genre,
18 Enter.
Down: 1 Excel, 2 Belisha beacon, 3 Rungs, 4 Stage managers, 5 Abyss,
6 Shadow cabinet, 7 Essay, 12 Icing, 13 Lance, 14 Agile, 15 Their.
Glasgow, in her memoir Red Dust
Road she refers to herself as “part
fable, part porridge”.
In October 2012, before we
knew of Colin Kaepernick and
“taking the knee”, Kay wrote about
kicking racism out of football.
Hear My Pitch remembers
Arthur Wharton, the first black
professional footballer to play in
a UK football league. Wharton,
was born in Ghana, his father was
half-Scottish and half-Grenadian.
He came to England in 1882. By
1894 was playing for Sheffield
United. Jackie read her poem
on the pitch before kick-off at a
Sheffield United v Portsmouth
match on 29 October 2012. The
team are passionate supporters
of the Kick It Out campaign, since
1993. This works with the football
authorities, professional clubs,
players, fans and communities
to tackle all forms of racism
and discrimination. Kay recently
revealed that she worked for
several months as a cleaner for
the novelist John le Carré and that
being a cleaner was great training
to be an author: “You’re listening
to everything. You can be a spy,
but nobody thinks you’re taking
anything in.”.
Naomi Mitchison née Haldane,
(1 November 1897–11 January
1999) was a hugely prolific and
controversial Scottish author.
Perhaps her most well known
work is The Corn King and the
The Edinburgh Sketcher
Mark, The Edinburgh Sketcher,
runs sketching workshops from
various sites around the city
including the city centre, the New
Town and Leith.
Mark will teach you his tips and
techniques for sketching quickly
Shore and tell by Edinburgh Sketcher
Spring Queen (1931) - a vast
novel encompassing a mixture of
history, folklore and magic.
In 1916 she married Gilbert
Richard (Dick) Mitchison a lawyer
and Labour MP. Following the
success of The Corn King, she
and her husband purchased
Carradale House in Kintyre. She
spent most of the years of WWII
at Carradale and became deeply
involved in the local community.
In this period she transitioned
to poetry and created The Alban
Goes Out, a long narrative poem
describing a night spent fishing
with the Carradale fishermen.
Mitchison was no stranger to
controversy. Commissioned in
1932 to write a guide for children
and parents to the modern world,
it became An Outline for Boys
and Girls and Their Parents. While
critics loved it, it was criticised
by conservatives and religious
leaders for alleged Soviet leanings
and lack of emphasis on God and
religion. She also authored We
Have Been Warned, published in
1935. Its depiction of rape, free
love and abortion horrified and
alienated many in polite society.
Mitchison traveled extensively
and was a frequent visitor to
Botswana, where she was made
a tribal mother (Mmarona) to the
Bakgatla people. Mucking Around,
published in 1981, is an account
of her global adventures across 50
years and five continents.
on the go in a relaxed and and
no experience necessary step by
step guide. Book online via his
website below and you could soon
be capturing the world around
you in ink and watercolours.
edinburghsketcher.com
By John Hislop
@EdinReporter /EdinReporter edinburghreporter theedinburghreporter.co.uk SPORT 15
Leith Walk - a sea of green and white
Mercer - get your predatory
hands off Hibernian Football Club
For Hibs fans of a certain age,
Saturday 14 July 1990 – 30 years
ago this month – will resonate
strongly. It was the day that Hearts
owner Wallace Mercer finally
admitted defeat in his attempt to
take over city rivals Hibs.
Mercer’s humiliating climb-down
was a tremendous victory for
the club, its fans and the Hands
Off Hibs campaign, possibly only
surpassed by the events of 21 May
2016, when Hibs ended a 114 year
drought and brought the Scottish
Cup home to Leith.
Growing up in the Borders, I had
no affinity to any football team. A
Hearts supporting neighbour lured
me to Tynecastle where I shivered
through a boring 0-0 draw and put
up with the overwhelming smell
of hops from the nearby brewery
before, thankfully, my sister took a
fancy to Peter Cormack and took
me to Easter Road.
That was on 14 October 1967 and
I fell in love with Hibs that day. I
know the date as I still have the
programme which cost 6d. We
stood in the old south enclosure
next to the dugout and my breath
was taken away at first sight of
the massive two-tier old east
terracing as we watched Hibs beat
Dunfermline 2-0, with Cormack
scoring from the half-way line.
From that day on I have never
missed a Hibs game at Easter
Road that I was able to go to.
I was lucky enough to grow up
watching Turnbull’s Tornadoes and
have never seen a better brand of
football anywhere in the world. It
was poetry in motion. I was at the
greatest game in history on New
Year’s Day 1973 when Hibs beat
Hearts 7-0 and also at the East
Fife game a few days later when
the great John Brownlie suffered
a broken leg. It was downhill from
that moment, with the 1970s
ending in relegation.
In 1987 there was a glimmer
of hope when David Duff took
over from Kenny Waugh and I
risked divorce by spending my
life savings on buying shares. A
golden generation of youngsters
including John Collins, Mickey
Weir, Paul Kane, Gordon Hunter
and Eddie May, were augmented
by top-quality signings such as
Andy Goram, Stevie Archibald
and Murdo MacLeod, but it was
apparent that all was not well in
the boardroom.
I was one of the first to lose faith
in Duff and Jim Gray and let them
know as they were walking round
the pitch during the Morton game
when Andy Goram scored from
inside his own box.
Sure enough, a series of
disastrous business deals left the
club open to a hostile takeover
and Wallace Mercer was quick to
take advantage with his so-called
“vision for the future” that would
see one Edinburgh side challenge
the Old Firm dominance and the
“end of tribalism” in the city.
In reality, everyone knew that the
move was a take-over bid with
the aim of acquiring Easter Road
and the substantial property
owned by the club. The fact that
he swanned round the capital in
a maroon coloured Jag with the
personalised number XX1 - or
Double Cross One - hadn’t gone
unnoticed.
Speakers at a packed Hands off
Hibs rally, included the great Pat
Stanton, Jimmy O’Rourke and Joe
John Hislop
Baker, who famously kissed the
Easter Road turf, raising the roof
of the East terracing. If Joe had
told us to invade Gorgie at that
moment we would have done so.
The biggest roar came when
Kenny McLean warned Mercer:
“Keep your predatory hands off
Hibernian Football Club”.
The afternoon ended with an
emotional rendering of You’ll Never
Walk Alone by The Proclaimers
and we all left the stadium
determined to save the club.
Politicians and councillors got
involved and popular Leith MP
Ron Brown promised to raise the
issue with both the Monopolies
Commission and the Office of
Fair Trading. Two London-based
Hibs fans, Brian Rogan and Tony
Connor, along with Hearts fan
and former First Minister Alex
Salmond, presented a copy of a
petition to Margaret Thatcher at
10 Downing Street. Unfortunately,
the Iron Lady was running late as
she was having lunch with Nelson
Mandela and the massive crowds
outside waving ANC flags were
persuaded to chant ‘Hands off
Hibs’ whilst waiting on the great
man appearing.
Supporters staged a five weeklong
picket of the Bank of
Scotland’s headquarters on the
Mound, (Mercer’s bankers), and
the campaign even got an airing
on Blue Peter when presenter
John Leslie, against the orders of
his bosses, appeared on screen
wearing a Hands Off Hibs t-shirt.
A Battle Bus containing amongst
others Gordon Strachan and
The Proclaimers joined the Leith
Festival Gala Parade and at a
packed Usher Hall rally chaired
by politician Margo MacDonald,
Hearts legend John Robertson
disobeyed Mercer’s order not to
attend.
Unable to get his "predatory
hands" on enough shares and with
the Bank of Scotland pulling out,
Mercer’s attempt to end tribalism
had backfired spectacularly and
on that Saturday in July 1990,
generations of Hibs fans drew a
collective sigh of relief. If Mercer
had got his way the magnificent
traditions of Hibernian Football
Club would now be consigned to
the history books, and me and
thousands of other Hibees would
never have experienced that
unforgettable weekend in May
2016 when Leith was transformed
in to a sea of green and white.
Uncertainty
and anxiety
for Hearts
by Mike Smith
Hearts traumatic experience
of season 2019/20 has followed
them to season 2020/21 but with
one significant difference.
Last season Hearts were for the
most part, quite awful, and despite
some of those of the maroon
persuasion being in denial, the
Gorgie men seemed destined for
relegation and at least a season
in the Championship – which is
where owner Ann Budge came in
six years ago.
Her proposal for league
reconstruction was rejected by the
SPFL and the club joined forces
with Partick Thistle - who were
also relegated unfairly - to bring
a legal action which is due to be
heard in the Court of Session.
Hearts are looking to be reinstated
to the Premiership and Thistle to
the Championship. If not, they will
ask for substantial compensation.
If neither are forthcoming the
drastic action could be to force a
delay to the Premiership starting
on 1 August, which would be
catastrophic for Scottish football.
Clubs in the Championship won't
start league games until October.
The trauma the coronavirus
pandemic has inflicted on
the world puts Hearts current
woes into perspective, but the
uncertainty of which division
Hearts will be in at the start of
the new season has added to the
anxiety of the Hearts support.
The Scottish Rugby Union has
said it would make BT Murrayfield
available to Hearts, and this would
certainly help with any social
distancing measures that may
be required when clubs do return
and fans are allowed back inside
grounds.
But with the greatest respect, the
prospect of facing Alloa Athletic
on a wet and windy Wednesday
evening at the home of Scottish
Rugby will do little to entice Hearts
supporters to part with their
hard-earned cash.
With any luck, this time next
year Hearts will be preparing for
a return to the Premiership after
winning promotion. But a tough 12
months beckons first.