The Australian Link (Ulva side)

To celebrate Australia's Bicentenary and mark Scotland's close ties with that country a special ceremony took place at the Commonwealth Institute in Edinburgh today (8 April 1988) at which stones collected from the parishes of Scotland were given a VIP send-off to Sydney, Australia/ where they will be erected into a memorial cairn.

Pride of place went to a large whins tone from the island of Ulva, by Mull, the birthplace of Lachlan Macquarie (1762-1824) the distinguished governor of New South Wales whose long and enlightened tenure in office earned him the accolade "Father of Australia". The whins tone/ which will cap the cairn, was dressed by stonemason Dune an Matheson from Killilan in Wester Ross.

To climax the ceremony, the stone, accompanied by Malcolm Rifkind, Secretary of State for Scotland, and Douglas McLelland, High Commissioner for Australia, was piped from the building by Pipe Major John Horn of the Edinburgh Post Office Pipe Band to be loaded for its long journey Down Under.

Not many stone hunters were as adventurous as the Rev Bill Niven who climbed to the top of Cairngorm at the end of
February in a 90 mph blizzard to collect his contribution.
As a gesture of goodwill the stones were assembled from all over Scotland by the Royal Mail and carried to Chariot Freight in Leith who generously stored them free of charge.

Among the many distinguished guests who saw the stones on their way were Lord Provost John McKay; Sir lain Noble, Chairman of the Scotland- Australia Cairn Committee; John Mackay, Chairman of the Scottish Post Office Board; the Very Revd Prof John McIntyre and the Marquess of Linlithgow.
Earlier in a simple ceremony/ the Moderator Designate of the Church of Scotland, Rev Professor Jim Whyte dedicated the Ulva stone.
About 1700 stones/ representing the parishes of Scotland were gathered by ministers of the Kirk and other volunteers. Most are rough stones of many shapes picked at random from the land. Some/ however/ have been enthusiastically dressed or inscribed such as the stone from the Blacader Aisle of Glasgow Cathedral. Others were collected from historical ground such as one from the Covenanters Prison at Grey friars Kirk in Edinburgh.

Go to the next page (Australian side)