Easter Monday 6th April 2015

Celebration to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of The Declaration of Arbroath, Arbroath Abbey.

The 6th of April is Tartan day in the Angus region of Scotland.

 I imagine that my coming to make some drawings at an event staged to commemorate the assertion of Scottish independence from England would be pertinent in the light of the SNP’s  present ambitions during the 2015 election campaign.

 I also  imagine that a stroll to the harbour to try the famous hot Arbroath ‘smokies’ is another good reason to visit this small East Coast fishing town.

There are no politicians in tartan or otherwise at the historic 11th Century Abbey today.

An historian dressed as a monk conducts a tour of the Abbey ruins, parts of which are hardly ruins at all. The re-enactment of  King Robert’s assertion of sovereignty and plea to Pope Pius XXll involves similar kinds of dress up.

 The costumes and funny hats are all very good to draw but the copy of the declaration of Arbroath is signed, sealed and flapped about at such a speed that it makes it difficult for me to get down on paper the passage of the document that is said to have been the model for the US Declaration of Independence.

The local SNP MP for Angus is Mike Weir. I look him up on twitter and find he’s just posted a photograph of a sparrow having a drink at a bird bath in his Angus garden.