We were lucky to be able to have a meeting with a great authority on interlace weaving patterns a couple of weeks ago, Katherine Forsyth, who is currently a reader in Celtic and Gaelic at Glasgow University. Damn – she knows her stuff! Her talk with the Weaving Truth team was fascinating, and as well as mentally opening up the creative possibilities of interlace, helped us to see the Govan Stones within a broader cultural context and as part of an lineage – and indeed to understand the significance of Govan as an ancient seat of power, as the Capital of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. For so many Govanites, the concrete ‘reality’ in front of them precludes seemingly romantic notions of ancient Kingdoms, mysticism and potent symbols – but the evidence is all there! There WAS life here before the ironclad machismo of the shipyards, before people were compelled to become cogs in the machine of industry. I’m not knocking that industry – people will also express themselves through their acquisition of skills through large scale processes, and people here are rightfully proud of Govan’s status within the Shipping Industry, which opened up the world.
But we only have to look at Govan’s long history as an important site of worship to know that in its History, Govan and its people have also looked deeper and harder for meaning, and I don’t think these resonances are even all that far from the surface. Look at this image here,of the Sun Stone from Govan Old Church – it is not very refined, as carving goes, and the logic of the weave doesn’t seem quite there somehow. The arms look wonky. This doesn’t prevent it,for me, to seem a very touching symbol of an imperfect human hand reaching towards light and power and understanding.
But we only have to look at Govan’s long history as an important site of worship to know that in its History, Govan and its people have also looked deeper and harder for meaning, and I don’t think these resonances are even all that far from the surface. Look at this image here,of the Sun Stone from Govan Old Church – it is not very refined, as carving goes, and the logic of the weave doesn’t seem quite there somehow. The arms look wonky. This doesn’t prevent it,for me, to seem a very touching symbol of an imperfect human hand reaching towards light and power and understanding.