RCM tapestry panel revealed at exhibition

By Julie Griffiths on 27 June 2018 RCM Scotland Great Tapestry Of Scotland

A tapestry panel, which forms the ‘Great tapestry of Scotland’ has been unveiled at an exhibition.

The RCM’s panel marks the centenary of the Midwives Act (Scotland) and midwives, MSWs, student midwives, professors, paediatricians, anaesthetists, obstetricians, porters and domestic staff from all across Scotland contributed stitches.

The final stitch in the panel was made by the RCM patron The Princess Royal.

The image in the panel has at the centre a mother and baby wrapped in a traditional shawl supported by two midwives from the past and present day.

Each corner holds an image considered to be of particular importance to midwives in Scotland, for example in the top left corner of the panel is a pomegranate, a symbol of fertility and in the top right corner is the ‘Breath of Life’ rose which, along with other celebrations, marked the Centenary of the RCM in 1981.

The Great tapestry of Scotland took some 65,000 hours of stitching and uses more than 300 miles of wool (enough to lay the entire length of Scotland).

It illustrates 420 million years of Scottish history in 161 panels and was the brainchild of writer Alexander McCall Smith.

The panel is being exhibited until 1 July.

Find out more information here.