Saturday, 30 November 2019

Something Special in my "Study"


Something Special in my “Study”


Do you have a spare bedroom which might be called a “multi-purpose room”?  I have a little one which is only occasionally used as a bedroom.  I go there to work on my computer, or practise music on my keyboard, or – let’s be honest! – use it as a “glory hole” where, before a guest arrives, I hastily deposit all sorts of items which have been cluttering up my living-room.  So, I hesitate to give it the grand title of “my Study”!   However, when I discovered this wooden plaque in the local Shelter shop, I bought it, thinking that it would lend an element of dignity to this somewhat messy little room.



The plaque shows the crest of Glasgow University, where I studied for my degree.  That was in the days when blazers were still worn by students of both sexes.  I loved my black blazer with this crest stitched in gold thread on the breast pocket.  On Saturday mornings I would wear it when I met my friends, Jinty and Senga – Jinty in her navy blue Jordanhill Teacher Training College blazer, and Senga in her purple Domestic Science College (‘Dough School’!) blazer.  On cold days we added the matching scarves and felt very smart!


The University crest contains four items which also appear on the city of Glasgow’s coat-of-arms: a bird, a tree, a bell and a fish.  All four refer to legends about Glasgow’s patron saint, St Mungo who, in the 6th century, founded many Christian churches and monasteries in the West of Scotland. 


The bird.  When jealous classmates, trying to get the clever Mungo into trouble, killed their teacher’s pet robin, it is said that he miraculously brought the bird back to life.


The tree.  Mungo was meant to be looking after the fire, the monastery’s all-important source of heat, but he fell asleep and the fire went out.  He is said to have rekindled the dead ashes, using only some branches from a nearby tree.


The bell. We are told that Mungo brought this back from Rome, where he had gone to meet the Pope.


The fish. (This is the most impressive item!)  The king of one of the Scottish kingdoms suspected his queen of having an affair with a young soldier.  He claimed that she had presented her lover with a ring which he, the king, had given her.  He invited the soldier to go hunting with him, then when the young man fell asleep, he took the ring off his finger and threw it into the River Clyde. He then demanded that the queen show him the ring.  Because she couldn’t do this, he had her imprisoned and condemned to death.  In desperation, she sent a letter to Mungo, begging for his help.  Mungo sent the messenger to fish in the Clyde, telling him to bring back the first fish that he caught.  When the salmon was cut open – there was the ring!  On seeing it, the king pardoned his wife - probably because he was both amazed and alarmed!   (The queen promised the saint that she would sin no more!)


In fact, Mungo himself was the result of an illicit affair.  His father, Owain, was already married to someone else when his mother conceived him. When her violent father abused her, she and her baby took refuge in her brother’s home.  The baby’s real name was Kentigern, but his uncle gave him the affectionate pet name of Mungo, which means ‘Beloved one.’  (I like that!  Try saying, “Come here, Kentigern!” which is quite spiky to pronounce, then say, “Come here, Mungo!” and feel how much softer and friendlier that sounds!)


In the middle of the University crest is a pointed mace, a symbol of academic authority, granted to the new university in1465.  Above it is an open book, symbol of learning.  The University’s motto, Via Veritas, Vita is the Latin for Christ’s words: (”I am) the Way, the Truth and the Life.”  At the time when the University was founded, Latin was the common language (‘lingua franca’) in all universities throughout Europe.  As a result, students could travel to a university of their choice, and understand the lectures, no matter which country they were in.


On my “Study” wall, to the right of this plaque, I have a collection of family photographs.  Here is one of my two grandsons, taken on the important day that Ciaran, the younger one, first went to school.


By way of contrast, I have this one of my elder grandson, in formal attire, taken in the spring of 2019.  A fourth-year student at Glasgow University, he is a keen member of the G.U. Union debating society.


His parents and brother had come over from Belfast to hear him make his ‘Prime Ministerial speech’ at the final Parliamentary debate of the academic year.  (By a nice coincidence his name, like that of St Mungo’s father, is Owain!)


I have no idea who donated my plaque to Shelter, nor where it was originally hung.  With its dark wood, it looks like part of a wood-panelled room, perhaps in one of the old university buildings.  By the way, having recently published a blog post about robins, I was amused to realise that the dark bird on top of the tree is meant to be a robin redbreast.  Maybe I should give him a dab of red nail varnish!



My father, my husband, Bob, and I all studied at Glasgow University.  How glad I am that Owain, born and brought up in Northern Ireland, has formed this strong new family connection with Scotland’s second oldest university!



Deo gratias
















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