As I peer out the window rain is expected, which will please gardeners after a long dry spell. As you will see the Duddingston Kirk Garden Club plant sale is returning on Saturday.
So you can get your bedding and other plants.
Also Lizz from Jock Tamsons Gairden and some Trustees will be around to talk about all the exciting things we have going.
An unmissable occasion I’m sure you will agree!
Jock Tamson’s Gairden seems very quiet as it begins to emerge from the long winter and the lockdown, such a contrast to the frantic activity of last year. The journey from The Glebe Project to Jock Tamson’s Gairden feels like several marathons run end to end. JTG is now a charity in its own right, has a wonderful team of seven Trustees – all achieved during the pandemic restrictions when everything, as you will know well, takes much longer.
So here we are, poised on the edge of a new growing season and I’m looking forward to gradually welcoming back our volunteers to begin work on this year’s crops.
Look out for our new venture: JTG GREENS TO GO – a portable market stall which will sell our produce. We hope you’ll drop by and buy some fresh, organic veg from us when you’re out for a walk.
I feel hugely privileged to have had the chance to see the Glebe Project through its five years and to continue as Manager of JTG.
Thanks to you for your encouragement, to Dr Jim Jack for his guidance and encouragement, and to the Kirk Session for its continuing support of this work.
JTG remains one of the very few working Glebes in Scotland and the work is made possible by the generous financial support of the following: Duddingston Kirk, The Elizabeth Drummond Charitable Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund Awards for All, Scotmid Community Grants, Edinburgh Local Microgrants, and The Robertson Trust Wee Grants.
It’s always lovely to have visitors, so please drop by, say hello and find out what we’re working on.
Lizz Spence, Manager, Jock Tamson’s Gairden
On the first of September 2020, OSCR awarded charitable status to Jock Tamson’s Gairden; two hundred and forty two years before that, on the very same day, Mary Hay of Dailly in Ayrshire gave birth to her fourth son, one John Thomson.
When John grew up he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a Church of Scotland minister and later Duddingston’s most famous resident. He served here for thirty-five years as a greatly respected parish minister, much beloved of his congregation. One story exemplifies his kindness: upon apprehending a thief making off with a quantity of linen which had been laid out to bleach on the Glebe, Thomson took the unfortunate man back to the Manse for interrogation. After delivering a stern lecture on the error of the man’s ways, Thomson gave him a hearty meal and sent him on his way with money in his pockets.
Thomson learned the rudiments of painting from the village carpenter when he was a child and later took lessons under Alexander Naysmith, the celebrated Scottish landscapist. His love of painting led him to spend hours in his studio which later became the Playfair-designed building known as the Thomson Tower – it stands next to the Loch in Dr Neil’s Garden. As well as a studio, it became an emotional refuge for him when his wife, Isabella Ramsay died. The story I was told was that Thomson’s friends took one of his paintings to a gallery in the town and that it was purchased by a widow called Frances Ingram Spence. When he and Spence later married they each brought five children from their first marriages to live in the Manse, then went on to have four offspringof their own. When the second Mrs Thomson introduced the children to visitors, she’d say, “Those are my family, and those are John’s, but these are ours.” Then Thomson would say, “they’re a’ Jock Tamson’s Bains”. I’d love to believe that story was the origin of the saying and that we could truly lay claim to the original Jock Tamson, but several other parts of Scotland claim him and to argue would be to go against the egalitarian spirit of the expression, we’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns. By the way, if you’re unfamiliar with the phrase it means: we are all the same under the skin….if that still doesn’t clear it up, ask your mammy to explain.
It took the interpretative boards in the present-day Thomson tower before the connection dawned on me and it was a real revelation. That’s when I decided that the Glebe must have a garden to commemorate Duddingston’s most famous resident and to honour the egalitarian spirit of the saying. That’s how Jock Tamson’s Gairden began, and how, four years on you can actually go and sit it in it. I hope you do – take a flask and a picnic, take your pals, take your bairns – enjoy the gorgeous view out over the Loch.
From the wee gairden by the loch, came the big JOCK TAMSON’S GAIRDEN which is the name chosen by the Trustees when they came to form the charity to take forward the work done by the Glebe Project. They thought it said a lot about what we’re about here: Jock Tamson’s Gairden – a garden for everyone to enjoy.
Lizz Spence, Jock Tamson’s Gairden Manager
January 2021
P.S. lots of planning, heavy-lifting, digging, sawing and sweating went into our lovely wee garden, so check back here soon for stories and photographs telling that tale.
A few thoughts from one of our wonderful volunteers:
I recently retired and was looking for volunteering particularly something completely different from my working life. I applied to Jock Tamsons Gairden and have been going weekly now for about a year and a half. My gardening skills are limited, however I can say that I absolutely love my days at the garden, I have learned so many new skills and have been encouraged to tackle a variety of jobs always within my capabilities.
I have met so many interesting people from such a wide variety of backgrounds. My mother died a couple of years ago and I have found my weekly visits therapeutic in the peaceful setting beside Duddingston Kirk looking out onto Duddingston Loch. I really enjoy meeting the people who use the garden for activities, volunteering or just to soak in the quiet peaceful atmosphere. I consider Lizz and many of the volunteers as friends who provide laughter and support especially during the last few difficult months.
One thing I have loved is seeing the changes in the garden not only with every season but with the projects as they develop. I feel proud to be a volunteer at the Glebe.
Fiona Scott.