The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sculptor solves carving mystery
AN EXPAT sculptor has solved the mystery of a beautiful carving found in an Angus fishing village.
Thomas (Tam) Walker, now living in Spain, said the carving was “fashioned by these fair hands of mine” as part of an art college project in Dundee in the 1960s.
MrWalker, a former Carnoustie High art teacher, contacted The Courier after his brother Mike forwarded our article to him and he said the story brightened up his day.
The hard-fired terracotta sculpture depicted Robert the Bruce at the Declaration of Arbroath and it was discovered during a village clean-up in Easthaven.
An appeal for information was launched after it was found close to the old post road where the pilgrims used to travel between Arbroath Abbey and St Andrews.
Easthaven was popular with travellers in the 16th and 17th Centuries and artefacts have previously been found there, including pilgrims’brooches and a 12th-Century coin.
Residents thought the scuplture might have been of the same vintage but Mr Walker told The Courier it was “far from being of great antiquity.”
He said: “By my memory o’ awfy cauld hauns when working on it, I can date it to the winter of 1967/68.
“It is made of hard-fired terracotta and any metal therein was added for support and reinforcement.
“I gave this panel to someone who asked if they might have it. Who that person was, for the life of me I cannot remember.
“How it got to where it was found — now that is a mystery.”
Mr Walker, who was born in Arbroath, said he lived with his wife for 20 years at Long Row in Easthaven before the couple moved to Spain in 2000.
“In the post-war years, Arbroath Abbey was our playground and it played a big part in my life,” said Mr Walker, who also lived in Letham and Kinnell.
“Following in the family footsteps, I took part in Arbroath Abbey pageants in 1964, 1966 and 1970.
“There was a time of significant controversy in Arbroath when the then town council decided to demolish the row of tenements that stood to one side of the West Gate of the abbey.
“Demolition left behind a raised piece of ground to the left of the West Gate where the interpretation centre now stands.
“The revealed wall that enclosed the graveyard was, to put it mildly, unsightly and there was discussion as to ways this could be made more attractive.”
As part of a project for college, Mr Walker made a maquette depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence at the abbey on April 6 1320.
He said: “A smaller maquette depicted the way the walls of the recessed part would be covered,
“The Easthaven part, which is featured in the article, was an enlarged detail and this depicted Robert the Bruce, having the declaration displayed to him by a clerk while Bernard de Linton stands behind and Douglas stands in front.”
Mr Walker said each of these figures was based on some of the people who took part in the 1966 pageant in Arbroath.
He said his lecturers at Duncan of Jordanstone sculpture department gave him a lot of encouragement and it was with their good grace that the pieces were fired in the department kilns.
A founder member of theAbbeyTheatre and Carnoustie HSFP Rugby Club, Mr Walker continues to work in sculpture in a studio in Spain.