REVIEWS

SCOTTISH ECCLESIASTICAL HERALDRY

Religious Houses, Universities, Moderators

Written by: David M Bertie

Published by: The Heraldry Society of Scotland

Price: £40.00 (plus post and packing)

Ecclesiastical heraldry sounds like a very niche subject but this fascinating reference book also offers a trawl through the religious history of Scotland.

For the first time it brings together a meticulously researched collection of the coat of arms used by senior Scottish clergy, except bishops and deans, from the late 13th century until today.

Confirming for me that every day is a school day, I have discovered from this glossy volume that Moderators of the General Assembly were able to create their own coat of arms, but not all have chosen to do so, particularly in contemporary times.

One of those who chose not to develop a coat of arms was the Very Rev Dr Archibald Charteris, found of Life and Work, the Guild and the Diaconate.

All Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, from the 16th century, to the present day are listed in an index at the back of the book (those who have their own coat of arms are listed in normal text and those without are listed in italics.

The volume also includes the heads of the four ancient Scottish University (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews) who were all clerics until the the late 19th Century.

Armorial illustrations of each coat of arms have been published in full colour and are accompanied by descriptions of the seals used and potted biographies of family background and religious careers.

This beautifully designed 395-page hardback is a weighty volume, but can be used for reference purposes or general interest as each entry provides fascinating insights not only into coats of arms and the background which resulted in particular colours or illustrations within the coat of arms, but also offers insights into Scotland’s religious history – and the background of those called to serve over seven centuries.

The work would be of interest to a number of people – those interested in the history of coats of arms and Scotland’s eccesial history, but also for those interested in genealogy and seeking to perhaps learn more about distant familial ties.

The nature of the book means it would be equally at home on a coffee table or on the shelves of a reference library.

Copies can be ordered direct from the Heraldry Society of Scotland at https://www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk/societypublications.html

BURYING THE ENEMY

The Story of Those Who Cared for the Dead in Two World Wars

Written by: Tim Grady

Published by: Yale University Press London

Price: £25

The initial appearance of this book – clearly published ahead of the 80th anniversary commemoration of the end of the Second World War – is that it principally only deals with England and Germany.

A deeper delve into the pages finds, however, that the issue of caring for the dead was spread across every nation touched by the two 20th century conflicts of the First and Second World Wars.

The premise of the book is enthralling: an exploration of how communities essentially adopted the dead: burying those on an opposing side who died in conflict in local churchyards and tending their graves.

It also offers insight into the practice of moving the dead (in some cases) to military cemeteries, amid protests from local communities at the disturbance of the dead and the severance of a tie between the tender care of those called to care for those who died and the families of those who died, essentially on a hostile battlefield.

Moving stories are retold of parents seeking to bring their loved ones home, but of a transformation upon visiting and finding graves lovingly tended by communities recognising the sacrifice.

In an opening introduction the author cites the example of four German airmen killed in a crash near St Cyrus, Aberdeenshire. They were just four of 4,500 Germans to lose their lives on British soil during the Second World War in over 700 cemeteries in Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. In Germany the figures were even higher, with over 600 cemeteries from the First World War and an estimated higher number from the Second World War.

In St Cyrus, the mother of one of the four airmen who died and was laid to rest in Montrose cemetery beside other Allied graves, visited with the intention of bringing her son home to Germany. She visited in 1954 but returned home after finding his grave well tended and recognising the part the grave played in building relationships of reconciliation. This is cited as an example of the importance of marking and remembering the graves of those who died in conflict. Disappointingly, the author notes that today there is no sign that the German air crew were ever there, with only the Allied dead now mentioned, raising important questions about what the author describes in a final chapter as ‘the ghosts of war’.

This book would be of interest for anyone interested in the stories behind cemetery memorials and for those involved in the care of cemeteries (many of which remain attached to churches). It would also be of interest to those studying the social and cultural aspect of conflict.

The author is professor of modern history at Chester University.

Lynne McNeil