Wednesday, 20 May 2026

Another Mark Dennis Hatchment

 Another fine hatchment from the brushes of the late Mark Dennis: painted for his friend, Sheriff David Bogie,who bookplate, also by Mark appears in our archive.


New Grant of Arms

 The Lord Lyon has granted arms to Major Paul Rorie TD. The artist was Gayle Page.


Blazon: Or a chevron Gules in chief two hands Proper each holding a cross crosslet fitche Azure and in base a bear rampant Sable langued Gules.


Tuesday, 19 May 2026

Supreme Court meets in Glasgow

 This evening,  the Lord Lyon was the guest of the Lord Provost of Glasgow at a dinner held in the City Chambers to mark the occasion of The UK Supreme Court sessions in Glasgow. The emblem of the Supreme Court was designed by Yvonne Holton when Herald Painter to the Lyon Court.






Sunday, 17 May 2026

General Assembly 2026

  The Lord Lyon and Officers of Arms were in attendance on Her Grace the Lord High Commissioner this morning at the General Assembly Service at St Giles.







Saturday, 16 May 2026

Lord High Commissioner's Concert

 On the 15th May, the Lord Lyon attended a piano recital by Ethan Loch hosted by Her Grace the Lord High Commissioner at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.






Friday, 15 May 2026

Rothesay Herald granted extension

 The Lord Lyon has been pleased today to vary His Commission appointing George Way of Plean as Rothesay Herald of Arms in Ordinary, extending the appointment by two years until George Way of Plean attains the age of seventy-two years in May 2028.



Chocolate Chip Day

  Radio 3 tells me today is National Chocolate Chip Day for which we offer the arms of John Stewart Birrell, granted in 1922, proprietor of a much-loved Glasgow confectioners.

It is said that the shops were so quiet you could hear a pan drop.
Blazon: Per chevron Or and Azure three roundels chequy two and one those in chief of the Second and Argent that in base of the Last and of the Second.






Thursday, 14 May 2026

Gillis Centre for Sale

 The Gillis Centre Complex in Edinburgh will be sold by the the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh in September.


The former St Margaret's Convent was the first post-Reformation Catholic convent or monastery in Scotland.  




Trinity Chapel Edinburgh

Mary of Guelders (c. 1434–1463), Queen consort of Scotland, founded the Trinity Collegiate Church in 1460 in memory of her husband, King James II, who was killed that year at the siege of Roxburgh Castle. Founded as a religious and charitable institution, which included the church and an adjoining almshouse (Trinity Hospital) for 13 poor individuals.Architecture: It was considered a "magnificent and sumptuous" example of 15th-century Gothic architecture, often called the most accomplished building of its time in Scotland. It was demolished in 1848 to make way for Waverly Station.



Many stones were numbered and stored with the intention of rebuilding the church. After decades of delay, a portion of the stones was used to construct Trinity Apse on Chalmers Close in 1870, which is now a Grade A listed building.During the 1848 demolition, remains thought to be Mary of Guelders were discovered and eventually re-interred in Holyrood Abbey.


The church's original Trinity Altarpiece is displayed in the National Gallery of Scotland. 








There is an exhibition starting in the Museum of Edinburgh on the High Street. The exhibition follows a two-year project led by Jill Harrison, founder of the Trinity Network, to trace and catalogue medieval stones dispersed across Edinburgh after the church was torn down. 

The exhibition also examines the rediscovery of three carved stone bosses donated by NHS Lothian which later ended up at the Astley Ainslie Hospital.

A programme of free talks and guided walks will accompany the exhibition during its run at the Museum of Edinburgh.


James iI and Mary of Guelders as portrayed in the Seton Armorial of 1591. 


Ceremony of the Keys

  The Lord Lyon, with Marchmont Herald and Bute Pursuivant, was on duty today for the Ceremony of the Keys with Her Grace the Lord High Commissioner Lady Elish Angiolini LT, DBE, KC.




Wednesday, 13 May 2026

Kirking of the Parliament

 The Lord Lyon attended the Kirking of the Scottish Parliament in the presence of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Many of the parliamentarians old and new were in attendance.





Sunday, 10 May 2026

Rothesay at the William Souter Poetry Lecture

 Rothesay Herald was a guest at the annual William Souter Poetry Lecture in the neo-classical hall of Masonic Lodge Scone and Perth no3. The Matriculation of the Lodge Arms hangs in the Hall and the wall painting depicts the foundation of Scone Abbey by King Alexander I in 1175 AD.




Saturday, 9 May 2026

Tartan Day

  The Lord Lyon led the Officers of Arms in the Tartan Day Procession in Edinburgh today.