Gladys Leslie was Secretary to the Save St Magnus Appeal, which the Friends launched in January 1972 after a survey found serious structural damage to the cathedral. At the Society’s fiftieth anniversary Annual General Meeting, on 29 September 2008, she gave this talk recalling the launch. It is reproduced here as she gave it.
Secretary to the Appeal
Lord Lieutenant, Honorary Secretary, Ladies and Gentlemen: I stand here because I could not say “No” to the Lord Lieutenant. Also because David Oddie keeps telling me I’m one of the few folk left who was there in January 1972. I hasten to add I was a mere slip o’ a lass then!
Colonel RAAS Macrae had approached me to become Secretary to the Appeal and I had no hesitation in agreeing, as a survey had shown there was severe structural damage to St Magnus Cathedral. The west gable was being pushed outwards at the top. There was obvious cracking in the vaulting and cracks in the walls adjacent to the gable. It was so serious that the nave area was no longer safe for public use.
The Colonel had many friends and contacts and he worked hard towards that launch day and long, long after. He had on board Lord Birsay as President, and David Kemp, Treasurer of the Friends, who had agreed to deal with the finance. The Appeal leaflet was prepared and would be sent to every corner of the world. There was a letter for Orcadians to send to friends and relatives abroad; they were distributed through the kirks. We sent those too to every Orkney & Zetland Association we could find. We wrote to every Trust registered in Britain and in some instances had great success.
Every single donor was written a thank you letter together with their receipt. I would go up to Foubister & Bain’s office in the evenings (they had kindly allocated us a room to do the secretarial work in) and there would be a pile of incoming letters with the receipts attached. I would type a standard reply and leave them for Col Macrae to sign next time he was in town. If there was a generous donation, and there were many, the Colonel would write a personal letter for me to type.
No business man, no local dignitary, no journeying Orcadian, was permitted to leave Orkney without appeal leaflets in his brief case or wallet, and that was how the word was spread.
I recall talk of Colonel Macrae planning a lecture tour in America, but it never came to pass as we were overwhelmed by the response from that country. We reckoned that Michael Stern of the New York Times did us proud, together with many local Orcadians who persuaded their relatives over there to support the cause.
18 January 1972
To return to 18 January 1972. I will never forget meeting the invited national and international press representatives at Kirkwall Airport off a chartered Loganair Skyvan. What could they have thought as they arrived in a January gale that at times reached 75 mph and was speckled with typical sleety showers? The party consisted of people from the New York Times, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Glasgow Herald, Scotsman, Press & Journal, BBC, Daily Express and Scottish Field.
I told David Oddie that I would not be touching on amounts of money, but I cannot let this moment pass without telling you (thanks, I’m sure, to his wife Inga’s good filing and retrieval skills) that the Loganair charter cost £291.00, the mini bus for the entire day £2.60, and the buffet lunch, together with wine and cocktails, £88.64.
Already in Orkney that day were Alex Heward the Architect, the Consulting Engineer and the Quantity Surveyor. They had, the previous day, been interviewed by a BBC Television crew for a broadcast that would come out on the evening of the launch, showing the Cathedral and the problem.
The opening address by Lord Birsay was to have been out in front of the Cathedral, but the weather meant it had to take place inside. Just prior to his speech the Town Council, with Provost Mrs Leitch in charge, led by the Town Halberdiers, came into the Cathedral, and a second procession headed by Sheriff Alistair Macdonald moved in, representing the Bench, the Bar and Honorary Sheriffs.
Now the clear message from Col Macrae from the outset was that the Appeal had to begin here in Orkney, and that we the people would show that charity begins at home. With this in mind the folk of the town and county had been asked to make their donations that day, with the doors of the Cathedral open from 11 am to 3 pm and plates ready to receive donations.
The press were entertained to a buffet lunch in the Kirkwall Hotel, and then it was off to the Council Chambers for the press conference, chaired by Colonel Macrae of course. It was during this time that he was able to announce that the amazing sum of almost £5,000 had been donated that day. Lord Birsay had informed the company in the morning that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother had agreed to become a patron of the Friends, and the Lord Lieutenant, Col H W Scarth, had brought in the Queen Mother’s donation to the Cathedral.
We saw the press group off somewhat later than planned due to engine trouble (aye, some things never change) and then Brigadier S P Robertson insisted we adjourn to Daisybank for oatcakes and cheese, and the men partook of small whiskies to celebrate a memorable day.
2,552 names
18 January 1972 has a significant place in the history of the Society of the Friends of St Magnus Cathedral. From that day on the donations came flowing through, and I want to share with you a reply from David Kemp in September 1995, some 23 years later, when Colonel Macrae had requested a list of the donors. The letter reads: “Dear Sir Robert: As the lists of contributors extended to 86 foolscap sheets (2552 names in all) I thought it easier to make a list of those who contributed £100 and over. Yours sincerely David.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, I can do no better than conclude with the closing sentences from Lord Birsay that day, delivered in his slow and wonderful Orcadian accent, delivered as the wind roared at the west door and the floodlights beamed on the cracks so apparent in the vaulting of the nave:
“And if we can bespeak your aid to keep the Cathedral and all it represents for future generations, I will feel this morning has been well spent. Remember Rognvald the ballad-maker, the sailor, the fighter, the Christian, the great administrator, and Magnus who was not afraid in those bloodthirsty days to keep the vision alive. All I ask you is to help us to keep our own vision alive.”
Lord Birsay, launching the Appeal in St Magnus Cathedral, 18 January 1972
Read more about the Save St Magnus Appeal and the works it paid for, or about how the Friends began in 1958.
