Newspaper Report on Dean Parish Church War Memorial, 1922
 (NRS reference: CH2/662/38/1)

Transcript:

The war memorial of the Dean Parish Church in Edinburgh was dedicated and unveiled in the presence of a large congregation at the forenoon service yesterday. Of the 200 men and 13 women of the congregation who responded to the call of patriotism, 47 of the former and one of the latter, who died on service with the motor transport, made the supreme sacrifice.

The memorial, which was designed by Mr Reginald Fairlie, takes the form of a three-panel tablet in bronze framed in marble, and it is set in the space between the windows on the south aisle of the Church. On the outer panels the names of the fallen appear in alphabetical order. The centre panel has been used for the dedicatory scroll and text. The words of the former are: 'To the glory of God and in proud and grateful memory of those connected with the Dean Parish Church who gave their lives in the Great War' – and of the latter – 'Weep ye not for the dead.'

Above these and between the figures 1914 and 1919 there is a symbol of sacrifice, common to Christian and heraldic art, that of a pelican with embowed wings and downward-pointing beak sitting on a nest where her young are resting. The carving is by Mr A Carrick, A.R.S.A.

With simple but moving ceremonial, the memorial was dedicated and unveiled. The service, which was conducted by the Rev James Reekie, the minister of the Church, was most impressive, and a striking link between the days of peace and war was the presence of a number of soldiers in their blue garb. Lord Provost Hutchison was present, as also was Sir Joseph Fayrer, who was Commandant of Craigleith Military Hospital. 

At an interval in the devotions and after the prayer of intercession and remembrance Mr R H Cameron, the session clerk, made the request for dedication, and Mr Reekie accepted the memorial on behalf of the authorities of the church. The minister having read the names of the fallen.

The Lord Provost briefly addressed the congregation, and said that the memorial would recall for all time the heroism and self-sacrifice of those who died. As Chief Magistrate of the city, he was very proud to have the opportunity of endeavouring to express on behalf of the citizens generally their humble and grateful thanks for the services faithfully performed and the sacrifice made by them and their sincere and respectful sympathy with those who mourned their loss. There were few parishes made to realise more acutely the suffering and sorrow of war than the parish of Dean, for in the neighbourhood, and within its bounds, were the military hospital at Craigleith, the Royal Victoria Hospital, where consumptive men were treated, Flora Stevenson's School, which was also used as a war hospital, while in the cemeteries of the parish there lay soldiers not only from different parts of our own land, but from every Colony and dependency of the Empire. As those whose names were inscribed on the memorial, let them now endeavour to be worthy of the sacrifice that had been made.

The minister, elders and others assisting then walked in procession from the chancel to the memorial where Mr Reekie said the dedicatory prayer. Mrs Brown, three of whose sons served in the Royal Scots, and fell in the war, and who was escorted by Lieut.-Col. A H Mure T.D., Commanding the 4/5th Royal Scots, unveiled the tablet, which was draped with the Union Jack. Mr Cameron then placed upon the memorial a laurel wreath on behalf of the congregation.'The Flowers of Scotland' was played in the pipes, followed by the sounding of the Last Post and Reveille on the bugle, after which the National Anthem was sung, and the service closed with Chopin's March Funebre.

(National Records of Scotland reference: CH2/662/38/1)