Tapestry of Scotland - Scottish Comics

Today I was attending a meeting in the Scottish Parliament and was able to view in the Main Hall some of the 160 detailed panels which are the result of the embroidery of 1000 community stitchers aged from 4 to 94.

I've chosen the panel that shows some of our great comedians. If you view in large you'll see the panel's sub-text is - Stop yer ticklin Jock! - Harry Lauder's iconic music hall song. The Scots have produced many notable jokers - Chic Murray, Stanley Baxter, Ronnie Corbett, Billy Connelly, just to mention a few. There are a few jokers in the Parliament, as well!

The chap eyeing this panel is just one of over 5000 people who visited the exhibition today. Each panel captures a different aspect of Scotland's story. It was devised by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith, together with historian Alistair Moffat and artist Andrew Crummy. It took more than 50,000 hours to complete. The exhibition closes on Saturday. Read more about its making here.