Scottish Catholic Observer

JOHN McLaughlin MBE, known as The Govan Chairman on account of his magnificent hand-carved wooden chairs, presented a chair dedicated to St Margaret’s to SCIAF on November 10.

This marks a very special month for the charity, which celebrated the feast day of its patron saint, St Margaret, on November 16. The chair was gifted at the annual Remembrance Mass for deceased benefactors, which was celebrated by Fr Joe Mackle, alongside Bishop Brian McGee.

The gift was originally carved in 1933 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the death of St Margaret, Queen of Scotland. Mr McLaughlin explained that the chair was made from discarded elm, and that the daisy-like carvings of eight marguerites adorning the top of the chair represented the eight children of Queen Margaret.

Mr McLaughlin proudly spoke about the chair only taking a month to carve and said the seven Celtic knots represented he and his wife Janet’s own children.

“The arms of the chair are from eight thistles, which were known [in Pre-Reformation times] as Our Lady’s Thistles,” Mr McLaughlin added. “They were formed from a plank of wood I found in a skip in Renfrew and now they make up one of the most important parts of the chair.”

A ship also features on the chair, which represents the broken ship that brought St Margaret ashore in the Firth of Forth during a storm. The vessel is also symbolic of the ferry that the saintly Queen provided to take pilgrims across the Forth to St Andrews.

The green velvet cushion is reformed from the table cover that held the Honours of Scotland: a silver sceptre presented to King James IV by the Pope in 1494 and the Sword of State presented by Pope Julius II in 1507.

SCIAF’s Teresa McGoldrick thanked Mr McLaughlin for gifting the charity the chair. “The chair shows incredible craftsmanship and a remarkable labour of love,” she said. “We are both privileged and delighted to receive this special chair and thank John for his work and generosity.”

The St Margaret’s chair will be on loan to SCIAF for a year.

—This story ran in full in the November 18 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.