G is for Gift

In the days when I was fundraising for a stone to be laid in memory of George Campbell Hay I was greatly helped by George's friend and sometime publisher, a man called Gordon. I said several times in that year that 'words could never express how grateful I was' to Gordon for his help with that project. And in addition he gave very freely of his time to talk to me about George as he knew him for my thesis. 

Now that the stone and the Ph D are all over and done, it seemed to me that I should mark Gordon's help with a special gift. And so I commissioned this lovely thing from a local botanical artist. (I think the blog does record our trip to her exhibition in Kirkwall quite some time ago now, which is where the idea was born)

Because G may be for gift, but it is also for George and Gordon, and generosity and gratitude, and for gean, the bird cherry illustrated in the picture and which George wrote about often in his poetry. 

Once I had seen it, it  was quite hard to give away to be honest. But I managed.