As we have friends staying it seemed a good opportunity to go somewhere inside due to the weather.  They had never been on the Borders railway so enjoyed seeing the frozen landscape to Galashiels – on the way back a snow blizzard obscured the view.   The Great Tapestry of Scotland is in a purpose built gallery and houses the longest tapestry in the world although the panels are displayed individually.     The designs and needlework are magnificent with all sorts of embroidery stitches and textures.   This is the first one which hints at the different aspects of Scottish culture displayed from the evolution of the land over thousands of years and the work and recreation, politics, religion, sport, tradition and innovation.  It is one of my less favourite panels but serves as an introduction.
The extra shows some of the horses in different panels of which many are tiny illustrations on the borders of a tapestry.
Until about 100 years ago, horses were very important in battles and these horses in their splendid armour symbolise the Battle of Bannockburn when King Robert the Bruce took two days to defeat the English army of Edward II during the First War of Scottish Independence.   When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 Robert Carey rode from London to Edinburgh in about 60 hours, taking the news to James VI that he was now king of England too.  The other two horses are from other panels representing soldiers.
Horses too were used not only for transport but also in agriculture and commercial activities.  Canal boats were pulled by horses like the little brown one and the pony with a barrel on its back is part of the panel showing the importance of Glenlivet Distillery founded in 1824 as the first lawful whisky distillery.  In the 1770s a blacksmith, James Small, revolutionised crop cultivation by inventing a swing plough which the two large horses are pulling.