How would you describe the memorial and its ornamentation?
This window, the gift of the 1st Lord Forteviot, forms part of the memorial scheme and is dedicated to Perthshire’s dead of the First World War in whose honour the church was restored. It is the work of Herbert Hendrie and was completed in 1929.
In the left-hand panel is the prophet Isaiah, robed in blue and carrying a red and gold book. The great Messianic prophet lived some seven hundred years before the events of which he wrote, and it is only necessary to mention his repeated prophecies of the coming of Christ and his Kingdom to realise his key position in Old Testament literature. At the foot of the panel a seraph is seen placing a live coal on the prophet’s lips.
The second prophet is Jeremiah, in robes of brown and green, bearing a scroll in his hand. Around the prophet’s neck, and also at the top of the light, can be seen the yoke of rope which refers to the incident in chapter 27 of the Book of Jeremiah, when the prophet sent yokes to the kings of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, Tyrus and Zidon and commanded them to be subject to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. In the panel underneath, the prophet is seen taking from the dungeon of King Zedekiah.
The third light shows the prophet Ezekiel, robed in blue and red, and bearing the roll of prophecy in his hand. At the head of the light is a representation of the vision related in chapter 1 of the Book of Ezekiel, while at the foot of the light is Ezekiel’s vision of the New Jerusalem.
Daniel occupies the fourth light. He is robed in blue and holds a golden book in his hand. At the head of the light is a hand pointing to the words ‘Mene mene tekel upharsin’. This refers to the mysterious handwriting on the wall at the feast of King Balshazzar. At the foot of the panel is the picture of an equally dramatic episode, portrayed with real power, that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the burning fiery furnace.
In the tracery at the head of the window can be seen angels and the symbols of the lion and the lamb, St. Michael and the star.
Like its opposite number in the north transept this window contains a large proportion of translucent pearly glass, thus admitting ample light to the interior of the church.
(From the book 'Through A Glass Brightly - The Windows of St. John's Kirk, Perth'.)