The Pageant of St Margaret's Convent

Other names

  • The Pageant of St Margaret's Convent: Looking Back a Hundred Years, 1835–1935.

Pageant type

Notes

<p>The pageant was organised by staff, pupils and former pupils of St Margaret's Convent School, Edinburgh. The convent and school closed in the 1980s, but its buildings and grounds are still owned by the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and are used to house conference, event and residential facilities.</p>

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Performances

Place: Not known (Edinburgh) (Edinburgh, City Of Edinburgh, Scotland)

Year: 1935

Indoors/outdoors: Unknown

Number of performances: n/a

Notes

This pageant has left very little trace, and exactly where it took place is unknown. A reasonable assumption might be that it was performed within the school itself or within its extensive grounds.

The programme for this pageant indicates that it took place sometime in 1935, which was the institution's centenary date; further details have not been recovered.

Name of pageant master and other named staff

Names of executive committee or equivalent

Notes

No details about the organisation of the pageant have been recovered; presumably, its organisers were principally from within the school and/or among former pupils. Names of the organisers are not recorded in the programme.

Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)

Notes

The scriptwriter and the composer of the original pageant music used are described as 'two former pupils', and their work on the pageant is described as 'an affectionate tribute to their Alma Mater'.2 Unfortunately, it has proved impossible to discover anything more about their identity beyond these details.

Names of composers

n/a

Notes

The scriptwriter and the composer of the original pageant music used are described as 'two former pupils', and their work on the pageant is described as 'an affectionate tribute to their Alma Mater'.3 Unfortunately, it has proved impossible to discover anything more about their identity beyond these details.

Numbers of performers

Financial information

Object of any funds raised

The programme gives no indication if any institution beyond the school benefited financially from the performance; however, given that the nuns were also involved with the provision of other services (to the sick and to poor children, for example) any profit made might have been directed at such good works.

Linked occasion

Centenary of the founding of St Margaret's Convent School in Edinburgh.

Audience information

  • Grandstand: Not Known
  • Grandstand capacity: n/a
  • Total audience: n/a

Notes

No details about the audience for this have been recovered. Presumably, this would have been made up of people who had an interest in the school.

Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest

It is likely that this pageant was ticketed, but prices have not been recovered.

Associated events

n/a

Pageant outline

Part I

Scene I. [Untitled Introduction]

This consisted of sung verse alternating between the following singers: 'The Women of St Margaret's Day', 'The Daughters of Today' and St Margaret. There was a short sung introduction (this may have been performed by all of the singers—the programme is unclear). The introduction alludes to Old Testament scripture in respect to the virtue of women. For example:

As the sun when it rises to the world in the high places of God, So is the beauty of a good wife for the ornament of her house.6

The Women of St Margaret's Day then sing to The Daughters of Today, stating that in the time of Margaret they were 'the crown of Scotland's womanhood' and 'the mothers of a kingly race' that 'far beyond the bounds of space and time/Has spread itself throughout the world today.' The Daughters then provide a sung contribution addressed to St Margaret outlining her virtue and good works. St Margaret replies stating that:

I bless ye all. A mother's love I bear
To ye, whose country owned me for its queen.
My children through the ages hold my heart,
My daughters of today tread in my path.

Scene II. In France, 1828

This scene consists of speech and sung verse. The principal character is Dr Gillis. Others featured are the allegorical figure of Faith, Margaret Clapperton, Agnes Trail, St Margaret, Abbe Baudouin and three groups of singers. The scene begins with Dr Gillis announcing that he is in France and describing a 'calm retreat' where he would prefer to remain. Nonetheless, he asks in prayer that god shows him the way forward. He then states that:

From o'er the sea, the land that gave me birth
Would seem to summon me from tranquil prayer
To be about my Father's business.

A response to this is then sung, 'Return unto us, Lord, how long?' Dr Gillis repeats his reluctance but says he will obey the call. He then sings a prayer, to which 'Faith' replies. This interchange ends with the sung statement (presumably supplied by both characters):

Let them trust in Thee, who know Thy name

O Lord, Thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

The first group then enters. It is unclear if the contribution of the groups is here narrated or sung. Group 1 pleads for the return of religion. Group 2 then enters, recalls the good works of St Margaret, and argues that this same charitable spirit is required in present times for nowadays it is only 'for riches and honours' that all are 'athirst'. Group 3 enters, stating that they require knowledge to become 'fit sons of a glorious race'. Margaret Clapperton and Agnes Trail then come on the scene. Clapperton delivers verse that states her intention to 'enter calm and peaceful cloister' in Scotland, as in the days of old; but Dr Gillis states that there is no such cloister in that land and:

Three hundred years have lapsed since convent chime
The sweet strains of Angelus have rung
There, in St Margaret's land.

Agnes Trail exhorts Gillis to help make Clapperton's wish come true, but he replies that he is unworthy. At this St Margaret enters and encourages them to have faith in god and to take advice from one who 'comes to seek thee', whereupon Baudouin enters and greets Gillis. He states in verse that in France, despite revolution and war, religion has prevailed and that such times have given rise to the order of the Ursulines of the Incarnate Word. Gillis then states that he hopes 'old alliances of race and kin' will help now in respect of restoring religion in Scotland. St Margaret then gives her blessing to this endeavour for a 'second birth of Faith and Hope and Love' in 'our native land'. All then leave the stage except Gillis; an angelus bell rings. The stage direction in the programme states that he 'turns, as though he sees a great light, and stretches out his arms crying aloud: “Scio cui servio”'.

Part II

Prologue

This consists of a verse recalling the manners of long ago and calling on the audience to 'take a peep at life/A hundred years ago.'

Scene 1. Playlet–The First Pupil

Three characters perform in this scene: Mamma, Papa and their daughter Matilda. The three are first seen in front of a door that is midway closed as someone exits, and the family take their leave of this person in a very formal manner with bows and curtseys. Some conversation then takes place, which is delivered in stiff sentences that infer old-fashioned, Victorian manners. While Matilda is sent out of earshot to a corner of the room, the parents discuss some information given them in respect to a new convent school, and the mother states that 'this establishment strikes agreeably upon the senses'. Matilda interrupts to enquire if they are going to send her away to this school and is dismissed for butting in. The father then reads out information about the opening of the new school. It describes the Christian education it provides and the academic instruction given in 'English, Italian and French languages, the latter taught by French Ladies belonging to the Community'. Matilda again attempts to interrupts and is told to be silent. The father goes on reading aloud about education in 'Writing, Geography, History, Arithmetic...drawing and painting, plain and ornamental needlework'. They go on to discuss musical education as Matilda is reputedly talented in this; but they read that there is an extra charge for dancing lessons. The mother remarks that such coaching will be necessary for their daughter must 'be presented at court...hence carriage and deportment'. They then talk of the prizes the school will award for merit and proceed to hope that Matilda will be the recipient of these. The mother remarks that Matilda's health 'is very fragile', but the father reads that the school will take care of all pupils in 'cases of sickness' within an infirmary. After further conversation about uniforms and school vacations, the father states, 'I fancy that our kind hostess is returning'. He states that he is satisfied with what the school will provide and ends with the joke that, despite its desirability, they 'did not show us the dungeons'. The scene ends with the door opening and the family resuming their positions 'as in the beginning'.

Scene 2. Tableau of Games of the Past

This consisted of a short monologue in verse addressing the audience on the subject of 'when croquet and cricket and tennis became/The latest of fashion's dictation'. The narrator jokes that some in the audience may recall this time. A tableau demonstrating 'Games of the Past' then takes place.

Scene 3. Tableau of the School of Former Days

A narrator talks of the curriculum and states that 'every generation finds/Lessons but a bore' and proceeds to introduce the 'school of other days', stating '[d]on't disturb the class!/Some are in disgrace, I fear/Not all are good alas!'

Scene 4. Tableau of Dancing Class of Former Days

The narrator delivers a verse on the joys of dancing; this is followed be a tableau depicting the same 'in former days'.

Scene 5. Brownies and Guides

The narrator again speaks in verse and says that each new age 'brings its own special need' with new movements and 'new energies to feed'. Some sort of demonstration by the school Brownie and Guide troops then takes place during which first the Brownies and then the Guides recite verses explaining who they are.

Unnumbered Scene. Then and Now

A number of allegorical figures (or possibly groups of figures) exchange verses in this scene, which is not given a number in the running order. The figures are:

The Present.
The Past of 100 Years Ago.
The Past of 70 Years Ago.
The Past of 50 Years Ago.
The Past of 30 Years Ago.
The Future.

Figures from the past talk in verse about fashions in education and speak of changes to these in their respective times. When all have said their piece, they collectively say that school days were happy for them all, but the figure representing the present replies that those in the 'Now' are 'firmly convinced that we're luckier than you'. The Future then states that 'a century is now gone', and they must all 'look to the future with Hope and with Trust'. The scene ends with everyone on stage reciting a verse that states how much they all love the school.

Part III

Scene 1. Foundation

This scene features St Margaret and the allegorical figures of Piety, Mercy, Knowledge and 'the Spirit of St Margaret'. It consists of an exchange in verse by all five. St Margaret begins, extolling 'her namesake' to use her influence for 'the good seed must be sown if thou wouldst reap'. The Spirit then speaks and calls on Piety to help her. Piety replies that 'love of God makes smooth the roughest path'. The Spirit then calls on Mercy, who also delivers a verse outlining the benefits of this virtue. St Margaret then states that children will be blessed and strengthened by these gifts, but education is also, 'a holy gift of God'; the Spirit, who then proclaims 'Truth in all Knowledge, and in Knowledge, Truth', agrees with this sentiment. The figure of Knowledge then delivers a verse stating that education brings its followers 'Joy and Peace'. St Margaret then ends the scene with a short piece of verse stating 'go forth upon thy way, and prosper well/Thou dear St Margaret's, child of my heart.'

Scene 2. Achievement

A narrator delivers a verse reminding the audience of the one hundred years that have passed and the occasion being celebrated before presenting some happy scenes in the form of tableaux. These are as follows:

Tableau 1. The First Communicants: this presented children walking slowly 'in two and two'; they are singing.

Tableau 2. The Visiting of the Poor, the Sick, the Prisoners: no details of this are provided in the programme but it is accompanied by singing.

Tableau 3. The Children of Mary: no details provided but it included a short narration and some singing, both of which honoured the mother of Christ.

Tableau 4. The Schools: details of exactly what was presented are not included, but it is assumed that pupils appeared as themselves. The verse delivered in this scene applauds the influence of school as follows:

We are the children of your care, and you
Have brought us knowledge, turned our minds and hearts
To better things; and through your influence
We have become more worthy citizens
Of our great Empire. We are proud to be...

Tableau 5. The Nurses Club: this is again spoken and presumably is presented by nurses who speak in verse about enjoying their relaxation in the Club after their 'hard day's toil'.

Tableau 6. The Unknown Good Works: narration and singing took place extolling the virtues of sacrifice and deeds of kindness.

Epilogue

A narrator closes the performance stating that the tale that has been told is a 'shining chain of gold' and that the patron of the school, Margaret, is the 'pearl of saints'.

School Hymn

All performers retake the stage, and the school song is sung.

Key historical figures mentioned

  • Gillis, James (1802–1864) vicar apostolic of the eastern district
  • Margaret [St Margaret] (d. 1093) queen of Scots, consort of Malcolm III
  • Trail, Ann Agnes [name in religion Agnes Xavier] (1798–1872) Roman Catholic nun and artist

Musical production

A former pupil of St Margaret's Convent School composed original music. Her name and details of the musical arrangements have not been recovered. It is assumed that music was performed live.

Newspaper coverage of pageant

Book of words

The Pageant of St Margaret's Convent: Looking Back a Hundred Years, 1835–1935. No publication details.

Other primary published materials

n/a

References in secondary literature

n/a

Archival holdings connected to pageant

  • The Scottish Catholic Archives, Edinburgh: The records of St Margaret's Convent School. Collection reference: GB 0240 MC/12/9 'Papers and photographs relating to items at St Margaret's'. It is possible that these papers will contain further information about the pageant; more detailed information about holdings and research access can be obtained by contacting the archivist in charge via the centre's website.7
  • The National Library of Scotland: One copy of the Book of Words. PB2.208.125/1.

Sources used in preparation of pageant

n/a

None noted

Summary

This pageant was a small, institutional affair organised to celebrate the centenary of St Margaret's Convent School in Edinburgh; it received no publicity in the Scottish press. Nonetheless, the convent was an institution with a significant place in Scottish religious history as, based in Edinburgh's affluent Southside, it was the first female religious house to be established in Scotland since the protestant reformation. It opened in 1834 as a base for sisters from the French order of Ursulines of Jesus, and the school followed a year later. From the beginning, the school provided education for girls from wealthy families; however, part of this order's mission was also to look after the poor, and later in the century they added educational initiatives for poor children in Edinburgh and Perth. In addition, for a time, they ran a clinic and dispensary in the Canongate part of the city and ministered to Catholics resident in the Craiglockhart poorhouse.8

The plan to bring the nuns to Scotland and establish the convent had been that of Bishop James Gillis, following his meeting in France in 1828 with the founder of the Ursuline order, Abbe Louis Marie Baudouin.9 Gillis is an important figure in the nineteenth-century Roman Catholic revival in Scotland. The foundation of the convent and school were among his first significant initiatives as a leader of the Scottish church in the years before the formal restoration of its hierarchy in 1878. Among the eleven sisters brought to Scotland from France were two Scots-born women—the convert Agnes Trail and Margaret Clapperton who came from a well-known Roman Catholic family. In her religious life, Trail was known as Sister Agnes Xavier; she had attracted some notoriety because her father was a Church of Scotland minister. After training as an artist, Trail travelled in Europe and during a stay in Italy converted to Roman Catholicism; she later took holy orders in France.10 The other Scottish-born nun was Margaret Clapperton, who became known as Mother Margaret Teresa.11 This collection of characters all featured in this centenary pageant; however, the central character throughout is the school's namesake: St Margaret of Scotland.

The pageant was divided into three parts. While its scriptwriter's name is unknown, the programme records that the author was a former pupil of the school. Music also played a large part in the pageant, and some of its narrative was sung; once again, the composer was a former pupil whose identity has not been discovered. Whether spoken or sung, a good deal of the text was delivered in verse, particularly that which covered religious themes. However, in addition to the heavy religious sentiment of much of the narrative, this pageant also had an idiosyncratic structure and allegorical elements that are very reminiscent of other pageants held in Edinburgh in the interwar years organised by the Outlook Tower Association, which promoted the ideas of Patrick Geddes. It is therefore possible that Roman Catholic associates of this organisation were involved in writing and organising St Margaret's pageant. At the very least, it is likely that these previous pageants provided the inspiration for how the history of the school could be presented in pageant form. Certainly, staff and students from the Sacred Heart Teacher Training College in Edinburgh had played a large role in a Bruce centenary pageant held in Edinburgh in 1929, which was an initiative of the Outlook Tower. It is more than possible that some of these student teachers had been pupils at St Margaret's and/or went on to teach there. Although no firm evidence can be provided, there is a stylistic similarity between the Outlook Tower pageants and this one that is worth noting.

Part one of the pageant had two scenes; the first of these was an introduction centred on the figure of St Margaret, a patron saint of Scotland after whom the school was named. Margaret was a perennial favourite in Scottish pageants, mostly being recalled in her queenly rather than saintly guise as the wife of King Malcolm III of Scotland—doubtless a more suitable characterisation for Presbyterian Scotland. She was commonly shown to be a civilising influence on the uncouth Malcolm Canmore, and, through her good works for the poor, pageants often painted her as a role model for Scottish womanhood. The latter sentiment featured in this pageant's introduction wherein Margaret engages in dialogue with two collectives—the pious women of her own historical time and the 'Daughters of Today' who are clearly meant to represent those girls who had received an education at the convent school. The second scene then goes on to tell the history of the school's founding. The script is not very illuminating about how this drama was presented, but it suggests that while resident in France Bishop Gillis received some kind of divine calling to bring a convent house to Scotland as it had long been starved of Roman Catholic education. In the script, this is the only reference to religious reformation, and even this is delivered somewhat obliquely. Into his meditation, come the figures of the two Scots-born nuns who will be at the forefront of making this dream a reality, as well as the person of St Margaret herself.

Following on from this condensed and slightly surreal look at the school's foundation, part two of the pageant presented a more straightforward drama beginning with a 'playlet' on the subject of Matilda—depicted as the school's first pupil. Naughty Matilda refuses to conform to the Victorian notion that a child ought to be seen and not heard. While the girl's parents, who it must be supposed have called into the new school to make enquiries, are discussing the prospect of sending their daughter to this new Edinburgh establishment and pronouncing on all it has to offer, Matilda constantly interrupts. Dramatised, this part of the pageant was evidently meant to be a satirical comedy on Victorian manners, though as text it reads as a slightly wooden tale. Still, it may have come alive on stage! Four tableaux accompanied by voice-over narration follow this; these merely show (probably with a light touch) many of the activities of the school. Part two ends by returning to allegorical mode, with a piece that aimed to show how the content of a girl's education had changed over one hundred years.

Part three has two scenes, the first of which presents further allegorical characters who represent some of the virtues delivered by a good Catholic education. These feature alongside St Margaret, who ends the piece by wishing the pupils well. The final scene presents another series of tableaux; the subject of these, while it again includes aspects of Catholic education, widens the scope of the drama to incorporate some of the other activities of the convent. One tableau, for example, mentions the provision of leisure facilities for off-duty nurses and another refers to prison visiting.12 The epilogue rounds things off on a generally congratulatory note with all performers returning to the stage and a wish being expressed to celebrate the school's record in the past and build on this for the future. Singing of the school hymn closed the pageant.

This pageant was probably only advertised to those who had an established interest in this institution, such as pupils and their families, former pupils, and, most likely, members of the Roman Catholic clergy. Notably, although the Scotsman newspaper had covered the school's golden jubilee fifty years previously, there was no such coverage for its centenary celebration. In 1930s Scotland, anti-Catholic bigotry was very much a reality, and the school and church may have wished to keep the event low key. No information about the spectatorship has been recovered, nor do we know how the pageant was received—though most likely the reception would have been positive given that the audience was almost certainly a captive one, and nostalgia for schooldays is often a vote winner. There was nothing contentious in the drama. It did attempt to deliver humour alongside pious retrospection and weighty allegory, and it probably involved a substantial number of pupils who likely enjoyed celebrating their alma mater's past. One hundred years is but a moment in the timeframe of most historical pageants, but this pageant covered what was an important time for Scottish Roman Catholics. Though the school was an elite institution, it is clear from the pageant's text that the establishment of the convent and its school was seen as a watershed moment for all Scottish Catholics and worth celebrating. In the wider context of interwar Edinburgh, a pageant was the obvious choice for celebrating such an anniversary, yet there was no attempt to widen the scope of the story told to other aspects of Catholic revival, most probably because this would have been to court controversy. In deeply conservative Edinburgh, for this class of people, that would have been unthinkable.

Footnotes

  1. ^ This establishment is known as the Gilles Centre, named after the founder of the convent, Bishop Gillis; for information about the centre, see its website, accessed 13 April 2016, http://www.gilliscentre.org.uk/.
  2. ^ The Pageant of St Margaret's Convent: Looking Back a Hundred Years, 1835–1935 (np), 1.
  3. ^ The Pageant of St Margaret's Convent: Looking Back a Hundred Years, 1835–1935 (np), 1.
  4. ^ 'Golden Jubilee Celebrations at St Margaret's Convent Edinburgh', Scotsman, 11 June 1886, 3.
  5. ^ Note that the style of the numbering of the episodes is not consistent in the pageant programme and is replicated here as it appears in this document.
  6. ^ Unless indicated otherwise, all quotations in the synopses are from The Pageant of St Margaret's Convent: Looking Back a Hundred Years, 1835–1935 (np).
  7. ^ See Scottish Catholic Archives, accessed 14 April 2016, http://www.scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx.
  8. ^ 'Guidebook' [no author]; this outlines the history of the convent and its founder and can be found at the website of the Gillis Centre, accessed 13 April 2016, http://www.gilliscentre.org.uk/religion.php.
  9. ^ 'Guidebook'.
  10. ^ For details of Agnes Trail's life, see entry by Bernard Aspinall in The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, ed. Elizabeth Ewan et al. (Edinburgh, 2006), 355–356.
  11. ^ See obituary for Mother Margaret Teresa Clapperton (1811–1896), The Tablet: International Catholic News Weekly, 13 June 1896, 30.
  12. ^ The nuns had provided help to prisoners at Perth prison during the nineteenth century; see 'Golden Jubilee Celebrations at St Margaret's Convent Edinburgh', Scotsman, 11 June 1886, 3.

How to cite this entry

Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘The Pageant of St Margaret's Convent’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1212/