The Scottish Diaspora Tapestry’s tenth year of exhibitions began with a hugely successful visit to the historic Dalkeith Palace last weekend. Over three days (15-17 March 2024), the complete tapestry was shown over a series of rooms around the palace.

For the first time, we displayed the tapestry according to historical themes rather than geographical links. This proved a great success, allowing visitors to see the bigger picture of why certain connections developed and how they fit into the bigger picture of Scotland’s global story.

Our team of volunteers – mainly familiar faces from the Battle of Prestonpans Museum – had a great time welcoming over 400 visitors to the exhibition. It was especially wonderful to see so many returning friends, including stitchers who had worked on panels and came to share some of their memories with us.

The Tapestry is now off to the Netherlands for the next stage of its tour, but will be returning to Prestonpans in the summer. Then we’ll be the hosts of the hub display for a county-wide multi-venue exhibition. Look out for news in the near future!

The Scottish Diaspora Tapestry is managed by the Trust as part of its collection, which also includes of course the Prestonpans Tapestry. Sections of the latter are always on display at our museum in Prestonpans Town Hall. The SDT has its own dedicated website: www.scottishdiasporatapestry.org