Memorial details

Memorial type
Church Fabric / Fitting: Vase or flower holder
District
Perth And Kinross
Town
Kettins
County
Tayside
Country
Scotland
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918)
Ceremony
  • Presented
    Date: 19 Jan 1919
    Attended by: Mr & Mrs John Weir of Glasgow, his parents
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
81885

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Current location

Parish Church
Kettins
Perth And Kinross
Tayside
PH13 9JJ
Scotland

OS Grid Ref: NO 23794 39044
Denomination: Church of Scotland

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Previous locations
  • Parish Church- now a private dwelling
    Church Street
    Ardler
    Perth And Kinross
    Tayside
    PH12 8ST
    Scotland

    OS Grid Ref: NO 26485 41945
    Denomination: Church of Scotland
Description
A Pair of Brass Flower Vases
Inscription
Vase 1-TO THE GLORY OF GOD/AND IN LOVING MEMORY/OF JOHN WEIR R.N.D/WHO DIED IN ACTION AT CAMBRAI 30TH SEPTEMBER 1919/AGED 19 Vase 2-PRESENTED BY/HIS PARENTS/TO/ARDLER PARISH CHURCH
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Weir, John
See details
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 1
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 1
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, forename, relationships, manner of death, place of death, date of death, age, service
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Vase
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Brass
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Reference
  • warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=9613&mforum=warmemscot
  • BLAIRGOWRIE ADVERTISER: 25.01.1919 MEMORIAL SERVICE AT ARDLER DEDICATION OF THE LOCAL CALVARY Sunday was a quiet day in the quiet village of Ardler, twelve of whose sons have fallen in the war. A memorial service was conducted in the Parish Church by the Rev. Arch. Stuart, who has served two terms with the Y.M.C.A. in France, and thereafter the beautiful cross erected on the village green was dedicated to the glory of God and to the memory of the fallen soldiers whose names are inscribed thereon. There was a very large congregation, which included a contingent of Coupar Angus Volunteers, under Captain Scott Ferguson, seats for whom were reserved in the front of the sacred edifice. On the Communion table were two lovely brass flower vases presented to the church by Mr and Mrs John Weir, Glasgow, in memory of their only son, John, who fell at Proville, on 30th September, 1918. An opening voluntary by Mrs Stuart, organist, played Chopin’s “Funeral March”. A few appropriate Scripture sentences, followed by a short prayer, were quoted by rev. Mr Stuart, and then Psalm xxiv., 7-10, was sung to the tune “St. George’s”, and her, as throughout the whole service, the singing was characterised by great heartiness. The Old Testament lesson was psalm xxiii., and the New Testament lesson Rev. xxi. 1-5; while the hymns were “When the day of toil is done”, “Now the labourer’s task is o’er”, and paraphrase xivi. In his address Mr Stuart said - “We live in a new world today. We have been witnesses of the greatest cataclysm and have been delivered from the greatest catastrophe in history. What we have seen during the past 4½ years has bewildered our imagination and dazzled even the eyes of faith. The foundations of an entire continent have been blasted clean asunder; nations, like aeroplanes, have crashed; kingdoms have dissolved, Emperors and rulers have disappeared, and in the midst of the colossal earthquake there have emerged the three majestic figures of Freedom, Justice, and Honour, with garments rolled in blood, but triumphant, beckoning us to a new day of hope, social advancement, and moral progress. It is in the light of that flaming dawn that you and I are met here today to remind one another of the wonderful things that God Almighty hath done for us; so look back upon the long, long road of sorrow and tears and loss along which, thank God, we have come unitedly; to worship the God of our fathers, Who hath saved us; to think of the graves of the gallant dead, who sleep in peace, to commemorate their glorious deeds, to salute their holy memory, and to proclaim our undying gratitude to them. They shall not grow old as we who remain grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn; At the going down of the sun and in the morning We shall remember them. The share that our men had in delivering the world from death is one of the most glorious chapters in the whole history of the Scottish nation. In the few sentences that I have to utter today I can do no more than draw your attention to the whole noble place our British boys filled in the story of our nation, which has again so triumphantly advocated the principles that are imperishable and supreme. It must be left to others to tell the story, though no writer will be able to tell one-half of the trials, hardships, and endurance of our men; of the horror, terror, and brutality of war; of the shouting, clangour, and tumult; of the reverses and advances - the shouting of exaltation as the Army went forward, and the indescribable torment of our men as they felt the victory being torn from their hands and the cause of liberty being driven back, and the falling of thousands where only one now stood. Only God in heaven knows what the gallant dead endured. These men have absolutely, in their vicarious sacrifice, died that we might live, laying down their lives ungrudgingly that we might be delivered from the most frightful menace and peril that ever threatened to engulf this fair world. The sacrifice of these men, to whom we pay our tribute in this solemn hour, reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ. They died for us even as He died for the world, and in doing so I hold that they have drawn us closer and given us a clearer conception of the sacrifice Christ made. In this War greater things have happened than the things we set out to accomplish. No doubt our dreams and hopes have been realised in the absolute overthrow of the greatest curse that ever shook or shocked the heart of man. We have seen the walls of Jericho fall down before our very eyes; but greater things than that have taken place. The whole of the common life of man has become transfigured. Courage, faith, loyalty, honour, devotion to duty, following the gleam, answering the call, why, even to the laying down of life itself - all these things have sanctified our human life, sanctified everything. In saving Europe, in saving our own homes, and in laying down their lives for us these men did greater things than they ever knew. It was a far, far better thing than they had ever done, when, standing at the threshold of life, with all the dream and romance of youth before them, they turned their back on it all, answered the call of duty, marched to battle, and without a single grudge laid down their lives. And today theirs is a far, far better rest than they had ever dreamed of. Do you know that out yonder a great thing has taken place? Millions of men have been swept into a wonderful brotherhood, a brotherhood that will have its dangers and risks for us when they come back, and which will be required to be faced and met with courage and faith. I believe that the whole moral weight of the principles for which these men have fought so triumphantly, and which are supreme, have become intensely real to them. I have returned from the graves of those who laid down their lives to tell you that they sleep in peace, because that for which they set out has been accomplished. Today, in this memorial service, I bring back this message from the place where they sleep in peace - To you, from failing hands we throw the torch; Be yours to lift it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep. Ah, no; never shall we break faith with them. Never shall we violate the graves of these men, or dishonour them again by going back to the old life of wordliness and selfishness. I think I can say in all sincerity that our hearts go out today in waves of great sympathy and in tides of great compassion to the mothers and wives, to the fathers and children, to the homes of the bereaved. Our sympathy and prayers are for the millions of homes that have paid the dreadful price in blood for the salvation of the world and for the redemption of mankind. Our gratitude and our tribute of undying honour and praise we yield to those who have gone from our midst and shall never return. They have received the “Well done” given to those who are faithful unto death. We live in the reflected glory of their glory. Let us march unitedly with the Christ at our head, following in the footsteps of these men, that some day, we, too, may reach the highest of all nobility that is bestowed by Almighty God on every man who, through his sacrifice, unlocks the gates and opens wide to us the view of the new heaven and the new earth. After an intercessory prayer, the service was concluded with Paraphrase xvi. And the Benediction, the congregation remaining standing while Mrs Stuart played the “Dead March in Saul”. The company, led by the Rev. Mr Stuart and the Volunteers, then proceeded to the local “Calvary”, where, the Dedication prayer having been offered, Mr Stewart said there was a beautiful appropriateness in this memorial, so chaste and noble, and gifted with such great gratitude to the memory of the fallen in the Great War; and, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, he consecrated and dedicated it to the glory of God and in memory of the fallen, among whom he proudly named the local boys:- Pte. William Shepherd, 8th B.W.; Pte. F. G. Robertson, 1/4th B.W.; L./Corpl. J. Honey, 9th Seaforths; Pte. R. Leslie, Coldstream Guards; Pte. Robert Kerr, 42nd B.W., Canadians; Pte. George Shepherd, Scots Guards; Pte. George Dargie, 8th Royal Scots; Sergt. James Dargie, 11th B.W.; Pte. Andrew Myles, 7th B.W.; Pte T. Kiddie 187th Batt. C.E.F.; Pte. D. Shepherd 3/6th B.W.; and L./Corpl. R. Shepherd, 3rd Gordons. Concluding, Mr Stuart said to these and to all who had fallen in the War that chaste, noble, and dignified cross would stand as a perpetual memorial in their midst. After the Benediction Pte. James Slidders, Coupar Angus, sounded “The Last Post”, Mr Stuart, who was in khaki, and the officers and men standing at the salute meantime.

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