The story of a replica Mace for Scotland’s Four Words is, at heart, a story about how ideas become something you can hold in your hand.….
A Symbol You Can Touch
When the new Scottish Parliament was being created in the late 1990s, its founders understood the power of a striking visual symbol. They knew that whatever values they wrote into founding documents, those ideals would feel more real if they were also expressed in an object of beauty. That conviction led to the commission of silversmith Michael Lloyd, who wove wisdom, compassion, justice and integrity into the design of the beautiful parliamentary mace.
Scotland’s Four Words of Hope stands very much in that tradition. The project also believes that symbols matter, especially when they are crafted with care and meant to be shared in public spaces.
A Beautiful Replica
No one involved in the project was about to try to borrow the original parliamentary mace. Instead, they set out to create “the next best thing”: a beautiful model that would not be a precise replica, but an echo of its purpose – a physical reminder of the four words at the heart of their work.
Mark and Julia Broughton were commissioned to bring this idea to life. Between them, they would turn a simple piece of timber into something with presence, weight and meaning.
Making Meaning From Hawthorn
Mark began with hawthorn wood he had found himself, an everyday material transformed on the lathe into an 80-centimetre mace. The choice of hawthorn, a native wood with quiet grain and warmth, gives the piece an approachable, human scale – a far cry from cold formality.
Once Mark had shaped the form, Julia took over. She embellished the mace with gilding that catches the light, then inscribed the four words – wisdom, compassion, justice and integrity – so that they do not just hover in a document or on a screen, but run literally along the grain of the wood. The finished mace is, in its own right, “a thing of beauty”.
A Focal Point For The Four Words
The new mace is more than a crafted object; it has been created as a focus for reflection whenever people meet to explore Scotland’s Four Words of Hope. It can sit quietly at the centre of a table or at the front of a room, drawing attention back to the values it names.
Because it is tangible and can be handled, it offers a different way into the conversation. People notice the weight of the wood, the line of the gilding, the presence of the four words themselves, and are reminded why they have gathered together.
The original wood….
