Longstanding Clan MacThomas Society member, Lisbeth M Thoms, was awarded an MBE in the Queens 2008 New Years honours list for “Services to Conservation in Scotland”. She received her award by HM The Queen at an investiture in the Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh on 1 July 2008.

In recognition of this award, Lisbeth has written the following short article for the Clach A' Choilich:

Cultural/Built Heritage

Our past helps make us what we are. George MacKay Brown expressed this very eloquently in 1981, in his Portrait of Orkney:  

‘We cannot live fully without the treasury our ancestors have left us. Without the story - in which every one, living, unborn, and dead, participates - men are no more than bits of paper blown on the cold wind......’.

I am passionate and care deeply about Scotland’s past particularly its cultural and built heritage. I therefore am most fortunate to have been involved with it, in various capacities, throughout my professional career based in Angus, not far from Clan MacThomas territory! I started out, over thirty years ago as a field archaeologist doing survey and excavation work.

At that time I was part of the Dundee Museum Service and so gained a valuable insight to the importance of cultural collections including art, local and social history, and also natural history. Inevitably as my career progressed I spent less time in a ‘hands on’ role and became more of an administrator and ‘committee person’; but this was advantageous in occasionally being able to influence those in government who make the big decisions on heritage issues!

As human beings we can all appreciate that our past gives us great wealth in respect of our ‘sense of place’ and ‘belonging’, and provides each nation with its own rich cultural archive and data bank. In more political terms the past can contribute to the creation of national identity and play a major role in economic development and tourism.

Here in Scotland, our own devolved government has recognized the importance of protecting and celebrating our culture and heritage and encouraging people to experience it. In 2009 we will have the year long Homecoming Scotland celebrations and perhaps many of you will be able to ‘come home’ to Glenshee and experience a Clan MacThomas Gathering. I do hope so, because it is our shared clan ancestry (i.e. our past) that enables us to share a rich present and future together. If we are mindful of our past, we can create a great future!

Added 25/04/2011