Where were you when ?

Life has a few ' Where were you when ?' days . Where were you when Kennedy was shot ? Where were you when Diana's death was announced ? Yesterday was one of those days. Angus was on the train from Waverley. Outside the evening express the weather was unforgiving. Heavy rain, banshee winds and pitch darkness. The Scots have a special word for weather like this - 'dreich'. An onomatopoeic masterpiece of a word that says it all. 

Somewhere just east of Kirkcaldy, where the tracks turn inland,  a young woman in her early twenties with wild orange and blue streaked hair, stood in the aisle and announced in a shocked voice 'The Queen has died '. People looked up from their phones and switched to the news feeds. I'd guesstimate that until then 90% of people on the train were immersed in their own world of text and music. 

There was a momentary murmur from half a dozen throats before silence fell across the carriage. The ticket inspector wipes tears from her eyes as do a few others. I'd expected there to be a divergence of views in this dissenting nation  but there weren't. One student on his way to a rugby match in Dundee turned to his friend across the way and said ' I'd better call my Mum. She'll be so upset '. No words could sum it up better - a family affair like the passing of a granny.  For most families the Queen has been a quiet presence for five generations. I'm sure there are families where that is stretched to six or seven. Like the Constitution she floated above the vulgarities of politics and politicians. A champion of public good against private reward. As with the Constitution there is much to be said for constancy. The remainder of the journey completed in silence bar the sound of the wind and the rain against the carriage windows.

Back at home we open a good ' Where were you when ?' bottle of wine and toast her memory. 'The Font' says words that haven't been heard for seventy years, 'God save the King'.  The end to one of those days when the country starts a new chapter.

Black ties, white shirts and grey suits tracked down in readiness for the days to come. Change already evident. The flags on all the university buildings quickly lowered to half mast. Only Union flags being flown. Bells muffled ( who would have thought of that and how do you do it ?) . They'll toll out 96 times later today. Messages of condolence posted on websites. Black borders around newspaper  front pages. Concerts cancelled, strikes called off. Rites of mourning from a distant time dusted down. Pledges of allegiance readied. Soon the late Queen will start a long slow journey south to Edinburgh. Towns along the route already preparing. This afternoon the medieval simplicity of the proclamation of the new King at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh - something John Knox would recognize . Sometime at the end of the week the casket will rest in Holyrood before being taken to St.Giles and then to London. There will be memorial services in towns and villages. As she died in Scotland bars in the golf clubs will be closed for a period of mourning. In readiness for ceremonies to come mayoral limousines and regalia will be polished until they sparkle. Then after a suitable period there will be celebrations for the new monarch. Routines and arcana that have been forgotten  will spring back into life. History blinks and moves on but there's an unspoken sense this morning that some great and invisible change is in the air. There's a sense of 'what happens now ?' vulnerability.

For Sophie a day of long walks along the shore beckons. Who knows there may be some sunshine ?

Perhaps the nicest and least pompous thing I've read - https://twitter.com/doctor_oxford/status/1567877435512815618 although this had real quality :https://twitter.com/EdwardGLuce/status/1567976520404336640/photo/1

And I'm quite impressed that they've got this up and running and the Book of Condolence ready to be signed by daybreak :https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/the-death-of-her-majesty-the-queen/