CHRISTINA Hendry was among those to pay tribute to Alex Salmond at the former first minister's memorial service on Saturday.
Hendry described her "Uncle Alex" as a “political giant, a strong leader, a fearless campaigner” but also remembered his as a “dearly loved husband, brother and uncle”.
While she said he had been “the top man in Scotland”, he had “always made time for his family”, recalling how he phoned her brother on his birthday – the day after the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 – to apologise for not posting a card “as he’d been busy”, before telling them he would “resigning in 10 minutes”.
You can read Hendry's full speech below.
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond
To the world, he was a political giant, a strong leader, a fearless campaigner. To us he was a dearly loved husband, brother and uncle.
Uncle Alex was born on Hogmanay 1954 to Mary and Robert Salmond of Linlithgow, the second of 4 children- Margaret, Alex, Gail and Bob. I was always told about their happy childhoods on the council housing scheme where they grew up. Uncle Alex was born in the family home on Preston Road and being born within the sound of bells of St Michaels made him a ‘Black Bitch’. On the night he was born his dad and Uncle were out celebrating both his birth, and Hogmanay. They were wearing green party hats, but as it had rained the dye ran and they arrived home with green faces. Not a great look for Hearts fans!
It was a football household, and growing up the family supported both Heart of Midlothian and Linlithgow Rose. Supporting 2 teams that played in maroon certainly saved money on football scarves, as Uncle Alex always said. He continued to support football throughout his life and we were recently reminded of the story, where the night before his Higher History exam Uncle Alex travelled to Wolverhampton to watch Hearts in the second leg of the final of the 1971 Texaco cup. Hearts won the game but lost the final on aggregate. Uncle Alex studied on the bus, just making it back in time for his exam but still managed to get an A.
Funnily enough I do not recall hearing this story until I was well past the exam stage of my life.
The household was also proudly Scottish, and Auntie Margaret remembers Alex listening avidly to his Granda Salmond telling tales of Scottish history, particularly when it concerned Linlithgow. This love for history, and for Scotland, continued throughout his life.
He went on to study Economics and Medieval history at St Andrews University. He then began a job as an assistant economist with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in Edinburgh. He met Moira McGlashan and they were married in May 1981. They had a wonderful 43 years of marriage. They gained the titles of Auntie Moira and Uncle Alex, firstly to Auntie Margaret’s children Neil and Ian, then to my sister Karen, me and my brother Mark.
In 1985 Uncle Alex sought selection for the seat of Banff and Buchan, in the North East of Scotland. This was handy as his older sister Margaret had married a farmer from Longside, his younger sister Gail was engaged to a Fraserburgh Loon (my father) and his younger brother Bob helped run the student nationalists at Aberdeen University.
Uncle Alex fought many a successful election in the North East and my sister and I have happy memories as children at Turiff show, where he was the one asking us to go on the rides with him.
He was the top man in Scotland but always made time for his family. My sister, Karen, was born the day after Margaret Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but my mum still remembers Uncle Alex and Auntie Moira visiting the new baby. He, of course, ignored the hospital visiting times and walked in saying “This is the first time that the Tories caused Labour to gain another vote for the SNP”.
In his early days of politics, Neil remembers him staying at the Longside farm and bringing bags of sweeties. My cousin Ian has memories playing golf together following the 2014 Ryder cup.
I was only 12 when Uncle Alex became First Minister and remember he made a point of visiting my 1 st year art class, as he had been on an official visit nearby, much to the bemusement of my classmates. My brother Mark’s birthday is on 19th September, and in 2014 the day after the independence referendum Uncle Alex phoned to say ‘Happy Birthday’, and apologised for forgetting to post the card as he’d been busy. Then he said – by the way I’m resigning in 10 minutes!
Another part of Uncle Alex’s life was his singing talent. In his younger years he was a lead boy soprano. My mum, Gail, was taken to St Michael’s Church in Linlithgow age 4 to see a performance and remembers saying proudly, “that’s my big brother”. Something she has said many more times in the decades that followed.
As his family we always felt loved, no matter how far away he was or the time that passed before we saw him next. We always knew he was standing up for our country, and for that we were grateful. We were more than happy to join him on his political journey, standing alongside those who stood by him. In the past 3 and a half years we have had great fun with him in the Alba party. We saw a passion rekindled. Last year my mum and I took part in his fringe show with Tasmina and David Davis, “The Ayes Have it”. We were clerks of the court.
Possibly because the one person who would not be afraid to ring the bell to stop Uncle Alex speaking was his wee sister. But I’ll be honest, we were likely more generous with his time, sorry David.
On the 10 year anniversary of the referendum, at a sold out event at the Imax in Glasgow, Uncle Alex was on top form. He had a way of bringing different people together and letting their voices be heard. And the truly magical thing about Uncle Alex was the fact that everybody gathered here today is from a different walk of life. Not all of you shared his views, not all of you shared his politics, but you could all appreciate his fierce intellect, his sharp wit, his generosity of spirit, and his true love for Scotland and all things Scottish.
Right up until the end he was fighting to save Scotland’s only oil refinery, working to reverse cuts to winter fuel payments for pensioners in Scotland, and the rest of the UK, and championing Scotland on the international stage. He always said he was proud of us, but we were proud of him every single day.
The world will be a much quieter place without Uncle Alex; for Moira, for the wider family and for Scotland.
Uncle Alex passing means a great loss for many. A loss of Scotland’s voice on the international stage. A loss of integrity in Scottish politics. A great loss to Scotland’s independence movement. As a family it is a loss we will never get over. A loss of someone to ring up, whether it be for a betting tip for the big race or with a problem that you knew he could solve. For us it’s a loss of his stories round the dinner table of family tales and Scottish history. A loss of his ever optimistic view and his will to power on.
But as a family, we will endeavour to continue his life’s work and the things left unfinished. He instilled in us a strength and it is with that strength that we will continue. Continue his legacy and continue his ambition for the independence of our nation.
It seems only fitting that for a man with such an appreciation for Scottish arts and culture, that we should finish with words of our national poet Robert Burns.
An honest man here lies at rest, As e’er God with His image blest: The friend of man, the friend of truth; The friend of age, and guide of youth: Few harts like his, with virtue warm’d, Few heeds with knowledge so inform’d: If there’s another world, he lives in bliss; If there is nane, he made the best of this.
