Barbara’s egg and Easter activities

The Easter message of hope and renewal as experienced by wounded WW1 soldiers will be showcased this Saturday at the Kirbuster Museum.

Tom Muir, Museums Engagement Officer, will be on hand at the museum with ‘Barbara’s Egg’ – a replica of one of more than 35 million signed, fresh eggs sent by British school children, through the Red Cross, to soldiers convalescing in hospitals throughout Belgium and France during WW1.

Barbara Finlays Malcolm, then 13, was one of the school children who sent an egg to a soldier – a month later, she received a reply of thanks from Corporal S G Cooper, 68th Company British Expeditionary Force, dated 28 March 1917. Barbara was very proud of the letter and kept it all her life – adamant she never wanted to know if Corporal Cooper survived and returned home; she couldn’t bear to discover that perhaps he had not.

‘Barbara’s Egg’ is currently on loan to the Orkney Museum as part of the National Museum of Scotland touring exhibition ‘Next of Kin’, which presents portrait of Scotland at war through treasured family keepsakes. The Orkney Museum is one of eight museums that have hosted the tour.

Visitors to Kirbuster Museum on Saturday will be able to handle a range of original and replica items from the Next of Kin exhibition.
There will also be egg decorating, hunting for chocolate eggs throughout the house and garden, and a challenge to find the hens hidden in the byre Activities run from 14:00 to 16:00 and are free - children are especially welcome.

Find out more about Barbara’s egg and the Next of Kin exhibition on the National Museums Scotland website.