Saint Mungo's Story Unfolded | The Curious Traveler |Parable

This channel is part of the History Hit Network. Stick around to find out more. This Scottish city is full of iconic architecture and friendly people. Welcome to Glasgow, or as the Glaswegians used to say, Camarahaoo. Remember when you were a child and all you ever asked was why, why, why? Well, I never quite outgrew that whole quest for knowledge phase. In fact, I've made a career out of asking who, what, where, why, and how. As an arts and travel reporter for the past 20 years. So if I have an insatiable curiosity about the exciting, inspiring, beautiful world of art, architecture, and hidden history all around us, I bet you do too. This isn't your typical what to do on a vacation travel show. Oh no. This is your all-access pass to a deeper understanding of the world's great art and architecture, people and places, history, and how did they do that. So come along on our educational journey, our field trip for grownups who have never quite grown up and learn with Curious Traveler. This Scottish city is known for its iconic architecture from Victorian to Art Nouveau. It is also known for its quirky culture and colorful characters. It is time to get curious about Glasgow. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and thrives off the banks of the River Clyde. That river proved to be crucial to the prosperity of Glasgow as it became a major port and trade route to the Atlantic. In fact, Glasgow was such an important center for trade that during the Victorian era, it was dubbed the second city of the empire. Glasgow is less than an hour away from Edinburgh, Scotland's capital, yet it feels a whole world away in its gritty style and proud artsy spirit. Next, where does the name Glasgow come from? Well, Glasgow comes from the Gaelic glas-hu, meaning green glen or green hollow. From those prehistoric beginnings, a fella named Mungo comes onto the scene in the 6th century and built his church here. Thus, Glasgow begins. In its more modern history, Glasgow thrived thanks to trade with the Americas and during the Industrial Revolution, thanks to its coal, iron and something else, it became known for worldwide, its shipbuilding industry. Later, we will see a very curious bit of that shipbuilding legacy in a place you wouldn't expect. Glasgow's art and architecture is renowned as well, especially the works of one legendarily talented and quirky Glaswegian. So, here's what I'm curious about in Glasgow. Who is this guy and what does he have to do with this guy? Why does this civic building look like a palace? And this art museum like a church? Why is this cathedral so close to a river? Wait, where's the river? What does this symbol mean? Whose living room is this? Who graffitied this wall? And why did they do such a good job? Where's Glasgow's Statue of Liberty? Who is this guy with the cool mustache? And how did he influence an entire artistic style? It is time to get curious about Glasgow. We begin our exploration into curious Glasgow in the heart of the city, a district called Merchant City, that harkens back to those prosperous trading days of Glasgow. Merchant City was established in the 1750s and is full of neoclassical buildings, like this one, Merchant Square, part of Glasgow's old fruit market. Why this neoclassical style? Well, to copy Rome and Athens, of course, making the architectural statement that Glasgow was a new, powerful center for commerce and culture. There are many proud buildings from this era still standing today, like the Gallery of Modern Art, with its Greek and Roman columns, pediment and portico. But it is what's in front of the building that is truly curious, a statue of the Duke of Wellington, forever capped with a traffic cone. This pranking tradition began in the 1980s, and apparently every time the authorities try to remove it, another one just pops up back in its place. So it has begrudgingly become a Glasgow icon, symbolizing the quirkiness of the city. History Hit is a streaming platform that is just for history fans, with fantastic documentaries covering fascinating figures and moments in history from all over the world. There is a great collection of religious history content available to History Hit subscribers, from the Crusades to the birth of Islam. There are plenty of topics to choose from for your next documentary fix. We're committed to bringing history fans award-winning documentaries and podcasts that you cannot find anywhere else. Sign up now for a 14-day free trial, and Parable fans get 50% off their first three months. Just be sure to use the code PARABLE at checkout. Then there's Hutchison's Hall, named for brothers George and Thomas Hutchison, prominent philanthropists in Glasgow in the 1600s. Hutchison's Hall was originally built as a hospital, and you can still see the names of hospital preceptors proudly hanging on the wall today. Now it is a high-end restaurant with gorgeous architectural details, and even a lounge all decked out in early 20th century glamour. The Merchant City buildings are all testaments to the prosperous time in Glasgow and in Scotland. We will learn later that a Glasgow architect and artist wasn't so fond of this ultra-traditional style for his beloved city. But first, we get curious about a building that is so lovely, so gilded, so over-the-top glamorous. How could anyone not like it? The beautiful Glasgow City Chambers was completed in 1888 and is still one of the most opulent buildings in the entire city. Why go so glamorous for a city hall? Well, quite simply so that Glasgow could brag about its prosperity at the time. There's still a lot to brag about today, though. This staircase that I'm standing on is still the tallest solid marble staircase in all of Western Europe. Glasgow City Chambers was built when Glasgow was at its height of its second City of the Empire status during the Victorian era. In fact, Queen Victoria herself opened Glasgow City Chambers in 1888. But if you missed that ceremony, you can still see the Queen here. You just have to look up, way up, over the main entrance. And if the Queen looked up from her permanent perch, she would see a curious statue that looks like it belongs on the other side of the pond. This figure is actually the Statue of Truth, but doesn't it look a little familiar? Yep, this lady is affectionately known as Glasgow's own Statue of Liberty. Next, there's another section of glorious Glasgow that isn't neoclassical at all. In fact, many of its buildings are a distinct brick red, like the famous Lighthouse and Mitchell Street building, the equally famous Willow Tea Rooms, and the Kelvin Grove Art Gallery and Museum. The Kelvin Grove looks a bit more like a church than an art gallery, though, thanks to this glorious concert pipe organ. Why is it here? Well, this seemingly out-of-place object tells the curious history of the museum. In 1888, Glasgow held an international exhibition to show off to the world the scientific and cultural prowess of the city. The Palace of Fine Arts Hall became the Kelvin Grove Art Museum, and this pipe organ was part of the exhibition's concert hall. It is said that when the exhibition ended in 1901, the organ was placed here because otherwise, quote, the art gallery would be a body without a soul. And that artsy soul of Glasgow continues today with an uber-modern public art project that actually encourages artists to deface Glasgow's buildings. And just in case you weren't sure that Glasgow is all about art, may I present to you the City Centre Mural Trail, with 24 larger-than-life images dotted throughout the city, including Glasgow's beloved Saint Mungo. The Mural Trail project began in 2008 with the idea to add a big splash of colour to the city. Subject matter goes from the inspirational to the just plain wow. There's the just plain lovely wind power celebrating Glasgow's sustainable energy efforts, and the oh my gosh that's cute with the Glasgow panda. To comedian Billy Connolly, a famous Glasgow resident, to this mural titled Fellow Glasgow Residents, celebrating the city's furry friends. You can take the world's most economical taxi, then there's just the plain old cool with the hip-hop marionettes. But back to where we began with this mural of Saint Mungo. Saint Mungo is the patron saint of Glasgow, but let's be honest, this guy doesn't look like the saints we're used to seeing, right? Well, there's a curious story why. The artist chose to use an everyday man as his model, to show how saintliness and kindness can be found in the most humble of characters. Both this Saint Mungo and the real Saint Mungo are depicted with a tiny little bird. Why? Well, to find out we go to where Saint Mungo started Glasgow back in the 6th century. This is Glasgow Cathedral, a medieval work of art dear to the heart of Glasgow. Worshippers have gathered within these walls for more than 800 years. The very first stone building was dedicated to 1136 in the presence of David I. Incidentally, it may well have been a Christian site even before that. Because we think that Saint Ninian established his first cemetery here in 397. So the history of this site is amazing. But the very first church on this site was around 550 A.D. and that was established by Mungo, also known as Kentigert. So now we get to our buddy Saint Mungo. He was a missionary in the 6th century, spreading Christianity throughout the Celtic kingdoms. It is believed that Mungo chose this spot for his church because it was close to an ancient waterway called the Melendino Burn. Which was much more important at that time than the major river Clyde is today. That burn fed off five bread mills and established where we are today. And Glasgow grew from this site to the high street and then down to the river Clyde and then it started to expand. So this was at one time Glasgow. This was Glasgow. The river was covered over in the 1870s and Glasgow continues to spread and grow. But Glasgow Cathedral stays the same. You're also standing in the oldest building in the city. So there's nothing older than this anywhere in the city. That is amazing. Now back to Saint Mungo, whose name is actually Saint Kentigern, which is Celtic for High Lord. So how did the name Saint Mungo come from Saint Kentigern? Right, well as a child he was christened Kentigern. He had a very poor start to life. But he was taken, him and his mother were taken into a monastery in Curus in Fife. And he trained there as a monk. And it was Saint Serf who called him Mungo. And the interpretation being, my dear friend. And Saint Mungo was known for being a dear friend to all of God's creatures, great and small, including a very special little birdie. The bird comes in when Mungo was training at the monastery of Saint Serf. The other boys were jealous of Mungo and they suffocated the little robin. And when Mungo heard about it, he got bold of the little bird, flew into it, said a wee prayer and the bird flew away and came back to life. And this story is so dear to the hearts of Glaswegians that, look closely, Saint Mungo's bird is part of Glasgow City Code of Arms, along with the other symbols of Saint Mungo's stories. The bell, the tree and the fish. So since this was his church, it is fitting that Saint Mungo's final resting place is here as well. Saint Mungo's tomb is in the lower level of the cathedral, which is a perfect spot to explore its curious architecture because there are some divine mysteries to be solved here. Modern day architects and engineers bring their recruits down here to see it because it's so unique. Very few of the pillars are of the same circumference. They're all carrying different weights and different weight loads and they do not understand today how they were able to work all that out in the early 1200s. They would find it great difficulty even to use a computer to get this. It's an amazing little architectural gem. It certainly is. Next, from the holy to the holy cow that's cool. We go from one Glasgow landmark to another. Glasgow Cathedral to the University of Glasgow. In 1451, Glasgow Cathedral helped to establish the University of Glasgow. It is one of the United Kingdom's ancient universities. The university was also part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century. Notable Enlightenment alumni include economist Adam Smith and philosopher Francis Hutcheson. So not only did Glasgow Cathedral help to establish this prominent institution, it also has an interesting tie to one of the university's colleges. Want to guess what the medical school is named? The St. Mungo's College of Medicine. But today we get curious about a different building on the University of Glasgow campus, the Hunterian Museum, which just happens to be the oldest public museum in all of Scotland. It was founded in 1807 during the Scottish Enlightenment and it continues to enlighten today. And today when you visit the Hunterian, you'll be invited right inside someone's home, a very important Glaswegian's home. Charles Rennie Macintosh was and is internationally renowned as an artist, a designer, and an architect. But the largest collection of his works is right here in Glasgow. Why? Well, because he's from here. Charles Rennie Macintosh was born in 1868 here in Glasgow. He went on to leave his mark on his hometown through architectural designs like the Glasgow School of Art, considered the first Art Nouveau architecture in Great Britain, the Lighthouse, and the Ethereal Willow Tea Rooms. But he is perhaps best known for his wacky and wonderful furniture design. Experts are still trying to label his style, which is part Art Nouveau, part arts and crafts, and definitely quirky, original, and lovely. His works are known for their whimsical little flowers with winding stems, beautiful and powerful female images, and sometimes just downright weirdly tall chairs. Which brings us back to the Hunterian and this special gallery, which doesn't look much like a gallery, does it? This is the Macintosh House, the painstakingly reassembled home of Charles and his wife Margaret, who was also an artist. They lived nearby the university for years, and you don't have to guess what their home looked like because it looked just like this. After Charles and Margaret passed, their nephew gifted their entire estate to the University of Glasgow. Then the university decided that they would create a museum in the Macintosh's honor, but not just any museum. In fact, they recreated the Macintosh's home piece by piece, so all the furniture that you see here today is in the exact same spot as it was in the original home. So today when you visit, you feel like you're a guest, but just don't touch the furniture because it is still art. How cool is this? Today, you can walk through Macintosh's living room and dining room and bedroom, everything except the bathroom and kitchen, well, because nobody wanted to do the dishes. The details are stunning, from a delicate silkscreen design on a chair, to more Art Nouveau imagery on a cabinet, to a metalwork of mother and child. But we don't want to overstay our welcome here at the Macintosh house, so time to go from Macintosh's furniture to an entire building he designed. And this building houses everything from aliens to Noah's Ark. What do you get when you combine a Gothic window, a Norman church, a Scottish baronial mansion, and a beautiful garden? Well, the incredibly eclectic mind of Charles Rennie Macintosh, manifested here in Queen's Cross Church. That's right, an entire church done up in his wacky and wonderful style. Macintosh felt that Scotland had its own architectural heritage of castle and baronial style, and he wanted to take that forward in a modern context. So he was quite purist. He very much had the view that buildings should be harmonious to its landscape. Macintosh designed Queen's Cross in the late 19th century, when he was just a young trainee architect. Macintosh was given a free reign. So here you're almost like seeing one of the first buildings that Macintosh had complete control on. Well, almost complete control. There was one piece of instruction. It was generally part of the design brief was to design a plain church. They didn't want, the free church didn't want ornamentation. So they wanted very much a kind of clean cut and didn't like ornamentation. Macintosh has encompassed very surreptitiously some details of Scots. So the more you look around the building, the more details you start to see. At first glance, Queen's Cross seems incredibly simple, right? Just dark wood and bright white. But at closer inspection, there are dozens of sneaky little details carved into the wood. They seem like they were intentionally hidden, just waiting to be discovered. This is the genius of Macintosh. Both simple and detailed, and a little mysterious too. And Macintosh didn't write down any meanings behind some of the details. So you have to sort of guess and interpret what he's saying. I view it a bit like a piece of music that you enjoy and he's leaving it to you to interpret. It's great when we have school children here, primary school, and they're so open to the imagination and he's leaving it for the imagination. So part of the fun of enjoying his work is trying to interpret his work. So this element up here, I see some more natural elements. We've got kind of a stretched oval shape. Maybe looks like an apple or what do we have there? Macintosh plays in the oval. You'll see with these famous chairs, like the guile chair, which is oval-backed, which has the swallow detail here. Here we think, again, Macintosh didn't write or explain anything. But one theory is this is possibly the pelican. There's the myth of the pelican feeding its young, its blood. Eats it, bites itself or whatever. Yeah, for its blood. So there's one theory is that's possibly the pelican in that detail. It is believed that this symbol is of the pelican in her piety story, where the pelican mother feeds her children from her own blood. I know, it's a little gross. But it is a symbol of self-sacrifice and it has been used in everything from church windows to coats of arms to pub signs. Even Queen Elizabeth I liked it. But my personal favorite is the state seal of Louisiana. I see it now. That's so funny because when I first look at it, it looks like it's an apple. It's kind of growing like this. But now I see the pelican looking down and her wings going like that. Because I think in this building, you're seeing all the Macintosh buildings have the bird in some form in the building. You know, but here you're seeing it very much. It's in ascendancy. But there is another theory to the meaning of this symbol. Look again. See those little seedlings? It is possible that those are the seedlings from the parable of the sower Bible story, with the bird here protecting the seedlings, which symbolize Christian teachings. And you can also see a larger version here inside the church. If you look up the top there, see the ruined symbols? Yeah. There's a theory that that's seedlings and various forms of germination. Oh, wow. Even the ceiling is unique. To me, this looks like an upside down Noah's Ark. I really doubt that was Macintosh's intention. What do you think his intention was? I think at that time, Glasgow was the shipbuilding capital of the world. It was a very industrial city. Got a kind of homage to, as you said, Noah's Ark. It's the ship and the element there that you're in a sort of safety of this building. From Noah's Ark to a protective mystical birdie, to medieval and gothic with a splash of Art Nouveau, Macintosh was a pioneer of a whole new style that the world had never seen. What better tribute to Glasgow? So from Scotland's largest city with a little birdie on its seal, with ancient Greek and Roman architecture at its center, and modern art splashed on every available space, that leads you on a trail through Glasgow's history and spirit and pride. And there's a special pride with a certain saint who takes on many forms and is revered inside a church with ancient origins that brings us to a church so avant-garde it's almost futuristic, designed by another famous Glaswegian who left a permanent mark on his beloved city through his imagination, quirky spirit, and art that you can experience when he invites you into his home or even his ark. Glasgow has so much to be curious about. Thank you for joining us on our educational journey, and hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and how of curious Glasgow. As the Glaswegians say, toodaloo danoo!