A noble benefactor
Gavin Stamp remembers Lord Bute, who died last week AbGlasgow
bot Sir David Hunter Blair's biogra- phy of the 3rd Marquess of Bute, the builder of Cardiff Castle, reproduced a photograph of that great scholar, mystic and patron of the arts wearing his robes as Rector of the University of St Andrews and looking like a monk. The late John Crich- ton-Stuart, the 6th Marquess, did not favour mediaeval dress — although he was something of a dandy — but the physical resemblance to his great-grandfather was uncanny. He had, in middle age, the same heavy jowls and the same melancholy, pouchy eyes. And he was also so like his forbear in his tireless activity on behalf of innumerable good causes, and in is his deep concern for the arts and architecture of Scotland.
Although a very rich man, modern cir- cumstances did not permit John Bute to erect new castles and churches or to restore ancient abbeys and cathedrals. Instead, he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, the 4th Marquess, another munificent benefactor, who was instrumen- tal in the foundation of both the National Trust for Scotland and the National Monu- ments Record for Scotland. John Bute served successively as chairman of the Trust and as chairman of the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland, and was widely admired for his tact and effective- ness in both roles. He had, indeed, a vision for and of Scotland which, sadly, is not suf- ficiently shared by many of his compatriots.
Like his predecessors, John Bute was always ready to support another good cause. I was delighted and relieved to have his encouragement when I founded the Alexander Thomson Society two years ago. He knew all about Glasgow and had long been concerned about the neglect of its historic architecture. The saving of Thom- son's finest villa, Holmwood, was a cause close to his heart and he was working qui- etly, behind the scenes, to get it into the hands of the National Trust for Scotland even during his terrible final illness. If we succeed in this, the restoration of Holm- wood would be a fitting memorial to him.
Nor was John Bute only concerned with historic architecture. He was the moving force behind the competition for a promi- nent new extension to the Museum of Scot- land in Edinburgh — won by the Anglo-Scottish partnership, Benson & Forsyth, with an unashamedly Corbusian design. And when the Prince of Wales mis- guidedly attempted to interfere, as he did not sympathise with the decisions of the assessors, Lord Bute was not in the least intimidated — he was, after all, of Royal Stuart descent himself, and an earlier Lord Bute had been Prime Minister to the young George HI as well as a patron of Robert Adam. John Bute's concern with both good design and with Scottish industries led to the establishment of Bute Fabrics and, like the 3rd and 4th Marquesses, he was greatly interested in tapestry weaving — only a tawdry economy by government has pre- vented his company supplying a large mod- ern tapestry to help redeem the interior of the new British Library in London.
John Bute's deep sense of duty and pub- lic service came from his consciousness of his lineage. I first met him when he asked me to write about Robert Weir Schultz, the Arts and Crafts architect who had worked for both his great-grandfather and grand- father, and so I had the privilege of visiting Mount Stuart, the colossal Gothic Revival house hidden away on the Isle of Bute and designed by Rowland Anderson for the amazing 3rd Marquess, which had long been a legend amongst enthusiasts for Vic- torian architecture. I was not disappointed: it was a glorious, mysterious, introverted pile with a central arcaded marble hall dimly lit by astrological stained glass. It was also then, in the mid-1970s, rather melan- choly — like its owner, who was then con- templating leaving the house as he 'rather rattled around in it' (something of an understatement).
At heart a very shy man, John Bute was funny but had much sadness in his private life — and there was then more to come. But everything was transformed at Mount Stuart when he married, as his second wife,
Jennifer Percy. The new Marchioness set about making it look as its creators had intended, and decorative schemes that had been abandoned when the 3rd Marquess died in 1900 were resumed. It was wonder- ful to see this great intractable house come alive and to see how happy John Bute was there in recent years. But a sense of melan- choly remained. Although he bore his cru- elly disfiguring cancer with astonishing dignity and inspiring courage — never per- mitting it to interfere with his many enter- prises — one felt he knew his time had come.
The 2nd Marquess, who recouped the family's fortunes by developing Cardiff Docks, died suddenly at the age of 55. His son, the 3rd Marquess, who turned his back on the Industrial Revolution and became a mediaevalist and a Roman Catholic, died at only 53. The great efforts to save historic Scottish architecture by the shy and retiring 4th Marquess were impeded by illness before he died in 1947 at 65 and his son, John's father, died at the age of 49. John Bute survived his mother by a fortnight; he had managed to reach 60 before going to join his ancestors by the little 18th-century church by the sea at Mount Stuart. His departure leaves an appalling void in the architectural and cultural life of Scotland.
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