THE sense of loss and grief yesterday was palpable.

John Byrne, one of Scotland’s most significant, and flamboyant, cultural figures of recent decades, had died, aged 83. “Supremely talented playwright and artist, one of Scotland’s most important cultural voices of modern times, and the loveliest of men”, the former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, wrote on Twitter/X, speaking for countless people who had met, interviewed, admired or been influenced by Byrne’s prodigious output.

John Byrne, acclaimed playwright and artist, dies aged 83

David Greig, the playwright and theatre director who is the artistic director at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum, put it even better, observing that Byrne had reinvented what it meant to be a Scottish artist for more than two generations, and was a “dazzling, kind, warm” figure who was fierce in the defence of art for art’s sake.
His stage plays, Greig went on, are a major plank in the repertoire of every major Scottish theatre.

Many yesterday fondly recalled the Slab Boys trilogy (1978–1982) – The Slab Boys, Cuttin’ a Rug, and Still Life – which marked Paisley-born Byrne out as a playwright of genuine skill and insight, with a gift for dialogue, scabrous wit, and memorable characters.

Then there were Your Cheatin’ Heart, and, of course, Tutti Frutti, the multiple Bafta-winning account of a faded Scottish rock n’ roll band’s attempt at a comeback.
Such groundbreaking stage and TV works on their own would have been enough for most people. But Byrne had of course a remarkable degree of talent to spare in other areas.

John Byrne obituary: Artist leaves 'outstanding' legacy

His distinctive paintings, for example, were highlighted by A Big Adventure, a major retrospective exhibition at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove art gallery and museum last year. Kelvingrove, of course, was a place that Byrne knew intimately, having fallen in love with it as a primary school pupil on long-ago Saturday-morning visits.

A quotation by Martin Craig, a curator at Glasgow Life Museums who assembled the exhibition, will suffice here: “He is, without question, one of the most important artists of the last 70 years and he is so prolific. We could have filled the exhibition space five times over. Deciding was hard. A Big Adventure is filled to the gunnels with striking artwork, I hope it captures the anarchic, jubilation and vastness of John’s life and career”.

To the Fine Art Society, paying tribute upon news of Byrne’s passing, he was one of the most inventive and versatile of all Scotland’s modern artists.

Such extravagant praise is fully deserved when Byrne’s captivating career is weighed up. He is surely one of the few Scottish creative voices whose death could attract so many heartfelt tributes from such a wide cross-section of Scottish society. Add in his stage designs, and his artwork for the cover of LPs, and indeed his reliably dapper appearance, and it hits you with some force that he was indeed a one-off.

Byrne once said that his creative outlets allowed him to ask serious questions about where we are going: he forever remained faithful to that instinct.

Scotland’s artistic scene is much the poorer for the death of John Byrne. David Greig summed him up very well: With his passing, he notes, we have lost an extraordinary man who was part of a small group of working-class artists from the west who tore up rock music, theatre, art, television comedy and style and made it their own.

The real 'slab boys': Workers behind John Byrne play reunite

Another notable Scottish figure died this week. Alistair Darling – Lord Darling of Roulanish, as he became – was an exceptionally competent Labour cabinet minister who was entrusted with a series of challenging portfolios by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and as Chancellor he was the man who guided the British economy through the ruinous crash of 2008.

His subsequent book, Back from the Brink, is a gripping and fluent account of that period, and reminds us of the sheer scale of the banking crisis. His recollection of being told that RBS had just two or three hours before it ran out of money chills the blood, even now.

Later, of course, Darling played a key role in the ultimately successful campaign to dissuade Scots from voting to secede from the Union in 2014.

John Byrne — Life and times of the slab boy outsider

Like that of Byrne, Darling’s passing, at the age of just 70, attracted tributes from a wide cross-section of opinion, with Alex Salmond, Humza Yousaf and various Conservatives all speaking of their admiration and respect.

The Herald: Alistair Darling has died at the age of 70Alistair Darling has died at the age of 70 (Image: PA)His old boss, Gordon Brown, may have been infuriated when Darling predicted in August 2008 that the economic times that were then being faced were arguably the worst in 60 years (Darling recalled that the “forces of hell” were promptly unleashed upon him) but Brown has now acknowledged that any political briefings against his Chancellor were “completely unfair”.

Former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling has died

Unflappable, diligent, studious and unfailingly modest, Darling was a politician of the old school. Sadly, we do not have too many politicians of his calibre at the moment, as a sober glance at the current Conservative cabinet will indicate. Like John Byrne, Darling in his own way contributed much, and he will be missed.