This blog post is going to be a little different than usual. Throughout the years we've gotten a lot of interest in the massive painting of a cavalry charge that is as much a part of the store as our flowers and plants.

There are so many interesting things about this painting, from its artist, the era in which it was painted, to how it came to be such an integral part of Scrim's and our ethos.

About the Artist

Self Portrait, 1869 Oil on canvas

The painter behind this war scene is Lady Elizabeth Thompson Butler, at the time of painting this, simply Elizabeth Thompson.

Thompson was born in 1846, and began training as an artist at the age of 16. Like most women in the mid-19th century, her subjects were initially uncontroversial: religious or natural scenes. But early in her career, Thompson began to focus primarily on war paintings, specifically on depictions of the Napoleonic and Crimean wars.

This was unusual for two main reasons: firstly, as noted, she was a woman, and her paintings depicted a men's world. But the second reason was stylistic, while most battle scenes of this era were painted in a heroic light, Thompson chose to show the chaos and confusion of war too. Her paintings are striking in that, while you never see actual combat, there are often scared faces, untidy uniforms, mud, and a general feeling of unavoidable mayhem.

The Roll Call, 1874

Oil on canvas

In 1874, Thompson's painting, The Roll Call, was featured at Royal Academy summer exhibition. She was the first woman artist to ever be shown at a Royal Academy exhibition, and her painting was placed in one of the more enviably prominent positions. She quickly rose to fame, and her paintings were even toured across Europe.

But this would not last.

By 1879, the Royal Academy had snubbed Thompson multiple times, placing her next exhibited work in the darkest room of the gallery, and denying her a place as an Associate Member of the Academy. Thompson faded into obscurity, and after her marriage to William Francis Butler, focused more on her home and family life until her death in 1933.

She has gained a lot of appreciation in more recent years, and we'd recommend listening to the episode about her in Malcolm Gladwell's podcast, Revisionist History, The Lady Vanishes to learn more about her.

The Painting

Scotland Forever!, 1881

Oil on Canvas

The artwork that we have up at Scrim's is called Scotland Forever! Painted in 1881, it depicts the charge of the Royal Scots Greys, a cavalry regiment of the British Army, at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

The title comes from the quote of an eye witness, Alexander Amour, "At the start of the charge, the Greys had to pass through the ranks of the Highland Brigade. The Highlanders were then ordered to wheel back, when they did so, we rushed through them, at the same time they heard us calling... now my boys, Scotland Forever!" 

The painting we have is not the original. But it is a reproduction that was commissioned  by the founder of our little florist shop, Charles Scrim.

Charles was a Scottish immigrant born in 1854, and so was very much integrated in the same society as Elizabeth Thompson. Scrim's Florist was opened in Ottawa in the same year that Thompson was first initiated into the Royal Academy: 1874.

Despite Thompson's disappearing from the public's purview by the time she painted Scotland Forever, Charles had it reproduced. Lady Elizabeth may have vanished from our cultural history, but she has been with Scrim's for most of its existence.

The Legacy of Scrim's Florist

After Charles Scrim retired, he left his business to his daughter, Flora Scrim, who was herself a pioneer in flowers.

Flora prepared flowers for some of the largest events in Ottawa through the early to mid-1900s, from the Grey Cup, to the Ottawa Horse Show, and multiple Royal visits. She was a good friend of William Lyon Mackenzie King, and he often made note of the flowers she would send him, in his diaries.

Since Flora's time, Scrim's has always been a space for creative people who do not fit comfortably into convention. Flora herself was wedded to her work, and never married or had children. Her successor, Paul Chandler, was a brilliant and incredibly generous apprentice of hers who had to hide his identity from everyone around him.

The present custodian of Scrim's Florist, Susan Murray, has made this history the lens through which we see our work. While we do have a significant online presence, Scrim's is a place for the Ottawa community. It is a place for people to come by and get flowers and share joy. And our art is inspired by the unconventional Elizabeth Thompson, and her eye for the details that make art mean something.