Much of the inspiration for my 26 Treasures piece came from Solas, the summer festival in the Borders with a focus on arts, spirituality and community. I was among friends. It was almost sunny. It was in tents.

“Real discussions about the future of Scotland,” said Gerry Hassan to a crowd of us in a marquee sitting on camping chairs or grassy jerseys “need to take place in shared vessels that are not owned by the system.”

The Bute Mazer, my allocated museum object is one heck of a shared vessel. It is Robert the Bruce’s post-Bannockburn celebratory drinking cup. I reckon that it would have witnessed real discussions about the future of Scotland too. But how much was it ‘of the people’?

The six heraldic shields on the Bute Mazer surrounding the three-dimensional lion represent six leading Scottish noble families. Although the heads of three of these families, as signatories to the Declaration of Arbroath, were avowed to “fight not for glory nor for riches but for freedom alone,” there was something about these little icons of power that seemed to indicate a kind of exclusivity. Making their mark with a special gift to the conquering hero at his big moment this may have been an act intended to widen the power base of the new Scotland. But it looked to me like quite a small gang. The logos of the in-crowd.

And admittedly at Solas there were times when cliques and clans gathered under awnings or around camp fires, but the communion service was an act that united us. A mix of denominations, faiths and outlooks, we were invited to write our names on little cards which were collected in baskets by children. These names became like place settings amassed on a long table that we’d watched being beautifully prepared in the middle of a big tent. The baskets came round again with real bread in and the wine was shared from numerous ceramic drinking cups that Steve Butler had fired for the occasion.

Something shared, something old yet made new, something created just for that pivotal moment of lightness, celebration and opportunity.

Back at home a few days later, I woke up knowing how the 62 words could look. Twelve 5-word haiku plus a two-word title equals 62. Quite a lot of mileage for a tight word limit. And the content is a toast to forward-looking inclusivity. The words are held in a circle with the title – like the lion on the Bute Mazer – in the centre.

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