Efforts to restore the Scottish cemetery in Kolkata where many former jute workers found their final resting place have received a boost from a charity concert.
The Dundee Strathspey and Reel Society (SRS) teamed up with their Fife counterparts earlier this year for the concert in the Caird Hall.
The group has now presented a cheque for more than £1,300 to the Kolkata Scottish Heritage Trust.
Elspeth Reid from the Dundee SRS, which is in its 40th year, said: “We were approached by the Fife society. They asked if we could do a concert together so we decided to have it in the Caird Hall, who were more than happy to get involved.”
Elspeth said the project to restore the cemetery was important to the people of Dundee.
“It is where expats from Dundee who went there to work in the jute industry are buried and it has been vandalised and neglected for some years,” she added.
The graveyard has also fallen prey to the climate in Kolkata.
Ian Stein of Kolkata Scottish Heritage Trust said: “It causes very rapid growth of vegetation making it difficult to control even with modern chemicals and this, together with monsoon rains, undermines tombs and strips plaster from memorials.
“The monsoon also restricts the period during which restoration work can take place. It is remarkable how much has been achieved in the year since architectural services were transferred to Kolkata.”
The Strathspey and Reel Society presented the cheque to Lord Charles Bruce, chairman of the trust.
He said: “The project’s into its fifth year. We had some quite important successes in the last 12 months.
“We’ve restored the 19th century gate house and it’s now on the tourist trail for Kolkata and we are now getting visitors. The other important success was 11 ledgers which were discovered and we have had them restored.”
The ledgers contain more than 2,500 entries of people who were born in Scotland and died in India.
“It’s a really important record of people who were born in Scotland and emigrated,” Lord Bruce said. “I think it’s a kind of unknown part of Dundee’s history.
“Most of the jute history is in Dundee but it is the corresponding importance in Kolkata which is less known.”
He said similar textile mills to the ones synonymous with Dundee are still to be found in Kolkata, many of which use the original machinery.
“What has been lost were the individual stories of people who were trained in the jute trade in Dundee and emigrated because they thought they would have a better life.
“There are over two million burials in South Asia from that era. There are also many important stories.”
The fundraising concert took place in May and was compered by Jimmy Spankie.
Daphne Barbieri produced a film and picture show and Bashabi Fraser, who is from Kolkata, has written a book, From The Ganges To The Tay.
Sheena Thomson brought along some of her jute products to sell at the concert.