Hot Braves, like thee, may fight; but know not well / To manage this, the laſt great Stake of Hell.

The illumination was organised by Martin Whyte from events company The Stage Group, fulfilling a long-held ambition of his to light up the 21-arch Scottish structure.

Analysts said the company’s results were in line, but noted that organic growth at the decoratives business was slightly weaker than expected.

They gathered under the giant chandelier, elegant little women with scraped-back hair, feet in the turned-out position, arms in the first or, for those with handbags, in the third, and one or two sur le cou-de-pied, for all the world as if they were rhubarbing in a crowd scene twenty-five years before.