Scotland bids farewell to Donald Dewar

Scotland's First Minister Dewar

GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) -- Thousands of Scots joined Britain's Prince Charles and Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday at the funeral of Donald Dewar, the man who brought a parliament to Edinburgh for the first time in nearly 300 years.

Scotland's First Minister died of a brain haemorrhage a week previously at the age of 63, after slipping on the steps of his official residence in the Scottish capital.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, a fellow Scot and close friend, led the tributes to Dewar, praising him for his commitment to building a fairer society and leading Scotland to devolution in July last year.

"He more than anyone fashioned Scotland's old democratic instinct into a modern democratic institution," Brown told the congregation. "He was a great man, but he was better than that -- he was a great man and a good man."

Blair gave a reading from the Old Testament. Other prominent figures in the 1,300-strong congregation packed into Glasgow Cathedral included Prince Charles and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.

Conservative opposition leader Willliam Hague and Charles Kennedy of the Liberal Democrats also attended.

Dewar's counterparts in Northern Ireland and Wales, David Trimble and Rhodri Morgan, were among mourners, highlighting Dewar's central role in helping shape Blair's new constitutional blueprint for a devolved Britain.

By far the most experienced politician in the fledgling Scottish Parliament, Dewar's death leaves a gaping hole at the heart of the one-year-old institution.

After an emotional service, the hearse carrying Dewar's body made a final tour of his home city of Glasgow, giving people the chance of a final farewell to the man often called "The Father of the Nation" -- an epithet Dewar hated.

The 45-minute service was relayed by satellite to giant screens in several community centres across Glasgow, giving as many ordinary people as possible a chance to pay their respects.

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Scottish Executive

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