Innholdsfortegnelse for July-August 2022 i History Scotland

The exhibition, which is free to visit (with donations welcomed), focuses on the battle of Prestonpans, a critical Jacobite conflict in 1745 which left a historical and cultural legacy that is still felt today. A programme of supporting exhibitions will address a variety of themes, as well as local history topics. The exhibition texts will be available in both English and Gaelic. The Battle of Prestonpans Jacobite Museum is based at the town hall building on the High Street and has been renovated to showcase more of its originalVictorian features. The centerpiece is an eight-foot diorama of the battlefield as it looked back in 1745, setting the fighting amongst landmarks that can still be seen today. The museum will also display sections of the famous 105-metre-long Prestonpans tapestry, which will…

21 April, an auspicious day in the Roman calendar recognised as the birthday of Rome, was a fitting date to reopen the Trimontium museum, which houses one of the finest collections of Roman military objects on display anywhere in the UK. The duke of Gloucester, patron of the Trimontium Trust, was joined by invited guests and supporters of this latest chapter in the Trimontium story to unveil a plaque marking the occasion. Celebrations were held in Abbey House gardens, which included Antonine Guard members marching around Melrose, the Time Bandits living history group telling stories relating to Trimontium, and family activities led by volunteers from the museum. Trimontium museum is open daily for the spring and summer, with an online booking system that also allows for drop-in visitors. Website: www.trimontium.co.uk…

Japan today contains many traces of Scottish engagement and influence, and the same is true of Japanese influence in Scotland. Whether it is the playing of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at the closing of bars and supermarkets, or the success of the giant Japanese whisky industry pioneered by Masataka Taketsuru (1894-1979), the scion of a sake brewing family who studied chemistry at the University of Glasgow and went on to found his own distilling company with the support of his wife Jessie ‘Rita’ Cowan (1896-1961) of Kirkintilloch, Scotland and Japan are more often blended together than one might expect. Perhaps the most beautiful, peaceful and visible confluence is in the Japanese garden in Scotland. The Japanese garden has had more impact as an imported style than any other garden type since…

Health, Wealth and happiness: the history of healthcare in the Highlands, 1 July-13 August From traditional remedies and cutting-edge technologies, to the challenges of saving lives in a rugged and rural landscape, Health, Wealth and Happiness is an exhibition exploring the history of healthcare in the highlands. Hospitals, healthcare workers and healing waters are among the topics, and highlights include an immersive early-20th century pharmacy, a copy of the landmark 1912 Dewar report, and a reflection on the Covid-19 pandemic in the highlands. North Coast Visitor Centre, High Street, Thurso KW14 8AJ; website: https://scot.sh/health ON-SITE EVENTS Book of Deer, 2 July-2 October The 10th-century Book of Deer is one of Scotland’s greatest treasures. For the first time in a millennium, this remarkable illuminated manuscript is returning to the north-east of Scotland,…

It was a factory that produced 20th-century design classics still prized today – now the man who became its mainstay is being warmly, and widely, remembered. Modest typewriter maestro John Brady was a vital part of Olivetti’s Glasgow workforce, whose remarkable achievements are being celebrated at the National Museum of Scotland. The trainee mechanic turned plant manager, who died in 2013, has a starring role in an exhibition that also pays tribute to the Glasgow-based operation of US typewriter giant Remington Rand. Tales of Remington’s young firebrand shop steward, Sir Alex Ferguson, are widely recorded, but the story of Brady and the Italian multinational, based across the city, is less well known. Now, a man who shunned the spotlight is being given a profile in the National Museum of Scotland…

Members of the public can now explore 35 sites across Orkney, including those that make up the Heart of Neolithic Orkney UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, and discover the stories that shaped them, from wherever in the world they are, with a new digital tour from Historic Environment Scotland (HES). Featuring over 90 different stories, from the finding of the Orkney Venus to the infamous killing of St Magnus, the guide is designed to help place a spotlight on the islands’ rich heritage, and the people, places and stories that have helped shape it. Thanks to new progressive web app (PWA) technology, the guide can be downloaded and then used on devices without mobile signal or data; meaning those exploring the islands in-person will still be able to enjoy the audio and…

Mesolithic Deeside was established in 2017 and is now well-established in making a major contribution to our understanding of human activity in the prehistoric period along the River Dee corridor. The group’s origins The group owes its existence to the work and enthusiasm of many who came before us. To explain, we must turn back the clock to the early 20th century when Hilda Patterson, who lived near Banchory, persevered in having her ‘pygmy’ flints recognised as being from the mesolithic period. The expert thinking at the time was that it was far too cold in Scotland after the last Ice Age for people to have survived. It never fails to amaze me when chatting with the next person fieldwalking to discover their background, interests and former experience Then in…

When King James V died in 1542, he left behind him a precarious kingdom. In part, this was because his heir and successor, Mary I, was a six-day-old baby, setting the scene for vicious power-struggles among the prominent people of the kingdom. More generally, however, Scotland was becoming increasingly divided between two broad visions of the future: a pro-English one, involving some receptivity to the growing forces of the Protestant Reformation; and pro-French one, marked by strict loyalty to Roman Catholicism. At the head of the pro-French, pro-Catholic party during the early years of Mary’s minority was the towering figure of David Beaton, cardinal-archbishop of St Andrews. Having served as a diplomat under JamesV, Beaton now vied for supremacy, and he emerged by the end of 1543 as the dominant…

In 1837, a 23-year-old publisher and bookseller named Henry Robinson set up shop in Glasgow’s Brunswick Place, just off the Trongate. His advertisements drew attention to the shop’s large supply of newspapers and its ‘rare and valuable works on science, literature and religion, not to be had at any other shop in Glasgow’. This rather oblique description alluded to Robinson’s striking collection of radical anti-Christian publications. His copious stock included numerous pamphlets and newspapers that rejected Christianity, lamented its moral and intellectual effects, criticised its ministers and denied the Bible’s authenticity as the word of God. Such views were highly unusual in 19th-century Scotland, which was an overwhelmingly Christian nation. Yet there was a small but significant market for radical bookshops such as Robinson’s. The 1820s had seen the establishment…

Rait Castle was the ancient seat of Sir Gervaise de Rait, who was constable of Nairn Castle in the 1290s. It is not actually a castle, but a rare example of a ‘hall house’, a style common in the 13th century, and one of only a few still standing today, although a ruin, it exhibits features not found elsewhere. Following a site visit in late 2019 (with Joss Durnan from Historic Enviornment Scotland, Rachel Bromby of Cawdor Estate, and others), I prepared a report at the request of Lord Cawdor of Cawdor Estate, with a view to preserving the structure which has undergone, and is still undergoing, a gradual and slow decay over the centuries. Preserving Rait Castle Although Alastair Cunningham created the Save Rait Castle website some years ago,…

Dr Thurley will demonstrate how the Stuart monarchs expressed themselves through art and architecture in a lecture on 21 June. The varied summer programme also includes writing historical fiction, the legacy of Scotland’s ‘Swinging Sixties’, and the English prisons of Mary Queen of Scots. See the full programme at https://scot.sh/summer…

Over 2,000 years ago in the Iron Age, a broch on an islet towered against the water of Loch an Sticir, North Uist, in the Outer Hebrides. Over 1,000 years later, at the height of the Lordship of the Isles in the 14th century, a grand medieval hall was built into its ruins. Drawing on archaeological evidence, documents and oral histories, Dr Emily Gal discusses what we know about the fascinating site at Dùn an Sticir, and how it has been reimagined through digital technologies in the Uist Unearthed app. Dùn an Sticir The impressive remains of Dùn an Sticir are located on a small islet within Loch an Sticir in North Uist. The site is reached by traversing three well-preserved causeways separated by two islets – the larger known…

When it comes to the grand narrative of Scottish history, the exploits of the Romans in north Britain are often overlooked, dismissed as an inconsequential footnote in the nation’s long and eventful story. No doubt due to the common misconception that the world-famous Hadrian’s Wall represents the furthest extent of Roman activity on these islands, visitors (and a fair few Scots) are often completely unaware of the country’s wealth of Roman sites and associated sculptures and artefacts. Many are surprised to learn that the Romans even made it into Scotland at all. 300 years ago, the situation was very different. Back then, at a time when Scotland was struggling to redefine itself after a period of unprecedented trauma, the impact of Rome in Scotland was a subject of heated debate,…

A second reason for the founding of the society was the existence of local archaeological and historical collections that lacked a museum to display them. Despite committed attempts by the new society to establish a museum, the town remained without one until well afterWorldWar II. However, the society was able to establish a sound programme of lectures and visits to places of historical interest. The founders of Kirkintilloch Antiquaries were prominent local business and professional leaders and a few politicians, including the notableTom Johnston, who later became the wartime secretary of state for Scotland. Although better known as a political historian, in 1937 Johnston published a general history of Old Kirkintilloch, which he dedicated to fellow members of Kirkintilloch Antiquaries. The interests and priorities of the society have remained stable…

Since the Reformation, relations between most of Scotland and theVatican have been chilly, at best. This has been unfortunate for many reasons, but particularly for the understanding of Scottish medieval history. It was only in 1961-62 that the future Monsignor Charles Burns, a scholarly-minded young Scottish priest, began to systematically study papal letter-books and registers in theVatican archives for material pertaining to the Scotland in the later middle ages, and only in 1976 that this study began to bear fruit with the publication of the two Calendars of Papal Letters spotlighted here. Their historical context, however, requires some explanation. Between 1378 and 1429, a schism occurred in the Catholic church, with rival popes holding court at Rome, Avignon, and (from 1409) Pisa. In retrospect, the popes in Avignon and Pisa…