September-October 2020

History Scotland

The world's premier Scottish history magazine

History Scotland1 min read
From The Editor
Welcome to September/October History Scotland. A glance at the contents page overleaf shows that despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 restrictions, Scottish history and archaeology continue to thrive. We're pleased to present in this issue an
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Meet The Contributors
Dr Miles Kerr-Peterson is an affiliate of the Universities of Glasgow and Dundee. In new research starting on page 28, he explores the hidden history of Keith Marischal House, a lost renaissance palace buried within a much more modern stately home. M
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History Scotland
David Breeze Christopher Smout Historiographer Royal Elizabeth Ewan University of Guelph FIND OUT MORE AT: HTTP://SCOT.SH/HIS-BOARD Mr Derek Alexander Archaeologist, National Trust for Scotland Dr John Atkinson Managing Director GUARD Archaeology Ltd
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Bearsden: A Roman Bath-house In Scotland
In 1973 a Roman bath-house was discovered in Bearsden, on the northern outskirts of Glasgow. It was found as part of an exploratory excavation of the associated Roman fort in advance of a housing development. Ten seasons of excavation followed and in
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Historic Property Covid-19 Closures Could Last Until 2022
In line with previous revelations about the charity’s loss of income resulting from the pandemic, the NTS is also listing the properties it is proposing to delay opening until at least 2021, either due to lack of resources or because they cannot be a
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Dr Alasdair Ross Memorial Prize winner announced
The winner is Dr Coreen McGuire. She spoke to History Scotland about her plans for the £500 research grant, which is part of the prize: ‘I was absolutely delighted to receive this news, and it was especially cheering to receive such a nice missive am
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#StoryOfOurStreet Spotlights Local History… Across The Globe
Our new #StoryOfOurStreet project, in partnership with Family Tree has inspired people around the world to explore the history of their street and local area. Children in the US and Scotland have explored street stories as a class, and individual res
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#storyofourstreet
I was born, quite a long time ago, in Bowling, a village on the banks of the Clyde, twelve miles from Glasgow and three miles from Dumbarton. Throughout my childhood the village seemed to be unchanging. Most of my friends had parents, and even grandp
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Explore Your Street’s Story
Paul Bishop, Chair of the Scottish Local History Forum, shares his top tip on exploring your street’s story My top tip for street history is to use the National Library of Scotland (NLS) maps website https://maps.nls.uk/). The site has many old maps,
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Revealing Medieval Lismore: A Continuing Community Project
The isle of Lismore (inner Hebrides) was a place of political and religious importance throughout medieval times but this has been largely forgotten, and the surviving monuments have suffered neglect in subsequent centuries. For the last five years a
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Scotland And Slavery Considered
This is a moment of national remorse, when the Black Lives Matter movement brings down the statues of slave-traders and we all reflect on the sins of our imperial past. It should also be a moment when historians reflect on the facts and context of sl
History Scotland12 min read
David Cousin: Versatile Victorian Architect
David Cousin (1809-1878) was an immensely versatile Victorian architect and town planner. As Edinburgh’s city architect he was responsible with his colleague John Lessels for redeveloping areas around the High Street. He created several large garden
History Scotland12 min read
In Search Of Dunfermline Abbey’s Lost Medieval Choir: History, Liturgy And Ground-penetrating Radar part I
The many visitors to Dunfermline Abbey and Palace in Fife encounter a church of two halves. To the west stands the medieval nave and, until 1821, parish church. Stripped of its post-reformation pews and lofts and re-presented as a stunning romanesque
History Scotland15 min read
Keith Marischal a Lost Castle And Renaissance Palace
Keith Marischal House in East Lothian, not too far south of Edinburgh, is in some ways a wonderful metaphor for modern Scotland. A baronial mass of gables, turrets and chimneys, an expression in stone of the kilts-and- bapipes Walter Scott-ery brand
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The Declaration Of Arbroath: New Research On Stories Of The Signatories
The Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project, run by the Genealogical Studies postgraduate programme within the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Strathclyde, and funded by the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, is now compiling
History Scotland12 min read
The Real Mr Ambrose And His Tavern
Noctes Ambrosianae. ‘Nights at Ambrose’s’ or ‘Ambrosian Nights’. Expressive words that exercise a double function. They pinpoint a place, and name the individual who presided over it. He was William Ambrose, the host of Ambrose’s Tavern, the venue of
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In The Next Issue Of History SCOTLAND
Vol 20.6 Nov/Dec 2020 On sale: 10 October Join us for a wide-ranging exploration of the Jacobite period in a special issue to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Our expert features include: • Jacobite women• Jaco
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The Island Of Handa
‘The sands of Handa are pearly white, and the machair [meadow] above them stretches like an emerald carpet along the shore. At the north end of the machair you will find a sheep fold, a row of ruined foundations, and a tiny graveyard close by. There
History Scotland15 min read
The Secret History Of The Bishops’ Wars, Part 2
Military operations in the First Bishops’ War ran from February to late June 1639. Geographically they covered western Scotland from the Solway Firth north to Argyll, and in the east from Inverness to Berwickshire. Outreach to the disaffected English
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A Tale Of Two Queens
Explore a selection of digital history guides in the History Scotland store: https://scot.sh/hsdownload reviews@historyscotland.com Michelle L. Beer Boydell & Brewer, 2018 201 pages Hardback, £50.00 ISBN: 9780861933488 Focusing on an increasingly pop
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Is Self-love Selfish?
Christian Maurer Edinburgh University Press, 2019 240 pages Hardback, £75.00 (paperback edition forthcoming) ISBN: 9781474413374 The concept of ‘self-love’ is sometimes touted as radical today. It was much more so in 18th-century Scotland, where inna
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McVey Napier - a 19th-century multitasker
I became interested in McVey Napier for two reasons. First of all, I was drawn by the name. McVey is uncommon enough as a surname but almost unknown as a Christian name. Secondly, not only did I share a name with him, but he was born in my home town
History Scotland3 min readReligion & Spirituality
…the Killing Time
When Scottish presbyterians looked back from the vantage-point of the 18th century on the reigns of Charles II (1660-85) and James VII (1685-89), they tended to view the entire period as one of brutal repression against their co-religionists. And, as
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Family History And Local History Online
Since the Covid-19 restrictions have made research more of a challenge recently, we’ve rounded up a selection of online activities for the coming weeks: • A history of royal fashion online course Presented by University of Glasgow and Historic Royal
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Loss Of Scottish Military Lives: Armed Forces Deaths 1922-39
East Kilbride History Society, in association with South Lanarkshire Council Bereavement Services, is seeking to identify individual men and women who died in armed service between the years 1922 and 1939 and who, at the time, also resided in Glasgow
History Scotland1 min read
Post Covid-19 plans
At the time of going to press, libraries, archives, museums and family history societies were still closed to the public in light of Covid-19 guidance. Many organisations are offering a limited online service, with online talks, seminars and download
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Setting The Standards For Scholarship
In this edition of History Scotland, we’ve been treated to ten minutes with the killing time of the 1680s (page 59). As described in that article, this was a turbulent period, striking for the level of political and religious violence and persecution
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Final Word
What have been the main changes at UHI’s Centre for History since you started there in 2008? The big change is that we’ve grown. When I joined the Centre for History I think there were two to three staff and we currently have eighteen, a mix of full-

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