January-February 2022

History Scotland

The world's premier Scottish history magazine

History Scotland1 min read
From The Editor
Welcome to the first History Scotland of 2022. This issue includes two articles which focus on research that seeks to overturn long-held misconceptions. We explore the life of the 11th-century king who inspired Shakespeare’s Macbeth, whilst in ‘legac
History Scotland2 min read
Meet The Contributors
Dr Saskia McCracken is the former Vice Chair of South Glasgow Heritage and Environment Trust and edited their South Glasgow Heritage Trails: A Guide (2019). She works on community heritage projects across Scotland, on topics such as Scotland's histor
History Scotland2 min read
History Scotland
PATRONS David Breeze Christopher Smout Historiographer Royal Elizabeth Ewan University of Guelph Richard Oram University of Stirling Mr Derek Alexander Archaeologist, National Trust for Scotland Dr John Atkinson Managing Director GUARD Archaeology Lt
History Scotland1 min read
Botanist In Bronze Comes To Castle Menzies
Archibald Menzies (1754-1852), ship’s surgeon and botanist, was born at Styx in Strathtay. Menzies enjoyed a varied career as a plant collector starting in 1786 when, as ship’s surgeon on HMS Prince of Wales, he journeyed to the north Pacific, taking
History Scotland1 min read
New Appointment At National Library Of Scotland
Educated at Ayr Academy, Glasgow University and Balliol College, Oxford, Drummond Bone began his career as a professor of English, noted particularly for his work on Byron. His first appointment was at the University of Warwick and in 1980 before he
History Scotland1 min read
Plans Revealed For Union Canal Bi-centenary
The City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Canals, and partners will join to mark the 200th anniversary of the 16km waterway, which links Edinburgh with the Falkirk Wheel in Tamfourhill and onwards to the Forth and Clyde Canal. Amongst activities propos
History Scotland7 min read
Disturbing The Dead: Centuries Of Grave Cutting
The Augustinian Jedburgh Abbey dates to the 12th century and is located at the historic heart of Jedburgh, striking an imposing sight when approaching the town from the south. The abbey is one of four great abbeys located in the Scottish borders and
History Scotland5 min read
Stirling’s Kokishote and the Sma’ Folk
Stirling is dominated by monuments to the Wars of Independence. From the south there is the discrete and atmospheric rotunda of the National Trust for Scotland Bannockburn centre, while the north is dominated by the magnificent National Wallace Monum
History Scotland5 min read
Women’s Football In Scotland
Women’s football in Scotland is often considered to be a relatively modern phenomenon, one which developed in the late 20th century. However, the sport in Scotland has a long, if relatively little celebrated, history. The origins of Scottish women’s
History Scotland13 min read
Amassing Jacobitiana The Amulree Jacobite Collection
In the University of Stirling’s library archives rests a fascinating yet relatively unexplored Jacobite collection comprising intriguing Jacobite-related material culture, or Jacobitiana, and unpublished research by its collector. This eclectic assor
History Scotland2 min read
Scotland’s Largest Pictish Fort ‘Reconstructed’
Three-dimensional images of Burghead in Moray have been created based on archaeological excavations by the University of Aberdeen. Funded by Historic Environment Scotland as part of a wider video project to enable the public to learn more about Scotl
History Scotland3 min read
…the Great Cause
When Margaret, maid of Norway – the designated successor of the late King Alexander III – died at Orkney in September 1290, Scotland found itself in a delicate predicament. The extinction of the royal line left no obvious heir to the throne, and ulti
History Scotland7 min read
The Roads Of Scotland’s Far North
The far north of Scotland has been described as Britain’s last great wilderness. The wild, rugged landscape has been revealed to increasing numbers of visitors since the introduction in 2015 of the NC500, ‘Scotland’s Route 66’. Starting in Inverness,
History Scotland11 min read
Mythologising Mac Bethad
Little is known for certain about the historical Mac Bethad, king of Scots from 1040 to 1057. It is generally accepted among historians that he was born c.1005, held the title of mormaer of Moray from 1032 until his death, married his cousin’s widow
History Scotland13 min read
The Influence Of A Covenanting Minister: Mr Andrew Donaldson Of Dalgety
To most people, the name ‘Dalgety’ is synonymous with the ‘new’ town of Dalgety Bay, Fife, construction of which started in the mid-1960s. The parish of Dalgety, of course, had been in existence for centuries prior to that. The first documented evide
History Scotland7 min read
‘Horrid, Indelicate Creatures’: The Hidden Voices Of Scotland’s Mountain Women
Scotland’s hills draw in tourist and climber alike, their variety and changing weather providing challenge and delight in equal measure. Victorian photographs of rugged men and rugged rocks show how they drew in proponents of the then new sports of m
History Scotland3 min read
Living Through History: privilege Or Misfortune?
Where were you when Boris Johnson appeared on every TV screen across the country to announce that pubs would close, shops would shut and everyone in the UK had to remain indoors? Like many of us, the events of the pandemic upended my life. I went fro
History Scotland2 min read
LIFE IN LANG LOAN from The Medieval Era To The Industrial Revolution
Prior to a residential development at Lang Loan on the southern outskirts of Edinburgh, Guard Archaeology Ltd undertook a metal detecting survey, trial trench evaluation and excavations that revealed 118 archaeological features associated with mediev
History Scotland5 min read
Ethel Moorhead – ‘Scottish Leader Of The Suffragettes’
One of the most infamous suffragettes in Scotland, Ethel Moorhead, appears in the records of the National Records of Scotland (NRS) under several aliases: Edith Johnson, Mary Humphreys or Margaret Morrison. Moorhead repeatedly made the papers through
History Scotland14 min read
Legacies Of Slavery In Glasgow’s Southside
Anyone who has been to Glasgow will probably have heard the phrase ‘People Make Glasgow’, but, as one placard at the Black Lives Matter demonstration on Glasgow Green put it recently, enslaved people made Glasgow. By the late 1700s, Jamaica was Brita
History Scotland5 min read
A Game Of Dress Up
In early December 1746, well after the active threat of the last Jacobite rising had waned, the British government was still collecting intelligence about known rebels who had not yet been apprehended. A report from Alexander Robertson of Straloch in
History Scotland1 min read
In The Next Issue Of History SCOTLAND
We begin a new, twopart study of the initial and overlooked phase of Enlightenment thought in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, during which Scottish intellectuals reconceptualised the nation’s relationship with its past. Among the many Scots w
History Scotland5 min readGender Studies
A Call To Look North
Sexual Progressives: Reimagining Intimacy in Scotland, 1880-1914 Tanya Cheadle Manchester University Press, 2020 233 pages Hardcover, £70.88; paperback, £25.00 ISBN: 9781526125255 To paraphrase the author in the introduction to this book, it’s about
History Scotland4 min read
The Making Of Royal Forteviot
reviews@historyscotland.com Explore a selection of digital history guides in the History Scotland store: https://scot.sh/hsdownload Royal Forteviot: Excavations at a Pictish Power Centre in Eastern Scotland Ewan Campbell and Stephen Driscoll Council
History Scotland3 min read
Diary Dates
Digitising the hidden voices of Scotland’s legal past, 12 January Join History Scotland for an exclusive talk by Dr Jim Ambuske on how a transatlantic team of scholars are unlocking Scotland’s Session Papers, until now a largely untapped resource. Us
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Celebrate The 20th Anniversary Of History Scotland With Our Special Offer
EVERY ISSUE OF HISTORY SCOTLAND IS PACKED FULL OF HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY • Get the magazine delivered to your door and never miss an issue• Research you can’t read anywhere else, six issues a year• Become part of the History Scotland Insid
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HOT OFF THE PRESS… 18th-century style
Pick up the first edition of Scotland’s newest paper The Edinburgh Courant, in February 1705 and not only would you read of embezzlement by Edinburgh bank teller Robert Pringle, who ‘went off with 425 lib. sterling’, but also about conflict on the co
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How To Use Wills And Inventories For Family History
The subject I chose for a lecture I recently presented to a family history society was wills and inventories, which can greatly add to your family history and in some cases may be the only way to prove links between family members. Scotland’s People
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An Autobiographical Tradition
Andrew Donaldson, the subject of an article elsewhere in this issue (page 34), was the product of a highly intellectual, self-reflective Calvinist tradition within the Scottish Kirk. One manifestation of that tradition was a habit of autobiography; t
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Your Invitation To Enter The World Of History SCOTLAND Insider
Exclusive interviews Insight into the stories behind the headlines My career in Scottish history series PLUS heritage opportunities, project news, hand-picked events and more… history SCOTLAND Sign up at scot.sh/Insider22 © Simon Burchell, CCASA 4.0
History Scotland3 min read
Final Word
What are the themed years and how often do they take place? Scotland has celebrated Themed Years since 2010. They showcase the very best of Scotland, its product, its places and its people and provide an opportunity for lots of partners to come toget

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