May-June 2023

History Scotland

The world's premier Scottish history magazine

History Scotland1 min read
Meet The Contributors
Holding a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Dr Aaron Allen’s research focuses on craft guilds and artisanal work in early modern Scotland. On page 20, he explores the role that bakers guilds played in regulating the output of bakers in early mode
History Scotland1 min read
18th-century Clan Portraits Now On Display In Edinburgh
The oil paintings by Richard Waitt were commissioned in 1713 by Alexander, the laird of Grant, as part of a larger series depicting prominent clan members.They were created for Castle Grant, the chief’s seat near Grantownon-Spey, intended to impress
History Scotland2 min read
Tomb Of Eagles Artefacts Displayed As Orkney Museum Reopens
Some of those artefacts can now be seen at the Orkney Museum, which has just reopened following a month-long closure to carry out important behind-the-scenes work at the museum and stores. Perched above the South Ronaldsay cliffs, the ‘Tomb of the Ea
History Scotland1 min read
National Trust For Scotland President Puts Time Travel On The Curriculum
Jackie was at Pollok House while local St Vincent’s Primary were onsite as part of the ongoing trial of Timesliders, a pilot education programme that is being trialled with three schools in the local catchment to Pollok House, where the charity was f
History Scotland2 min read
2023: A Summer Of Archaeology
Cammo Estate, Edinburgh, throughout 2023 Volunteers are welcome every Monday throughout the year (weather permitting) at the Cammo Estate, where members of Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society are excavating the estate’s 18th-century walled garden
History Scotland2 min read
World’s First Peatland World Heritage Site
A sthe Flow Country Project website (www. theflowcountry.org.uk) explains, this vast expanse of blanket bog in Caithness and Sutherland, plays a vital role in Scotland’s defence against the effects of climate change. A copy of the complete 250-page d
History Scotland14 min read
Holidays On The Scottish Home Front During The Second World War
Holidays seldom feature in our picture of life in Britain during the Second World War, and one could be forgiven for thinking that holidays ceased altogether at this time of crisis. Indeed, many histories of the home front highlight aspects of sacrif
History Scotland8 min read
Churchill And Balmoral Castle
When Queen Elizabeth died at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire on 8 September 2022, much was made about the location. Not since Scotland was an independent kingdom had any monarch of Great Britain died north of the border. Another footnote to history
History Scotland5 min read
Mother And Son: Mary Queen Of Scots And James VI
Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587, r. 1542-1567) had just one son, James, who was born on 19 June 1566. James’ father was Mary’s second husband Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, who was murdered at Kirk O’Field in Edinburgh on 10 February 1567.This shocking
History Scotland13 min read
Pastry Women And Cake Baxters In The Early Modern Bread Market
In the 21st century we have become accustomed to reality TV shows about artisanal pursuits, and none, perhaps, have captured the public imagination quite like The Great British Bake Off. So far, the show has had thirteen seasons, and is widely loved
History Scotland13 min read
The Man That Time Forgot
1880s portrait, fromIn 1926, the poet Hugh MacDiarmid described Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (1852-1936) as ‘potentially the greatest Scotsman of his generation’, and a year later, the Sunday Post commented: ‘There are few men nowadays so well k
History Scotland3 min read
...donald Bán
In November 1093, Malcolm III, king of Scots since 1058, was killed in battle at Alnmouth. The king’s son and preferred heir, Edward, died alongside him, resulting in significant uncertainty over the succession. There were two obvious candidates for
History Scotland6 min read
Scars Of Battle
Warfare is a nasty business no matter the era, and the human cost of combat is inevitably ledgered with the scars of both the physical and emotional wounds of the combatants, as well as the loss of life and limb that inevitably result from it.To just
History Scotland13 min read
The Highland War PART 3
The battle of Killiecrankie, fought on 27 July 1689, looms large as one of the most infamous engagements in Scotland’s history. As the first major clash of the first Jacobite rising, the battle retains a place in the public consciousness and is only
History Scotland7 min read
A Poignant Relic From Culloden
CLICK HERE TO VIEW GALLERY There can be few genres in the realm of excavated objects which evoke the imagination and emotion more than those found on the former sites of battle. And rightly so, for they epitomise the tragedy and senselessness of huma
History Scotland3 min read
The Archivists’ Garden- A Peaceful Spot
Both General Register House and New Register House are familiar sights to Edinburgh locals, even if some of those who pass remain unaware of the many treasures held within. Housing the archives and public services of the National Records of Scotland
History Scotland8 min read
Newly-discovered Pilgrim Souvenirs Fit For A Saintly Queen
In January 2020, a metaldetectorist searching near Fordham in Cambridgeshire discovered a curious, small leadalloy object. On it was depicted a crowned, seated figure holding a fleur-de-lis-topped sceptre in one hand and a book in the other. Around t
History Scotland4 min read
Highland Scots, The Slave Trade And Slavery
David Alston Edinburgh University Press, (Edinburgh, October 2021) pp.400 Hardback, £85.00; paperback, £13.75 ISBN: 9781474427319 The legacies of slavery and empire have emerged as an important and contested issue across both Scotland and the rest of
History Scotland3 min read
Diary Dates
CLICK HERE TO WATCH SNIPPETS FROM TRAQUAIR MEDIEVAL FAYRE Traquair Medieval Fayre, 27 and 28 May Step back in time and experience an authentic weekend of medieval entertainment in the grounds of Scotland’s oldest inhabited house. Includes jousting d
History Scotland1 min read
Recently Published
A passion for castles; the story of MacGibbon and Ross and the castles they surveyed By Janet Brennan Inglis Published by Birlinn at £35 (hardback) ISBN: 9781910900826 In the 1880s, two Edinburgh architects began to survey, measure and sketch the cas
History Scotland3 min read
Justice On The Hoof
On the Trail of a Broken Shoe: the true story of the last man hanged in Scotland for horse-stealing John Nelson Crossmichael Heritage Group, (2022) pp.190 Paperback, £12 ISBN: 9781838329792 This book is essentially a ‘self-published’ title, but it i
History Scotland3 min read
50 Unpublished Letters Written By Mary Queen Of Scots Deciphered By Code-breaking Experts
While combing online collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) for enciphered documents, researchers George Lasry, Norbert Biermann and Satoshi Tomokijo stumbled upon a large set of unmarked documents, all in cipher, using the same se
History Scotland2 min read
A Snapshot Of Scottish Photographers
The Global Flows of Early Scottish Photography: encounters in Scotland, Canada and China. Volume 26, McGill-Queen’s/ Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation Studies in Art History Anthony W Lee McGill-Queen’s University Press, (May 2019) pp.360 Hardback, £3
History Scotland2 min read
Was Your Ancestor
Whilst many of our ancestors may have run a business, not all will have made a success of their endeavours. Bankruptcy (sometimes known as sequestration) was not unusual; an individual could fail for a number of reasons such as getting into debt, ove
History Scotland3 min read
Our Lost Lairds
Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, whose life is explored on page 28 of this issue, was that rarest of things (though perhaps slightly less rare in Scotland): the patriot aristocrat.The many faces of that ‘master of life, king among men’ include one
History Scotland2 min read
Final Word
Could you explain what your new role involves? I head up the archaeology and heritage team for SLR in Scotland.We do a wide variety of consultancy work, primarily to help our clients with the planning process.This could include advising clients on de
History Scotland6 min read
The Medieval Beginnings Of The Stewart Dynasty
If not for one tectonic plate creeping slowly beneath another over the course of many millennia, forming a deeply-rippled land mass, and one prominent volcanic plug remaining 60m above sea level at Dundonald in Ayrshire, it could well be that the Ste

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