FROM THE EDITOR

Applications open for Charles McKean Memorial Prize 2022

The future of Scotland’s historic tower houses is at the heart of a £1,000 prize competition for students of architecture, architectural conservation and architectural history

NEW JACOBITE MUSEUM OPENS IN PRESTONPANS

A new museum has opened at Prestonpans Town Hall following a refurbishment of the Victorian building by The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust

5,000 years of Orkney history told through 90 stories

Discover the stories of the Orkney Isles with a new digital tour featuring drone footage and 3D scans, alongside tales from 5,000 years of history

Launch of History Scotland’s summer lecture programme

Dr SimonThurley CBE will be the first guest speaker on History Scotland’s summer lecture programme, which shares the latest research with a worldwide audience via Zoom

An auspicious opening for Roman museum

On 21 April, the duke of Gloucester officially opened the newly-refurbished Trimontium museum in Melrose

Uist Unearthed: Interpreting an ancient site for a modern audience

Drawing on archaeological evidence, documents, and oral histories, Dr Emily Gal discusses what we know about the fascinating site at Dùn an Sticir in North Uist, and how it has been reimagined through digital technologies in the Uist Unearthed app

EXPLORING THE PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPE

Sheila Duthie shares the experiences of the Mesolithic Deeside group who, for the past five years, have built up their expertise in fieldwalking and community archaeology, providing volunteer opportunities for people of all ages and levels of experience

Rare medieval site discovered near Stornoway

A project on the Isle of Lewis has led to the discovery of a medieval site of a type rarely identified in the Outer Hebrides

SCOTLAND AND JAPAN

Professor Murray Pittock explores the long, shared history between Japan and Scotland, demonstrating how strong education and business networks forged over many decades before the start of the Meiji age contributed to wider shifts in world and Pacific history

TYPEWRITER MAESTRO

Ronald Kerr tells the story of trainee mechanic turned plant manager John Brady, who for more than 40 years was the beating heart of Olivetti’s Glasgow factory

...THE MURDER OF CARDINAL BEATON

History Scotland’s consultant editor, Dr Allan Kennedy, looks into the infamous assassination in 1546 of Cardinal David Beaton, a seminal event during the chaotic minority of Mary Queen of Scots.

ANNIE MCDONALD DRESSER TO THE QUEEN

INSIDE NATIONAL RECORDS OF SCOTLAND

Researching the career of merchant marine seamen

Researching the merchant marine members of your family who died during the Great War and World War II requires the use of a number of sources, writes Ken Nisbet, who shares a selection of online and printed resources

DIARY DATES

EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY, PLUS SELECTED ONLINE EVENTS TO ENJOY FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

SCOTTISH LOCAL HISTORY FORUM

Nora Solesbury, a trustee of the Scottish Local History Forum, presents a round-up local history society activities over the past few months, looking at how various groups have continued to socialise, despite the continuing challenges posed by the pandemic

Spotlight on…

Kirkintilloch & District Societ y of Antiquaries

A reign in essays

Alasdair Raffe discusses a new collection of the essays of influential Scottish historian Jenny Wor mald.

RAIT CASTLE SAVING A R ARE HALL HOUSE

Following our patron Professor Richard Oram’s call for us to think about what building we would want to protect from unmanaged decay, Dr David Raitt suggests Rait Castle near Nairn

FINAL WORD

A new chapter for HMS Unicorn

THE SEARCH FOR CLASSICAL CALEDONIA

Long subject to fantastical myth-making, ancient Caledonia’s interaction with the Roman Empire became the subject of vigorous, often politically-fuelled argument during the 18th century. Dr Alan Montgomery explains how the classical past was rediscovered and reinterpreted for a post-union audience

BOOKSHOPS AND BLASPHEMY IN 1840S EDINBURGH

Following the abolition of blasphemy as a criminal offence in 2021, Dr Felicity Loughlin reflects on Scotland’s last prosecutions for this crime, and asks what they tell us about changing attitudes towards religion & free speech in the early Victorian period

JOHN BROWN AND HIS BIBLE

David Dutton recounts the unorthodox life-story of the 18th-century biblical scholar and Secession minister John Brown, who became famous during his lifetime as the author of a new and much-admired version of the Bible

ROBERT THE BRUCE, DAVID BRUCE AND ROBERT STEWART

FRACTURED FATHERHOOD

Representations of Burns

Susan Bruce assesses a collection of essays exploring how Robert Burns has been represented over the centuries

The intersection of science and religion

Patricia ‘Iolana enjoys Gavin Miller’s sur vey of religion and psychotherapy

RECENTLY PUBLISHED

The Secret History of Here: A year in

A window into 14th-century society

THE SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY: VOLUME IN THE SPOTLIGHT