Spotlight on… SelkirkshireAntiquarian Society

history SCOTLAND

There are some fascinating accounts of disappearance

LANDMARK REDEVELOPMENT OF ABERDEEN ART GALLERY UNVEILED

Aberdeen Art Gallery has reopened to the public after a £34.6 million redevelopment project

The Scottish witch hunt

A new podcast series featuring the latest academic research on the Scottish witch-hunt has been launched by BBC Radio Scotland

THE ALASDAIR ROSS PRIZE – WINNER ANNOUNCED

The winner of the inaugural Alasdair Ross Prize, established by the Scottish History Society in memory of the late Dr Alasdair Ross, former editor of History Scotland, has been announced

A year in history

A round-up of some of the many events we can look forward to over the coming year

PRINCE LEOPOLD of Saxe-Coburg’s entry into Edinburgh, 1819

Dr Clarisse Dr Clarisse Godard Desmarest looks back at a royal visit to Edinburgh by Prince Leopold, showing how the event not only laid the foundations for a visit by George IV in 1822, but also allowed the New Town to host a major public event for the first time

James Murdoch Our Man in Japan

Darren Swanson and Neil McLennan explore the role of the Stonehaven-born scholar and journalist James Murdoch, whose work in Japan during the Paris peace conference led him to predict the sowing of the seeds for a second global conflict

Sir Alexander Mackenzie Canada’s forgotten hero

Douglas Reid charts the achievements of Stornoway-born Alexander Mackenzie, who carried out the first recorded crossing of America from east to west

A unique archive: The Bowerbank collection

Jennifer Morag Henderson introduces a unique collection of Jacobite memorabilia, put together by a gin heiress whose interest in the Jacobites took her on a tour of Europe, gathering material on the exiled Stuarts, whose story had fascinated her since childhood

Burns Night celebrations

Discover more events and exhibitions on our website:

Tarbat Medieval Burials project

A striking facial reconstruction forms the centrepiece of the launch of the Tarbat medieval burials project, analysing five 15th-century male burials that include a unique six-headed burial

Our Castle of Kings COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY DIG

Robert McPhail of Tarbert Castle Trust presents the results of a long-term project to protect and preserve a medieval royal stronghold that was once one of the country’s largest castles

Wilkhouse dig reveals insights into LIFE BEFORE THE Sutherland clearances

New insights into highland life immediately before the Sutherland clearances of the early 19th century, have recently been published following archaeological investigations at the site of a drovers’ inn

The pictish language

Dr Guto Rhys grapples with the language or dialects spoken by the early medieval Picts, surveying the significant but fragmentary evidence and confirming that Pictish was closely related to Archaic Welsh

…THE STORMING OF DUNDEE, 1651

History Scotland’s consultant editor, Dr Allan Kennedy, looks at the capture of Dundee by English troops in 1651, one of the defining moments in the Cromwellian conquest of Scotland

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HMS Black Prince

Sandy Mullay traces the fate of HMS Black Prince, a Cromarty-based cruiser that was mysteriously lost during the battle of Jutland in 1916, and whose final resting place would remain unknown until the discovery of its wreck in the 1980s

Alasdair Gray’s Lanark book illustrations: Historia Magistrae Vitae Est

Kevin Brown reflects on the six illustrations penned by Alasdair Gray to accompany his debut novel, Lanark, finding in them not only outstanding examples of Gray’s long-underestimated artistic talents, but also vital clues about his overall creative philosophy

SCOTTISH ghosts

Dr Martha McGill explores changing ideas about ghosts in Scotland since the middle ages, discovering that, from the medieval ‘revenant’ to the modern ghost tour, Scots have long sought truth, entertainment and comfort from the returning dead

Alone at sea

The nation’s archives hold countless tales of fortitude and bravery, but perhaps none quite like that of Elizabeth Mouat. Archivist Veronica Schreuder tells the story of a Shetland crofter who found herself stranded alone at sea for nine days following a fierce storm, before being rescued off the coast of Norway and becoming a celebrity back in her home country

In the next issue ofhistory SCOTLAND

Vol 20.2 Mar/Apr 2020 On sale: 8 Feb 2020

AT THE HEART OF HIGHLAND GAMES

Neil McLennan pays a visit to Braemar, where a new visitor centre and archive explores the rich history of almost two centuries of highland games

Riots, rebels and radicals

Joe Setch discusses a dramatic account of religious warfare in 17th-century Scotland

Orkney tales

Laura Cowan enjoys a wide-ranging introduction to Orkney’s history and culture

SNOWBALLING OUTSIDE EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY

Our seasonal work of art captures a group of students having a snowball fight outside the entrance of Edinburgh University, as townspeople hurry by and a shopkeeper boards up his doorway

Emigrant ancestors

Have you come across ancestors who emigrated or served in countries such as South Africa or Zimbabwe? Ken Nisbet presents a range of online resources to help you find out more

THE STORMING OF DUNDEE

Dr Annie Tindley presents a century-old archive record that explores the situation in Dundee centring around the town’s storming by General George Monck, after which soldiers were quartered alongside the townspeople

FINAL WORD

Following the publication of the Guide to Climate Change Impacts, created by a range of organisations across the heritage sector, Historic Environment Scotland’s (HES) head of technical research and science Ewan Hyslop, talks to History Scotland about the challenges facing the historic environment, and what the future might hold