Botanist in bronze comes to Castle Menzies

FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to the first History Scotland of 2022.

New appointment at National Library of Scotland

Sir Drummond Bone has been appointed chair of the National Library of Scotland

Plans revealed for Union Canal bi-centenary

A line-up of events is being developed to celebrate the Union Canal’s bicentenary next year

‘HORRID, INDELICATE CREATURES’: THE HIDDEN VOICES OF SCOTLAND’S MOUNTAIN WOMEN

Paula Williams, curator of a new exhibition on female mountaineers at the National Library of Scotland, takes a look at why we know so little about the achievements of women climbers in comparison with their male counterparts

DISTURBING THE DEAD: CENTURIES OF GRAVE CUTTING

Ian Hill and Michelle Gamble of HARP (Heritage & Archaeological Research Practice) present evidence of several centuries of grave cutting activity at Jedburgh Abbey, cut short by the construction of ‘the rampart’

Stirling’s Kokishote and the Sma’ Folk

Dr Murray Cook reports from an excavation this summer, at the site of Coxet Hill, a small hill near the site of the battle of Bannockburn that may have played a big part in the outcome of the famous conflict

LIFE IN LANG LOAN

from the medieval era to the industrial revolution

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL IN SCOTLAND

To mark the centenary of a ban on the women’s game, Dr Fiona Skillen takes a look at how women’s football developed both before and after this landmark event, with the sport continuing despite vocal opposition from several quarters

THE ROADS OF SCOTL AND’S FAR NORTH

Alastair Mitchell takes us back to the days when road travel in the highlands called for a traveller who, in the words of one commentator, could ‘climb like a goat and jump like a grasshopper’

A GAME OF DRESS UP

In our new edition of Spotlight: Jacobites, Dr Darren S. Layne introduces us to Alexander Robertson of Straloch, a guileful and dedicated government agent who orchestrated an outlandish sting to capture suspected Jacobites in Angus

HOT OFF THE PRESS… 18th-century style

Carolyn O’Hara takes us back over 300 years to the first publication of the Edinburgh Courant, using a rare facsimile that belonged to her great-grandfather

AMASSING JACOBITIANA

THE AMULREE JACOBITE COLLECTION

MYTHOLOGISING MAC BETHAD

The historical figure of King Mac Bethad (r.1040-57) has been comprehensively eclipsed by the fictionalised version presented in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. But Shakespeare’s character was not an original invention: instead, it drew upon centuries of accumulated myth-making. Kelly McRae explains

THE INFLUENCE OF A COVENANTING MINISTER: MR ANDREW DONALDSON OF DALGETY

Robin Arnott traces the career of Andrew Donaldson, the formidable minister of Dalgety in Fife, whose long career and deep, enduring influence over his parishioners underlines just how powerful 17th-century clergymen could be

SCOTLAND’S LARGEST

PICTISH FORT ‘RECONSTRUCTED’

...THE GREAT CAUSE

History Scotland’s consultant editor, Dr Allan Kennedy, looks at the famous legal process of 1291-92 designed to select the next king of Scots, following the extinction of the Canmore dynasty that had ruled since 1058

Living through history: privilege or misfortune?

In the first of a series to mark Year of Stories 2022, Ryan Latto asks whether we should be more ‘human’ in our assessment of history, looking beyond the historical headlines to think about what life was really like in turbulent times

ETHEL MOORHEAD – ‘SCOTTISH LEADER OF THE SUFFRAGETTES’

Jocelyn Grant takes a look at the activities of Ethel Moorhead, whose headline-grabbing exploits made her a well-known figure of the Suffragette movement in Scotland

The making of Royal Forteviot

Peter Yeoman is fascinated by new archaeological insight into the Pictish past

DIARY DATES

ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCES TO ENJOY FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, PLUS SELECTED ON-SITE EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY

HOW TO USE WILLS AND INVENTORIES FOR FAMILY HISTORY

This month, Ken Nisbet explains the wealth of information that can be found when exploring our ancestors’ wills and inventories

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL TRADITION

THE SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY: VOLUMES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

FINAL WORD

Marie Christie, Head of Development, Events Industry at VisitScotland talks to us about what we can expect from Scotland’s themed Year of Stories 2022

LEGACIES OF SLAVERY IN GLASGOW’S SOUTHSIDE

Mark McGregor and Dr Saskia McCracken explore the built legacies of Atlantic slavery in the Southside of Glasgow, demonstrating that much of this neighbourhood’s grand architecture owes its existence to the exploitation of enslaved Africans

A call to look north

Louise Heren learns about the sexual progressives who broke new ground in late 19th- and early 20th-century Scotland