Tales of the past

FROM THE EDITOR

Those of us who lived through the Second World War

VICTORIAN ERA GLASS PHOTOGRAPH SLIDES RESCUED FROM SKIP

Remarkable images of pioneers boring through rocky mountainsides during the construction of the Katrine aqueduct have been rescued from a skip as work takes place on refurbishment of the aqueduct

Newly-discovered Mary Queen of Scots letters shed light on life in 16th-century Edinburgh

Newly-discovered Mary Queen of Scots letters shed light

Radiocarbon dates from Coldingham confirm location of 7th-century monastery

A team of archaeologists who have been working on a project to locate the remains of Coldingham monastery in Berwickshire have revealed the results of their first set of radiocarbon dates

New focus on the battle of Stirling Bridge

The National Wallace Monument has released new visuals

WAR POETS TRAIL

This month Neil McLennan takes a new approach to his hidden histories explorations, introducing a thematic trail that takes in newly-installed memorials to the country’s war poets

SCOTLAND’S GREAT WAR MEMORIALS

Dr J.J. Smyth and Dr Michael Penman discuss Scottish Great War memorials, asking what the huge volume and diversity of memorialisation projects can tell us about the way Scots sought to remember and commemorate their dead in the immediate aftermath of war

The lasting effect of the First World War on CRIME IN SCOTLAND

Re-assessing the link between war-service and crime in the post-1918 period, Cameron McKay demonstrates that many Scottish veterans had difficulty readjusting to civilian life, leading to a rise in both petty and serious criminality

Making it new interwar literature

Dr Margery Palmer McCulloch explores the ‘Scottish renaissance’, an outpouring of literature in the years between the two World Wars, producing a rich body of work from numerous authors that is still appreciated almost a century later

THE UN-PEACEFUL PEACE: SCOTLAND AND THE US IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD

Dr Stephen Bowman examines the relationship between Scotland and the United States in the interwar period, discovering a shared experience of anxiety and social dislocation that was shaped by the historical connection between the two countries

DESOLATION OR NEW DEAL? THE HIGHLANDS IN THE INTER-WAR PERIOD

Professor Ewen Cameron explores the experience of the Scottish highlands between 1918 and the late 1930s, a period of sustained discussion about the economic and cultural future of a region reeling from the aftershocks of the First World War

Going back to yesterday: the legacy of war

Reflecting on the various ways in which the centenary of the First World War was commemorated in text, Dr Catriona M.M. Macdonald argues that we are developing a new, more democratic narrative of the conflict, putting the people of Scotland, and their stories, centre-stage.

The salvage sites of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow

As the centenary of the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet approaches, Kevin Heath, Malcolm Thomson, Sandra Henry, Mark Littlewood and Paul Sharman take a look at how the underwater wrecks have been explored and salvaged over the decades

LOUISE & LORNE: A ground-breaking royal marriage

This May marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria. Margaret Brecknell explores the marriage of Victoria’s daughter Louise – a match that went against the strict conventions of the time

THE MITCHELL LIBRARY’S BLACK BENEFACTOR: The brief life of Louis Edward Campbell

Morag Cross tells the story of how the son of a Glaswegian merchant, born to an African mother on a Caribbean island just after the abolition of slavery, went on to become one of the benefactors of Glasgow’s Mitchell library

Women registrars in Scotland

Dr Tristram Clarke examines what an historic photograph can reveal about the rise of women registrars in Scotland

history SCOTLAND PLUS…

Captain Robert Pincarton and Darien

A foot soldier of Empire

Ben Fanstone delves into the life of James Taylor and his inluence on the development of Ceylon’s exports

Battle of Prestonpans

Martin Margulies enjoys a reappraisal of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans

New analysis

HelenYoung explores a fresh account of early modern Edinburgh and the influences of the Scottish Enlightenment

Living history

Experience history first-hand with our pick of outdoor

THE BATTLE OF GLENSHIEL

Peter Tillemans’The Battle of Glenshiel is based on eye-witness accounts of the battle and features figures including Rob Roy MacGregor and General Joseph Wightman

Spotlight on… Tullibody History Group

Tullibody is one of Scotland’s oldest villages, with

Burial records

Ken Nisbet of the Scottish Genealogy Society shares his expert tips for finding an ancestor’s burial records online

TREASURES OF THE SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY

Dr Annie Tindley spotlights a collection of strike bulletins that highlight the high level of engagement from the population of Scotland in the general strike of 1926