history Scotland

One of the many joys of working on History Scotland

Queen’s Anniversary Award for Historical Thesaurus

A thesaurus which explores more than 750,000 words and spans 1,000 years of the English language has been awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize

Winner of inaugural Scottish History Network essay prize announced

The winner of a national competition for the best history essay by a High School pupil has been announced by the Scottish History Network

New conservation work begins at Ring of Brodgar stone circle

The next steps are underway to conserve the 4,000-year-old Ring of Brodgar, one of the largest stone circles in Britain, Historic Environment Scotland has announced

Preserving key websites for future generations

National Records of Scotland has announced the launch of its new Web Continuity Service, a new web archive which will preserve key offi cial websites and make them available for future generations

Mary Kingsley (1862-1900)

Jo Woolf tells the story of an intrepid explorer who was the fi rst woman to ascend the mighty Mount Cameroon in Africa

Splendours of the Subcontinent

We explore an array of priceless and expertly crafted gifts presented to the Prince of Wales during a landmark tour of India by the fabulously wealthy princes and maharajas of the Indian Subcontinent

Scotland’s Own Coinage

Jesper Ericsson introduces a new exhibition at The Hunterian in Glasgow

Argyll adventures

Neil McLennan explores Argyll and the Isles to discover what draws thousands of history and heritage tourists to this beautiful region every year

EXPLORING SOCIAL NETWORKS OF THE AUCHINLECKS OF AUCHINLECK

David Affleck shares details of his research journey which explored the life of John Auchinleck, a chaplain at Holy Trinity in St Andrews who was sentenced to serve alongside John Knox in the galleys for his actions during the Scottish Reformation

St Andrews University quad

NEW DIGITAL RECONSTRUCTION SHOWS AS IT APPEARED 500 YEARS AGO

Hundreds of medieval manuscripts to explore online

Walter Bower’s Scotichronicon and many other important historic manuscripts can now be studied by researchers as the Parker Library at the University of Cambridge makes the Parker collection freely available on its website

The Grand Tour: Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s Vedute di Roma

This spring sees the opening of a unique exhibition of Piranesi prints which portray the splendour of Rome, home to the exiled Stuarts, as seen through the eyes of an 18th-century tourist

Introducing

Dr Allan Kennedy introduces the latest History Scotland project, a lecture series which will travel around Scotland, giving people across the country the chance to learn more about Scotland’s history

Face of 313-year-old ‘witch’ reconstructed

Researchers at the University of Dundee have recreated the face of an 18th-century ‘witch’ who died in jail before she could be burned for her ‘crimes’

Robert Burns The radical exciseman

Dr Tristram Clarke introduces two new letters currently on show in National Records of Scotland, which reveal Robert Burns’ views on politics and public service

A Scottish Royal Army Medical Corps captain at the Front

Excerpts from the Diary of Patrick Cameron Macrae (1889-1917)

ONLINE RESEARCH

In the first of a new series on online research, we share some of the History Scotland team’s favourite websites and blogs

A bright future for ecclesiastical treasures

Against a background of the gradual erosion of Scotland’s ecclesiastical heritage, the Scottish Redundant Churches Trust strives to strike a balance between the conservation and reuse of historic churches. By Victoria Collison-Owen

NEW IMAGE 17TH-CENTURY SCOTTISH SOLDIER brings people face to face with 17TH-CENTURY SCOTTISH SOLDIER

NEW IMAGE 17TH-CENTURY SCOTTISH SOLDIER brings people

Living on Water The early Iron Age crannog-dwellers of Loch Tay

Michael Stratigos, Gordon Cook, Derek Hamilton and Piotr Jacobsson report on an underwater archaeology project that focuses on those crannogs of the early Iron Age which, due to being submerged underwater, have rarely been studied in detail

Archaeology: the year ahead

Whether you’re a seasoned dig enthusiast or an armchair archaeologist there are plenty of archaeology projects to look forward to this year, with opportunities to get involved in a dig or watch live archaeology projects virtually from wherever you are in the world

FROM LOG-BOOK TO E-BOOK The farm diary of Thomas Graham Bonar of Greigston

Marie Robinson uncovers the fascinating story of a log book kept by one Fife farmer in the 1820s and 1830s, an invaluable source of information about life on a 19th-century farm which has recently been published in electronic form

MUTINOUS SCOTS A different facet of empire

Professor Alistair Mutch explores the role of four Scottish offi cers of the East India Company in the Bengal ‘Batta’ conspiracy of 1766, tracing how anxieties over status and personal advancement helped drive these skilled soldiers towards mutiny

The First World War and policing in the Scottish Borders

In the concluding half of his study, Dr David Smale continues to assess how the activities of the Border police forces were transformed during the First World War, while also analysing the extent of wartime criminality and the relationship between the police and the army

THIS BELONGS TO US!

Richard C. Hoffmann and Alasdair Ross conclude their exploration of tensions between the royal burgh of Stirling and the canons of Cambuskenneth abbey over which one of them had premier right to fish salmon on the river Forth

The battle of Culloden

Martin Marguiles reviews a history of the battle of Culloden, which takes a look at the people and places involved in the last major battle fought on British soil

Exploring the archaeology of the Tarbat peninsula

Chris MacDougall examines a new study which explores the countless artifacts found on the Tarbat peninsula, spanning more than 1,000 years of history in one location

Island life

Laura Cowan enjoys an autobiography which describes life on the island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides, with a particular focus on fishing, crofting and how World War II affected the islanders

History and archaeology conferences

This spring sees four history and archaeology conferences

Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol

Until 29 April New Lanark Exhibition gallery See over

The Marseille Middleton Holloway Collection

Letters from Robert Burns, Voltaire, James VI, Benjamin Franklin and prison reformer Elizabeth Fry are just some of the examples in a new collection of once lost letters recently donated to the University of St Andrews Library

Spotlight on... The Association of Scottish Genealogists & Researchers in Archives (ASGRA)

Spotlight on... The Association of Scottish Genealogists

RAF centenary

Ken Nisbet offers his recommendations for online resources which can help you find out more about the service of an ancestor who served in the RAF

FINAL WORD

Aksa Ali, an ambassador for the Scottish Government’s themed Year of Young People 2018, talks to History Scotland about what the year has in store and her hopes for its legacy