Historic Scotland Autumn 2015

Three crime writers inspired by the past

19

EXCITING EVENTS

INSIDE

THE MAGAZINE FOR HISTORIC SCOTLAND MEMBERS

AUTUMN 2015

The best coastal

N BOBBING JOH A Jacobite puppeteer in the dock

DAYS OUT INCLUDING

Inchcolm Abbey Tantallon Castle Iona Abbey

HUNTERS THE HISTORY

Unravelling the mysteries of Stirling Castle

Mozolowski & Murray Conservatories Orangeries

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0345 050 5440 Visit our design centre or request a brochure.

Mozolowski & Murray Conservatory Design Centre 57 Comiston Road Edinburgh EH10 6AG Open 7 days 10am to 5pm

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Welcome to

CHRISTMAS

Three centuries after the 1715 Jacobite Rising, the jury is out about whether one of its protagonists, the Earl of Mar, was an unfortunate hero or a villain. Historian Chris Tabraham tells the story of the earl who plotted the ill-fated rebellion at Kildrummy Castle.

Turn to page 22 to discover why Mar earned the nickname Bobbing John.

On page 28, meet three acclaimed authors influenced by Historic Scotland sites. Louise Welsh goes underground at Edinburgh Castle, while Christopher Brookmyre uncovers Bothwell Castle and Peter May explains why the Hebridean Blackhouse at Arnol fired his imagination.

Peter Ross retraces his childhood steps at Stirling Castle, rekindling a love of history with the help of his sons. As the boys tear around the lovingly restored site, they try to answer some difficult questions – where would a princess keep her mobile phone in the Middle Ages anyway? Read about Peter’s adventures with his sons on page 34.

There’s nothing like a tiny relic of our Iron Age past popping up in a boggy corner of Scotland to remind us how close we are to our ancestors. That was the recent experience of one archaeologist who uncovered a little thumb bowl during the excavation of a headline-making Iron Age settlement. Read about the find – and the reaction of Historic Scotland archaeologists visiting the dig – on page 40.

Now it’s time for you to indulge your own love of history …

MEMBERSHIP OFFER

HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Contributors CHRIS TABRAHAM The Jacobites (p22) A medieval archaeologist, Chris is the former Principal Historian for Historic Scotland.

SEE PAGE 49

CLAIRE BOWIE Membership and CRM Manager

MALCOLM COCHRANE

5 big things to see and do this issue 1

Uncover the secrets of the 1715 Jacobite Rising P22

2

Go underground at Edinburgh Castle P28

3

Take a History Hunters tour at Stirling Castle P34

4

Plan a day out at a top coastal location P44

5

Prepare for Fright Night at Linlithgow Palace P51

PETER ROSS The time lords (p34) An award-winning journalist, Peter is the author of Daunderlust: Dispatches from Unreported Scotland.

KATHLEEN MORGAN Stairway to heaven (p28) The editor of Historic Scotland, Kathleen has worked on titles including The Herald and The Times in Scotland.

History Hunters at Stirling Castle

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 1

HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Three crime writers inspired by the past

19

EXCITING EVENTS

INSIDE

AUTUMN 2015

THE MAGAZINE FOR HISTORIC SCOTLAND MEMBERS

LOOK INSIDE HISTORIC SCOTLAND AUTUMN 2015

AUTUMN 2015

The best coastal

BOBBING JOHN A Jacobite puppeteer in the dock

DAYS OUT INCLUDING

Inchcolm Abbey Tantallon Castle Iona Abbey

WWW.HISTORIC%SCOTLAND.GOV.UK/MEMBER

HUNTERS THE HISTORY

Unravelling the mysteries of Stirling Castle

00_HS_AUT15_COVER_SELECT.indd 1

25/08/2015 12:58

Headquarters Historic Scotland Longmore House, Salisbury Place Edinburgh EH9 1SH 0131 668 8600 www.historic-scotland.gov.uk

Membership enquiries 0131 668 8999 hs.members@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Editorial enquiries hs.magazine@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Membership and CRM Manager Claire Bowie Assistant Membership Manager Morag Paterson Membership Co-ordinator Pauline Brews Editor Kathleen Morgan kathleen.morgan@thinkpublishing.co.uk Deputy Editor Fiona McKinlay fiona.mckinlay@thinkpublishing.co.uk Design Matthew Ball, Katherine Pentney, Alistair McGown Sub-editor Sam Bartlett Editorial Assistant Jonathan McIntosh Advertising Sales Jamie Dawson jamie.dawson@thinkpublishing.co.uk 020 3771 7221 Publisher John Innes john.innes@thinkpublishing.co.uk Think Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA 0141 375 0504

Historic Scotland is an Agency within the Scottish Government and is directly responsible to Scottish Ministers for safeguarding the nation’s historic environment and promoting its understanding and enjoyment.

28 | Louise Welsh goes big guns at Edinburgh Castle

Historic Scotland is published four times a year, and is printed on paper made from pulp sourced from sustainable materials.

The views expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect those of Historic Scotland. All information is correct at the time of going to press. © Historic Scotland. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without prior agreement of the Membership and CRM Manager and Historic Scotland.

Cover: James and Jack Ross at Stirling Castle, by Simon Murphy.

06 | Meet the herbalist behind TV drama Outlander 2 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

44 | The top Historic Scotland locations to visit near the coast

ANGELA CATLIN; SIMON MURPHY; DGJ PATTERSON; ARK 2013/ALAMY; ELAINE LIVINGSTONE; MARIUSZ KLUZNIAK

Photography All images provided by Historic Scotland unless otherwise stated. For access to images of Scotland and our properties, call 0131 668 8647/8785, email hs.images@scotland.gsi.gov.uk, or visit www.historicscotlandimages.gov.uk

50

34 | The history hunters are unleashed at Stirling Castle

EVENTS

Join us for a thrilling autumn at Tantallon Uncovered, the Castle for the Covenant!, Fright Night and more

50 | The Castle for the Covenant!

40 | Digging up the past

PLACES TO VISIT

THIS AUTUMN

REGULARS

Skara Brae Prehistoric Village P48

Kildrummy Castle P22 Huntly Castle P18 Iona Abbey P46

Stirling Castle P34

22 | John Erskine, Earl of Mar

Edinburgh Castle P29 St Ninian’s Cave and Chapel P46

Tantallon Castle P44

4 THE SCRIPT News and updates from Historic Scotland sites around the country 49 MEMBERSHIP 50 EVENTS 56 GUESS THE YEAR FEATURES

22 JACOBITE RISING Historian Chris Tabraham on the life of the Earl of Mar, the puppeteer behind the failed 1715 rebellion 28 STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN Writers Louise Welsh, Christopher Brookmyre and Peter May on the historic locations that inspire them

34 THE TIME LORDS Peter Ross and his sons go on a journey of discovery at Stirling Castle 40 WHERE THERE’S MUD ...

The Iron Age comes to life on an archaeological dig 44 COASTAL DAYS OUT We choose 15 of the best Historic Scotland sites near the sea

FIND US ON WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 3

SCRIPT THE

PEOPLE, PLACES, RESEARCH, COMPETITIONS AND MORE …

MAKE AN ENTRANCE

Delve into some lesser-seen corners of Scotland on the popular Doors Open Days

THIS September, many of Scotland’s landmarks will allow visitors special access as part of Doors Open Days.

Three key events take place at Trinity House, the Engine Shed and RCAHMS. All of these are free and do not require booking.

For more on Doors Open Days and other events and opportunities on offer throughout September, visit www.doorsopendays.org.uk

GO IN DEEP AT TRINITY HOUSE

This maritime gem in Leith, Edinburgh, is playing host to a family weekend of fun, with the chance to handle objects, and enjoy craft activities, quizzes and family trails. Visitors can take a self-led tour of Trinity House, and use QR codes to uncover the stories behind our collections.

Historic Scotland conservators will also be on hand to talk about the work we carry out on our vast painting collections.

Saturday 26 September – Sunday 27 September, 10am-4pm

4 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

TRINITY HOUSE Visitors can use QR codes to get more information on their tablets and mobile phones

INCLUDING

Outlander herbalist Claire MacKay shares some remedies Explore the symbolism in the seventh unicorn tapestry Compare and contrast a Cistercian and a Tironensian abbey Celebrate Europe’s Industrial and Technical Heritage Year

THE SCRIPT

REV UP AT THE ENGINE SHED Visitors are welcomed back to the Engine Shed – Historic Scotland’s education centre – in Stirling, following last year’s successful open day event.

Release the inner stonemason, archivist or architect in you with a day of familyfriendly fun at the site, which is still under construction. Find out more about the innovative project and its progress, try your hand at traditional skills and speak to Stirling Council Archives to help investigate the history of your home.

ENGINE SHED View plans and see progress on the pioneering national conservation centre

Saturday 12 September, 10am-4pm

RCAHMS The archive includes pictures like this of Edinburgh Castle

DISCOVER IMAGES FROM THE PAST AT RCAHMS Visitors can explore its archives for a special event dedicated to food and drink, with experts giving talks and behind-thescenes tours. Discover how you can help build this incredible archive. Talks and tours will be available for pre-booking online.

Saturday 26 September, 10am-4.30pm

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 5

RCAHMS

Unique archive photographs and drawings of shops, pubs and factories take centre stage as this amazing resource opens its doors. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) is opening its headquarters at John Sinclair House, Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh, for a day.

THE SCRIPT

NEWS IN BRIEF

FORTH BRIDGE JOINS UNESCO LIST After celebrating its 125th birthday earlier in the year, the Forth Bridge has been inscribed on to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. It is the first successful UK nomination since 2009.

2015/16 SCHOOLS PROGRAMME ONLINE Historic Scotland offers a range of teaching materials and visit programmes, with greatvalue activities designed for learners of all ages. Our travel subsidy scheme can help with transport costs.

Find out more at www.historic-scotland. gov.uk/learning

MAJOR MAKEOVER FOR BEAULY After 12 months of extensive conservation work, Beauly Priory is looking pretty radiant.

The finial stone to the tower was taken away for recarving, masonry was repointed and the Caithness slates on the roof lifted and re-laid.

6 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF

How did Claire MacKay become an on-set herbalist for the drama series Outlander?

IN THE summer of 2013, Claire MacKay got a call, asking her to meet Ronald D Moore, creator of the Outlander TV series. He needed someone to advise on wild plants and herbs, and Claire’s background in medical herbalism made her a perfect fit for the role.

“I helped check scripts for authenticity, suggested suitable plant preparations for important scenes and also assisted Caitriona Balfe in ‘playing the part’ of a herbalist,” Claire explains.

While working on the series, she met Outlander author Diana Gabaldon, who enlisted her help on a companion guide, The Outlandish Companion, Vol. II.

Claire is also writing her own Outlander Herbal book, weaving together the history of herb use in the Scottish Highlands with Outlander’s characters and storylines.

She will have a stall at the Rebels and Redcoats event at Stirling Castle on 26 and 27 September.

“It is wonderful that the success of Outlander has brought a genuine enthusiasm for important cultural and heritage aspects of Scottish history, and I am delighted to see the herbal tradition included in that,” she says.

Find out about herbal history on Claire MacKay’s website, www.outlanderherbal.com or follow her on Twitter @OutlanderHerbal

HERBAL REMEDIES Claire MacKay tells us about five traditional Scottish medicinal plants HEATHER Among many uses, the smell of heather was said to have a sleepinducing effect, and so Highlanders would fill their pillows with it to get a restful night’s sleep.

TORMENTIL Archaeological finds in Jedburgh confirmed tormentil’s astringent effects were used to treat diarrhoea or expel intestinal worms, and help heal wounds and sore throats.

Claire MacKay: wild at heart

FACT

Elgin Cathedral is home to Scotland’s tallest gravestone.

Placed against the south choir aisle, it stands 5m high and records the Anderson family of Linkwood from 1674 to 1813.

PICTURE PERFECT School project produces WW1 community mural

Pupils from P7 in Forthview Primary School in Pilton, Edinburgh, have produced a World War One mural, following their participation in Discovering Scotland’s First World War, Historic Scotland’s commemorative learning programme.

Since last January, classes have been taught about the war

and its impact through interactive workshops, visits to Edinburgh Castle and the National War Museum, and participation in authentic drills and training exercises.

The pupils worked with street artists Robbie Batchelor and Craig Robertson from Spectrum Arts on the impressive mural, which has gone on display at the North Edinburgh Arts Centre, right in the heart of their community.

DREW FARRELL

DUNKELD BATTLE MARKER UNVEILED

ST JOHN’S WORT Its old Gaelic name, achlasan Chaluim Chille, translates as ‘St Columba’s armpit package’. The story goes that the saint cured a young boy’s melancholy by placing the herb in the child’s armpit.

MEADOWSWEET A source of salicylic acid – the active ingredient of aspirin – meadowsweet was used to treat fevers, headaches, rheumatic aches and stomach pain.

LADY’S MANTLE Long known as a ‘women’s herb’, this aided healing after childbirth. Applying its dew to the face on Beltane morning was reputed to increase a girl’s beauty.

FACT

3,377 Number of sheep stolen from Urquhart Castle by the MacDonalds in the Great Raid of 1545 (along with 2,355 cattle, 2,204 goats, a few pots and pans, and much more).

Major Brian Leishman (right) and apprentices

CAMERONIAN regimental trustees paid a visit to Dunkeld Cathedral with apprentice stonemasons from Historic Scotland’s facility at Forth Valley College to unveil pieces they had worked on.

The first was a Battle of Dunkeld marker bearing the Cameronian pipers’ badge and telling the story of the conflict, which took place on 21 August 1689, on an engraved panel.

The second was a replacement grave marker for Colonel William Cleland, who died in the battle at the age of 27 while he was commanding the Cameronians against the Jacobites.

The markers were designed by the conservation directorate’s architectural unit, and a team of Historic Scotland apprentices and masons worked on their creation.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 7

DRAMA AT THE KING’S AND FESTIVAL THEATRES Bill Kenwright presents

PATRICK Ian Kelsey ROBINSON

as Andy Dufresne

in

as Ellis ‘Red’ Redding

FEATURI NG

Sophie Ward

29 September - 3 October KING’S THEATRE

HOPE

FEAR

CAN SET YOU FREE.

WILL HOLD YOU PRISONER.

Based on the short novel by

5 - 10 October KING’S THEATRE STEPHEN KING Owen O’Neill

Dave Johns

DAVID ESBJORNSON

F R O M T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L LY AC C L A I M E D KNEEHIGH THEATRE

13 - 17 October FESTIVAL THEATRE

19 - 24 October KING’S THEATRE STARRING

SUSIE BLAKE AS THE QUEEN

THE WEST END SMASH HIT COMEDY

26 - 31 October KING’S THEATRE

2 - 7 November KING’S THEATRE

FEATURING

Robert Powell

10 - 14 November KING’S THEATRE

0131 529 6000 edtheatres.com

16 – 21 November FESTIVAL THEATRE

THE SCRIPT

Linlithgow Palace

EXCITING FUTURE FOR HES UNFOLDS

Mission for new organisation takes shape THE board of Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is making good progress with ambitious plans for the organisation.

Led by its chair, Jane Ryder OBE, the board is agreeing strategic priorities and finalising a three-year corporate plan aligned to

Our Place in Time, Scotland’s first ever strategy for the historic environment. As part of this process, HES is working on an organisational identity project.

One of the key elements is to focus on the development of the mission, vision and values of the new organisation, which will help define the future direction of our activities.

Your contact details will now be migrated to the new organisation, allowing us to continue managing your membership.

In practice there will be no change to the way we use your information, and all your marketing preferences will be retained.

DOUNE CASTLE

Catherine Mason, monument manager, Doune Castle “I’m the only one who was here when Outlander was being filmed. I got to meet the cast and the author, Diana Gabaldon, as

Doune Castle: “Quite a site”

well, which was fab. The day the goats got loose from the set is particularly memorable, though.

A man passing by closed the gate or they would have been running through Doune Village.

The crew certainly experienced a stark difference in the weather – in October it was absolutely

MAJOR UPDATE FOR HISTORIC SCOTLAND APP Users can now save their personalised itineraries on the Historic Scotland app, with the latest update. These can be used for their own reference or shared via social media. Available for iOS and Android.

For more information about the new organisation, HES, please subscribe to our eNewsletter at www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ rcahmshsnewsletter

STEWARD’S SECRET

Historic Scotland staff tell us quirky tales about their sites

NEWS IN BRIEF

pouring, but in March all the stars were lying out on the grass sunbathing in full Outlander regalia. It was quite a sight. We kept some props from filming in the courtyard over winter. A lot of the visitors thought the props had been here forever because they looked so authentic.”

EDINBURGH FOOD HERITAGE TRAIL In celebration of the Year of Food and Drink, a food heritage trail has been put together to provide a tasty tour of the capital city. Visit www.ewht.org.uk/visit/ edinburghfoodheritagetrail/ to find out more.

WINTER IS COMING Some Historic Scotland properties operate reduced hours or close over winter, from October onwards, so please check the website or your handbook before making plans.

Any unplanned closures will be listed at www.historic-scotland.gov. uk/hsclosure or search Twitter for #hsclosure

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 9

THE SCRIPT

TAKE TWO

ABBEYS

Each built in the memory of a famous figure, these abbeys traverse centuries of Scottish history. So what do they have in common?

Stirling Castle

TRAVEL AWARDS HOPES Public to vote for castles shortlisted for accolade

THINGS TO DO

3

MUST!SEE EVENTS

REBELS AND REDCOATS STIRLING CASTLE Sat 26-Sun 27 Sep, 12-4pm THE CASTLE FOR THE COVENANT! EDINBURGH CASTLE Sat 10-Sun 11 Oct, 12-4pm FRIGHT NIGHT LINLITHGOW PALACE Fri 30-Sat 31 Oct, Fri 6-Sat 7 Nov, 7.30pm, 9.30pm For more information on these and other forthcoming events, see page 50

SWEETHEART ABBEY

VS

DUMFRIES ! GALLOWAY

Sweetheart Abbey was the last Cistercian abbey to be founded in Scotland. The church remains mostly intact, although the monks’ cloister has almost completely disappeared.

Dedicated to spiritual and worldly love, it was founded in 1273 by Lady Devorgilla Balliol in memory of her husband Lord John Balliol.

ARBROATH ABBEY

BEAUTIFUL RUINS

IN MEMORY OF LOVED ONES

ANGUS

With its impressive western twin-towered front, presbytery, sacristy and south transept surviving, what remains of Arbroath Abbey is a fascinating example of a Tironensian church.

Founded in 1178 by King William I “the Lion” in memory of his childhood friend Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.

In 1300, while he campaigned in Galloway, Edward I of England resided in Sweetheart Abbey. The abbey badly suffered during the conflicts and was in a poor state when Archibald “the Grim”, Lord of Galloway and 3rd Earl of Douglas, financed its repair.

SCOTLAND FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM

Arbroath Abbey remains famous for the Declaration of Arbroath, which was sent from the abbey to Pope John XXII in April 1320. The declaration affirmed the independence and sovereignty of Scotland.

Sweetheart Abbey ceased to be an active religious community. In 1624 it was established as a temporal lordship for Sir Robert Spottiswoode.

AFTER THE SCOTTISH REFORMATION !1560&

Parts of the abbey were used to build a new burgh church in 1580. By the end of the 17th century the abbey appeared in much the same condition as it is today.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 11

MARY EVANS

A PAIR of Scotland’s best-loved tourist attractions is competing for major UK travel awards.

Edinburgh and Stirling Castles are the only Scottish sites to have been shortlisted for the Best UK Heritage Attraction category in the 2015 British Travel Awards.

The winner will be decided by the public, who can vote for their favourite UK heritage attraction online until 30 September 2015.

Cast your vote at www. britishtravelawards.com

THE SCRIPT

BEHIND THE MAGIC

THE DOGS

During the Middle Ages, the dog was a widely accepted symbol of fidelity.

APPLE TREE

THE MAIDEN

Apples in the 16th century were often depicted in gold. The tree may symbolise the garden of Eden, with the maiden to the left as Eve.

It is thought the seated maiden, a Catholic symbol of nobility, may have been cut away from the original tapestry during the French Revolution.

As the last of seven unicorn tapestries is hung at Stirling Castle, we unravel the symbolism of the stunning artwork THIS IS the last of The Stirling Tapestries, a series of replicas inspired by the original Renaissance wall hangings held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Mystic Hunt of the Unicorn completes the story of the beast pursued and killed by a group of huntsmen and their dogs. Four of the seven tapestries were hand woven at purpose-built studios at the castle. The full series took 14 years to create, using weaving methods dating back to the 1400s.

This final piece is a conjectural reconstruction based on just two small surviving fragments of the original.

THE MAIDEN’S DRESS

STANDING WOMAN IN RED

The figure seems to be coyly signalling to the hunter outside the garden, whose job it is to sound the horn. He could represent Eve’s companion, Adam.

The maiden’s moiré underskirt is composed in blues, which are associated with the Virgin Mary. The bodice’s palette of warm shades affirms the maiden’s noble stature.

ENCLOSED GARDEN

The central focus of this tapestry is an enclosed garden, hortus conclusus – often a metaphor for a maiden’s purity.

UNICORN

In the Middle Ages, the unicorn was a symbol of Christ and marriage, and was thought to have healing and cleansing powers.

SEE THESE SITES NEARBY ARGYLL’S LODGING A 17th-century townhouse, open to Stirling Castle visitors between 1– 4pm daily, with a guided tour available 0.1 miles

PARTRIDGES

MAR’S WARK John Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar, began building his residence on becoming keeper of Stirling Castle, but died before it was finished 0.2 miles DOUNE CASTLE A medieval stronghold, its current form mostly originates from the late 14th century when the Duke of Albany set up home there 8.3 miles

12 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

THE RABBIT

FLORA

A commonly accepted symbol of fertility. The original set is likely to have been woven for a marriage; the rabbit would represent the hopes of children.

Most of the flowers are documented as having religious symbolism. Only periwinkle is in the original fragment, but research identified other relevant additions.

A replica of the pair in the third tapestry, these game birds were regarded as thieves that would take the eggs of others.

Here they may represent the Devil, who steals from the Church.

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The Refer a Friend offer is open to all Scots Magazine subscribers. Only available by following the above steps and not by any other means. Referred names must not already be subscribers to The Scots Magazine. The contact details you give us will not be passed onto any other company or used for any other purpose. The special offer is not limited to one friend and new introductions can be added. Direct Debit offer is available for recipients within the UK only. One year UK Direct Debit rate of £22 one year overseas Direct Debit rate of £36. Available to UK Bank Accounts only. One year minimum term applies. Overseas prices in other currencies are available on application, please dial: +44 1382 575580. FREE gift is available to all new subscribers. Should the gift pictured be unavailable, a replacement gift will be sent. Offer ends 28 February, 2015.

people

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places

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culture

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leisure

THE SCRIPT

GET THE PICTURE

There’s still time to enter our photo competition

WITH the Historic Scotland photography competition proving a big draw again this year, you still have time to submit your images.

You are invited to submit up to three photographs taken in or around Historic Scotland properties. The overall winner will receive an iPad mini, while category winners get a year’s membership renewal.

Winners will be announced in the spring 2016 issue of Historic Scotland magazine.

HOW TO ENTER Submit entries by email to hs.photos@thinkpublishing. co.uk or send digital images on CD to Historic Scotland THIS YEAR’S CATEGORIES 1. HAVING FUN Capture a moment of magic at one of our events, or out and about with family and friends 2. JUNIOR Entries from under-16s. Minimum age for entry is eight years old.

Please be sure to include your age 3. NATURE Animals, birds, insects, plants and more around our properties 4. PROPERTIES Shots of, or showing features of, any property under Historic Scotland’s care 5. A DIFFERENT VIEW Show us our properties from a perspective we might not have seen before or in a way that captures something unique 6. SOCIAL MEDIA STARS Celebrating the finest images shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flickr with our hashtag #hsphoto2015 14 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Photography Competition, Think Scotland, Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA. The closing date is 16 October 2015.

Please include your name, address, telephone number, membership number and email address. For each image, indicate the Historic Scotland location near or at which it was taken, along with your chosen category (although judges may consider images in alternative categories as they see fit). Files should be no larger than 6MB and saved with a relevant name such as Brodgar_Junior_ YourName.jpg

TOP TIPS Photographer Euan Robertson offers some pointers for capturing a cracking shot 1. LOOK FOR THE LIGHT Photography is light.

Without it, you don’t have a photo. Seeing and reading light is key to making great photographs. Look for where the light falls and place your subject – or yourself – appropriately.

Last year’s overall winner: Stanley Mills, taken by Geoff Williams

2. STEADY YOUR BASE Exploring Scotland’s historic landmarks, you’ll no doubt end up in one or two dark dungeons.

When the light isn’t ideal, you need to steady your camera to avoid blurry shots. A tripod isn’t always practical, so tuck in your elbows, plant your feet or lean against a wall and take a deep breath before you shoot.

3. THINK SMALL Everybody will be out front taking those classic castle shots. Make your pictures stand out by looking for smaller details that tell the story of the location and your visit.

Make the most of natural light and find your best angle

HOW TO BAKE UP A STORM

WIN AN iPAD MINI

RULES 1. An entrant can submit a maximum of three photographs. 2. Entries must be taken in or near Historic Scotland locations. 3. All images must be submitted as digital files. 4. Digital images should be high resolution and submitted by email or on CD. Each image should not exceed 6MB in size. 5. All entries are sent at the photographer’s risk and Historic Scotland cannot accept liability for damage or loss. Entries will not be returned to entrants.

All photos must be legally obtained, with permission if appropriate. 6. Entrants must be the sole author and owner of copyright for all images entered. 7. Copyright in all images submitted for this competition remains with the respective entrants. Where an image is used in the magazine or Historic Scotland calendar, the photographer will be credited.

However, in consideration of entering the competition, each entrant grants Historic Scotland a licence to feature competition images in the publication, online or in promotional material connected to Historic Scotland. 8. The competition is not open to employees of Historic Scotland or Think.

9. Winners will be notified by 10 April 2016.

10. Historic Scotland reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter any of the rules, if necessary. 11. If the winner is unable to be contacted after reasonable attempts, Historic Scotland reserves the right to either offer the prize to a runner-up or to re-offer the prize in any future competition. 12. These rules are governed by the laws of Scotland. 13. The decision of the judges is final. 14. The first prize includes an iPad mini. The prize is subject to availability. If, for any reason, it becomes unavailable, we reserve the right to supply a suitable alternative prize of similar value.

15. Entrants must be an Historic Scotland member or, in the Junior category, their parent/ guardian must be an Historic Scotland member.

16. Photos submitted for the competition may be featured in future Historic Scotland calendars. 17. The judging panel will be made up of the Historic Scotland membership and photographic teams, and the editor and publisher of Historic Scotland magazine.

Sweet success at Cake Fest

EDINBURGH CASTLE was captured in icing as part of the capital’s Cake Fest event.

Held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in June,

the baking showcase was part of the Year of Food and Drink in Scotland. Edinburgh Castle’s head chef Adrian Knibbs and his team constructed the castle,

while chefs and bakers from across the city made monuments and landmarks to create a colourful and delicious 3D map.

RECIPE

PULLUM NUMIDICUM !NUMIDIAN CHICKEN" Prepare chicken as usual – parboil it; clean it [remove skin and bones, cut into pieces]; season with laser* and pepper and fry.

Crush pepper, cumin, 2 coriander seed, silphium root*, rue, figs, dates and nuts, moistened with vinegar, honey, broth and oil to taste [coat the pieces of chicken in the sauce and braise].

Boil [the sauce], thicken 3 with roux, strain, pour over the chicken, sprinkle with pepper and serve.

1

WHEN IN ROME...

A Roman recipe for Bearsden Bath House, to celebrate the Year of Food and Drink

A GLIMPSE of what Roman soldiers ate while stationed in Scotland was revealed by archaeologists in Bearsden in the 1970s. Scientific analysis of sewage recovered from a defensive ditch from the Antonine Wall fort identified many ingredients – including figs, coriander, dill and celery.

Two centuries after the Romans abandoned Bearsden, a cookbook

was compiled. Known as Apicius, its dishes were intended for the wealthy (one involves flamingo), rather than the common Roman soldier – although all of the ingredients identified in Bearsden appear.

This recipe probably came from Numidia, a once independent part of Roman North Africa that roughly corresponds to Algeria today.

*Silphium was a culinary plant, probably like giant fennel and now believed to be extinct.

Its resin, known as laser, was prized by the Romans.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 15

SETH MCANESPIE, CAROLE RADDATO, EUAN ROBERTSON, GEOFF WILLIAMS

Each category winner will receive a year’s renewal membership to Historic Scotland. The overall winner will also receive an iPad mini.

Some of the photographs taken by the competition winners and runners-up could be featured in a future Historic Scotland calendar.

The winners will be announced in spring 2016.

THE SCRIPT

Biggar Gasworks

ALL MAPPED OUT

WORKSHOP OF THE WORLD

DALLAS DHU DISTILLERY

KINNAIRD HEAD Aberdeen

Visit five landmarks of industrial prowess

This is the European Industrial and Technical Heritage Year, and Scotland has a lot to show off about in this respect.

In the 1780s, a Scot, Archibald Cochrane, was one of the first to experiment with coal gas, while heating coal to obtain tar. He used the gas to light some rooms in his house at Culross in Fife.

Half a century later, Biggar Gasworks started making coal gas for the town and surrounding area. It was not only one of the first small-town gasworks to open in Scotland, but one of the last to close.

If you haven’t already joined us at one of the Biggar Gasworks Industrial Steam Days, there are three more opportunities this year to see the facility in operation: Mondays 21 and 28 September, and Sunday 18 October.

These four other sites also have powerful industrial stories to tell.

Stanley Mills

Perthshire was a well-established textile industry region when Britain started importing cotton.

Built in 1786, Stanley Mills produced textiles for 200 years, using the waters of the Tay as a source of energy, thanks to water wheels and, later, water powergenerated electricity. (Closed from 1 November until 31 March.)

Dallas Dhu Historic Distillery

Offering a fascinating insight into the Scottish whisky industry, Dallas Dhu has been brilliantly preserved. Its name comes from the popular blend Roderick Dhu, created by Wright and Greig, who bought the distillery in 1899.

In 1921, Benmore Distillery developed the complex further.

Kinnaird Head Castle Lighthouse

STANLEY MILLS Perth BIGGAR GASWORKS

Edinburgh

Dumfries NEW ABBEY CORN MILL

Scotland’s first mainland lighthouse, Kinnaird Head began operating in 1787 and was pivotal in the navigation of the north-east coast. Today, it offers an interesting blend of old and new, due to its modernisation in 1824 by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of the author of Treasure Island.

New Abbey Corn Mill

Built in the 18th century, the water-powered corn mill at New Abbey has been carefully restored and is operated in the summer months to show how oatmeal is produced. The Cistercian monks of Sweetheart Abbey may have used the site for similar purposes before the corn mill, and today many locals still call it “Monks’ Mill”.

TIP!TOP SHOP

Castle polishes up its retail crown with new range

The new-look Crown Gift Shop

16 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

THE Crown Gift Shop at Edinburgh Castle has been given a grand makeover, and a new range of exclusive products to boot.

Inspiration for the new look has come from the Castle’s opulent apartments – details from original paintings have been used to style backdrops, giving a truly royal feel.

With Christmas on the way, the shop will be welcoming more new

products and getting its sparkle on. If your loved one would like a Beary Queen of Scots in their stocking, you know where to come.

Stirling Castle’s Christmas shop will also return in late September, while a limited festive range will be available at some other Historic Scotland gift shops.

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THE SCRIPT

SPOTLIGHT ON

HUNTLY CASTLE This noble ruin once symbolised the power of the Cock o’ the North HUNTLY Castle, formerly home to one of Scotland’s most important families, sits regally at the meeting point of the rivers Deveron and Bogie.

Its striking remains are testament to its tumultuous history. Since the late 12th century, each era has brought significant change to the infrastructure and aesthetic of its dramatic stone façade.

George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, transformed the castle before a visit in 1556 from

Queen Mary of Guise. The queen, widow of James V, was advised that the earl, known as the ‘Cock o’ the North’ because of his powerful influence and wealth, should have his wings clipped.

However, it would be her daughter, Mary Queen of Scots, who would take the opportunity to do this, defeating him at the Battle of Corrichie in 1562, before damaging and looting the castle.

THE TOWER The round tower shown here likely had its origins in the mid-1400s when a lodging was built over the cellars to increase accommodation on the site.

An older tower house, not shown here, was constructed in the early 15th century.

A rebellious 6th Earl tested the patience of James VI until 1594, when the king partially destroyed the castle with explosives.

The pair were later reconciled and the earl was created marquis of Huntly.

He repaired and altered the ‘palace’ wing in around 1600.

New features included the heraldic frontispiece, created to impress visitors entering the castle, and two intricately designed fireplaces.

EXPLORE

HUNTLY CASTLE

ABERDEEN

Huntly Castle is a 50-minute train journey from Aberdeen, then a 15-minute walk from the station.

Open daily, 9.30am–5.30pm, until 30 September; then Mon–Wed, Sat/Sun, 10am–4pm Visit www.historicscotland.gov.uk/ huntlycastle

THE STEWARD’S ROOM The steward controlled all the castle’s servants, and when Lord Huntly was away would be in charge of the stronghold.

Huntly Castle’s remains exude a majestic grandeur

TIMELINE c1190 The original wooden stronghold, the Peel of Strathbogie, is built, probably by Earl Duncan II of Fife.

18 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

1314

Early 1400s

c1460

1550s

After the Battle of Bannockburn, the Fifes of Strathbogie lose their lands to the Gordon family.

The new stone tower house is built, replacing the wooden structure.

The stone tower house is extended to include the stately palace, dominating the site to the south.

The 4th Earl, George Gordon, nicknamed ‘Cock o’ the North’, extensively remodels the palace over the decade.

WIKIPEDIA, SHUTTERSTOCK

THE GROUNDS There were beautiful grounds where the Gordon family would enjoy walks, hawking, games of archery or bowling.

COVERED WALKWAY Lord and Lady Huntly would have enjoyed views of the gardens from a covered walkway with stone arches, built into the side of the castle.

THE WRITING ON THE WALL The ‘hand of god’ and the names of George Gordon and Henrietta Stewart, Lord and Lady Huntly, are carved into the wall, reflecting French decorative ideas picked up by George Gordon in the 1570s and 80s.

LORD’S CHAMBERS This floor contained the marquis’ bedchamber (far left), the ‘organe hall’, possibly once containing an organ, and the dining room.

LAICH HALL Where ordinary members of the household would eat.

THE KITCHEN The kitchen would be busy, extremely hot and poorly lit, with a huge fireplace used for roasting meat or boiling pots.

THE PIT PRISON Criminals would be kept here while they awaited trial. The lord of the castle acted as judge.

THE CELLARS These three cellars, used to store food and drink, are the oldest part of the castle shown, and were built in around 1455.

1556

1562

1597

1746

1923

Mary of Guise visits the castle and is concerned by the extravagant reception that she receives.

After losing the Battle of Corrichie to Mary Queen of Scots, the castle’s contents are looted by the victors.

The 1st Marquis repairs and remodels the palace after damage from James VI in 1594.

The castle becomes occupied by government troops during the Jacobite rising.

The remains of the castle are taken into state care.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 19

cities | scenery | culture | heritage | events | seasons

Lake Como All Inclusive Relax beside Lake Como on this all inclusive holiday. Discover delightful lakeside towns, explore Milan, cruise Lake Como and experience the Swiss Alps on an unforgettable journey aboard the Bernina Express.

Itinerary (for full details visit www.raildiscoveries.com/CLS) Days 1-2

Journey to Cadenabbia

You depart from St Pancras International on the Eurostar to Paris, where you continue to Chambery and spend the night at the Mercure Chambery Hotel. On Day 2, depart Chambery and continue by rail for Milan and then join the onward service to Cadenabbia on Lake Como. Here you stay for seven nights at the Hotel Britannia Excelsior, enjoying all inclusive hospitality right on the lakeshore.

Days 3-4

Bellagio & Villa Carlotta

You travel by boat to picturesque Bellagio, perched on the promontory that divides Como and Lecco. You have some free time here to explore. This afternoon, sail back across the lake to Villa Carlotta, an 18th century villa famed for its pretty manicured gardens. After time to explore the villa and grounds, you enjoy a leisurely walk along the lake back to the hotel. Day 4 is free for you to explore some of the delightful lakeside towns by local ferry.

Day 5

Day 8

Lake Como

BOOK WITH 100%

CONFIDENCE

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Days 9-10

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Mulhouse & home

Leaving Lake Como by rail you depart Cadenabbia for Mulhouse, staying overnight at the Mercure Mulhouse Hotel. On Day 10, take the train to Paris and transfer for the Eurostar to London.

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At leisure & the Bernina Express

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Milan

Today is free to continue your exploration of Lake Como.

On Day 7 take a scenic journey by coach across the Swiss border to St Moritz. Enjoy some time to discover this popular lakeside resort before boarding the narrowgauge Bernina Express, a highlight of the holiday. The journey climbs the Bernina Pass to an altitude of more than 7,000ft past towering mountain peaks, shimmering glaciers and across countless viaducts to the pretty town of Tirano in Italy. From here, you return by coach to Cadenabbia.

NO HIDDEN EXTRAS:

Today is free, so why not venture into Como itself?

Located at the far south of the lake, you could spend some time at its morning market. A farewell dinner is included this evening.

Travel to vibrant Milan by coach for a guided tour. The city is dominated by the magnificent Duomo, the “Teatro alla Scala” Opera house and the glass-roofed Vittorio Emanuele. Then you are at leisure to explore at your own pace.

Days 6-7

10 DAYS from £1,345

2015 Departures 13 Oct 15

Price £1,395

2016 Departures 26 Apr 16 3 May 16 17, 24 May 16 31 May 16

Price £1,345 £1,395 £1,475 £1,495

2016 Departures 7, 14, 21 Jun 16 5 Jul 16 23, 30 Aug 16 6 Sep 16 20 Sep 16 27 Sep 16 4 Oct 16

Price £1,495 £1,545 £1,525 £1,525 £1,495 £1,475 £1,395

A Fly:Rail option of this tour is available from £895.

Please call for more details.

Dates and prices are subject to availability. Prices shown are per person, based on 2 people sharing. Prices may change prior to and after publication. Itinerary may differ depending on the departure date you choose - please call for details.

Terms and conditions apply. Calls will be recorded. #Please note – the early booking discount varies depending on the price of the holiday. 2015 departures are not in this offer. Bookings made after the date specified will not be eligible for the early booking discount. Subject to availability. Selected holidays only. Terms and conditions apply. Please call us for more details. ##The balance of the deposit, (which is the difference between the full deposit payable and the low deposit amount already paid by you), is payable by the date notified to you as well as in the event of cancellation (in which case you may also be liable for additional cancellation and administration charges as stipulated in our booking conditions). Subject to availability.

Selected holidays only. Terms and conditions apply. Please call for more details.

Call us now to book or request a brochure

01904 730539

www.raildiscoveries.com Our tour advisors are here 7 days a week

THE THESCRIPT SCRIPT

The brook lamprey and its rather distinctive mouth

WIN

A BLOOMIN’ GOOD READ

Fishing for compliments Bob Tevendale, natural history adviser for Historic Scotland, shares his fondness for the often lambasted lamprey

MALCOLM COCHRANE; ALAMY

When I mention that lamprey can be found in the rivers around Doune Castle – the Teith and the Ardoch – I am usually met by revulsion. This creature is defined by its habit of using its sucker-like mouth and rasping teeth to attach itself to other fish and feed, Draculalike, on the host’s body fluids. Some lamprey do feed this way, but not all.

There are three species living in Scotland: the brook lamprey, river lamprey and sea lamprey. All breed in a similar way to salmon: they lay eggs in the gravel beds of streams, using their mouths to create a spawning bed among the pebbles.

The young lamprey then migrate downstream to live and feed in the mud and silt of the lower stretches of the river. Only the larger river and sea lamprey go on to migrate to sea, through July to September, returning later to spawn.

Although not found in significant populations north of the Great Glen,

VIEW FROM OUTDOORS

lamprey have many Gaelic names, including buarach na baoibhe. Buarach literally means a ‘cow fetter’, and may relate to the lamprey’s shape or else its ability to attach itself to other fish.

Baoibhe has various meanings including ‘she spirit’ – this may relate to the belief that lamprey possessed magical powers.

All lamprey resemble eels in shape – and, like eels, they have no bones; just soft cartilage. This made them a popular dish in the past. Most famously, ‘a surfeit of lampreys’ is said to have killed King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror – although the actual cause of death was probably food poisoning.

Lamprey were widely eaten in Scotland. It is recorded that in 1304 lamprey were brought to Stirling from France for Edward I, the invading English king.

Remains of lamprey teeth dating from the 1400s have also been found by archaeologists at Dundrennan Abbey, near Kirkcudbright.

BOB RECOMMENDS …

CAERLAVEROCK CASTLE

“I visited to look at the use of the moat by otters. It’s a wonderful site for nature, with habitats including semi-natural ancient woodland and swamp.

Owls, bats and the nationally rare natterjack toad are all found nearby.”

Scotland’s Lost Gardens, the definitive, popular book on the nation’s garden history, is now available in paperback.

Its author, Marilyn Brown, has worked as an archaeological investigator for more than 30 years, specialising in the study of historical gardens. The book demonstrates how our cultural heritage sits within the wider context of Europe, considering shared artistic values and literary influences.

We have five copies to give away. For your chance to win, answer the following: PRIZE QUESTION What is the national flower of Scotland?

Post your answer and details to Lost Gardens Competition, Think Scotland, Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA, or email hs.comps@thinkpublishing. co.uk (including “Lost Gardens Competition” in the subject line). The closing date for entries is 16 October.

SPECIAL OFFER Scotland’s Lost Gardens is available priced at £20 from Booksource. Call 0845 370 0067 or email orders@ booksource.net Readers should quote READER20 to receive a 20% discount.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 21

OUT AND ABOUT

n late August 1715 a collier left the Thames bound for the Forth. On board was a heavily disguised John Erskine, Earl of Mar, lately relieved of his post as Secretary for Scotland

by George I. Disembarking at Elie, Mar headed not for his nearby seat, Alloa Tower, but sped north to the ancestral seat of the earls of Mar, Kildrummy Castle, in Strathdon. Its ancient walls had taken a battering during the first Jacobite rising in 1689-1692, but Mar

300th ANNIVERSARY

He plotted THE 1715 JACOBITE RISING then failed to deliver.

Where did it all go wrong for THE EARL OF MAR?

BY CHRIS TABRAHAM

HISTORY

had repaired the castle to serve as a hunting lodge.

Mar reassured his brother, Lord Grange, he’d gone there simply to avoid arrest, that the north-east was quiet and he’d do his best to have it remain so. His intentions were the exact opposite. Behind the smokescreen of a great hunting party, Mar gathered around him the nobility of Grampian and cajoled them into joining his plot to overthrow the new Hanoverian regime and return a Stuart to the throne. He then turned

Mar assured his brother he’d do his best to keep the north-east quiet… his charms on the clan chiefs in the west. A consummate politician, he talked big and skated over the details, claiming England too was rising up, that Louis XIV’s France was about to invade, and James VIII and III – as he was known to his Jacobite supporters – would be in Scotland any day soon.

Mar’s silky tongue worked its magic. By 6 September, when he raised James’s standard on the Braes of Mar, surrounded by a force 600 strong, 10 times that number had been recruited in the west, while on the border with England more Jacobites were arming for the cause. When Mar headed south days later, he had amassed some 10,000 men.

His plot was already unravelling, though. Louis XIV had died on 1 September, snuffing out any prospect of French assistance. Then, two days

THE PLOT UNFOLDS

John Erskine, the Earl of Mar, met with nobility at his ancestral seal of Kildrummy Castle, where he persuaded them to back a Jacobite rebellion.

HISTORY

The Old Pretender landed in Scotland after the battle of Sheriffmuir

The Jacobites face Argyll’s forces at Sheriffmuir in this John Wooton work

The Duke of Argyll, known as Red John of the Battles

after Braemar, Lord Drummond’s attempt to capture Edinburgh Castle ended in farcical failure when one of the parties carrying a section of the scaling ladder failed to show, leaving the hapless Drummond and his men to flee back across the Nor’ Loch.

Undaunted, Mar carried on. After proclaiming James VIII as monarch at Aberdeen’s mercat cross on 20 September, he advanced to Perth and fortified it. And there he stayed, with the Lowlands at his mercy. As former Scottish Secretary, Mar knew full well how woefully defended southern Scotland was – only a year earlier he had 24 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

received a letter bemoaning the state of Dumbarton Castle and complaining the garrison lacked even a boat.

The only fly in the ointment was Red John of the Battles, aka John Campbell, Duke of Argyll. A military man down to his boot straps, Argyll had recently returned to Britain from commanding the forces in Spain to serve as the commander-in-chief of Scotland. Mar knew him well – the pair had been leading architects of the Act of Union.

On hearing about the Braemar gathering, Argyll left London immediately and headed for Edinburgh

Castle, to ensure its defences were secure, before moving on to Stirling Castle – ‘the brooch clasping Highlands and Lowlands together’ – which he knew was key to halting Mar’s progress. Once there, he began raising as many troops as he could muster.

Mar could so easily by then have forced a crossing of the Forth at Stirling, sweeping all before him.

Instead he kicked his heels in Perth, delaying the inevitable by devising two pincer movements to encircle Argyll. The western clans would advance on Stirling via Glasgow, while

HERO OR VILLAIN? The Earl of Mar in the dock

The Earl of Mar raises the Jacobite flag

ALAMY

Mar could have forced a crossing of the Forth, but kicked his heels in Perth 1,000 of his own men, led by Mackintosh of Borlum, were to take Edinburgh, then meet the Earl of Derwentwater’s Border Jacobites and advance from the south.

Both were unsuccessful. The clansmen never made it to Glasgow.

They failed even to capture little Inveraray and instead tacked across country to join up with Mar.

Borlum’s brigade failed to take Edinburgh, but eventually met up at Kelso with the Borderers, who had also neglected to take Newcastle. Rather than advance on Stirling, they marched into England, to raise ‘loyal Lancashire’.

Mar, with disaffection growing in his ranks and desertion taking its toll, was left with little option. On 10 November he marched out of Perth towards Stirling, at the head of 7,000 men.

Argyll, having scratched together barely half that number, advanced from Stirling to confront him.

The two met three days later on a bleak stretch of moorland east of

John Erskine, born in Alloa Tower in 1675, succeeded his father as earl of Mar in 1689. He showed early promise, particularly as an entrepreneur, exploiting Clackmannanshire’s coal reserves and transforming Alloa into a thriving port. It was as a politician, though, that he made his mark.

A persuasive orator, Mar climbed the greasy pole. He became a leading architect of the union with England, and was rewarded with the post of Secretary of Scotland in the new United Kingdom parliament. These were challenging times for a politician, however, as Whig and Tory vied for supremacy in Queen Anne’s Houses of Parliament. Mar trod a fine line depending on what served his best interests, earning him his Bobbing John nickname. He wasn’t alone – being a politician in postunion Britain was more about expediency than principle. Mar played the game well – until he came up against George I. The Elector of Hanover’s arrival in September 1714 changed the political landscape dramatically.

Marginalised, Mar tried to ingratiate himself with his new sovereign, penning a sycophantic address of loyalty to him, to no avail. When the king pointedly turned his back on him at a levee, or assembly, in August 1715, Mar recalled his deep-rooted attachment to ‘the king over the water’.

Despite his talents, Bobbing John Mar was no military strategist, and his inept leadership snuffed out perhaps the best chance the Jacobite cause ever had.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 25

HISTORY

Dunblane known as Sheriffmuir. The skies were leaden and it was bitterly cold. They faced each other across 700 yards of boggy ground hardened by frost, each army’s right wing overlapping the other’s left. Mar’s right opened the action, 2,000 Highlanders charging, broadswords raised, towards Argyll’s left, crunching into it mercilessly and driving it entirely from the field. At one stroke Argyll’s already meagre force had been reduced by a quarter.

The boot, however, was on the other foot over on the far side, where Mar’s left had got into trouble as it desperately tried to form into line, bunching together 15 deep in places. Argyll, seizing his opportunity, ordered his dragoons to cut them down. They did precisely that, ‘riding like the Devil … and hewing them down like cabbage stalks’, according to one. For three hours the Jacobites fought a desperate rearguard action, slowly but inexorably being forced back towards the Allan Water two miles away, where many drowned in the icy waters.

Mar, like a rabbit caught in headlights, stared impassively at the scene. Still with a huge numerical advantage, the battle was there for the taking. Argyll certainly believed the game was up, for with the daylight fast fading he ordered

Like a rabbit caught in the headlights, Mar stared impassively at the scene his few remaining troops to dig in behind some enclosures and await further attack. It never came. When his patrols ventured out the following morning they found Sheriffmuir bare.

Under the cover of darkness, Mar had retreated to Perth.

A contemporary ballad summarised the action perfectly: There’s some say that we wan, some say that they wan, Some say that none wan at a, man; But one thing I’m sure, that at Sheriffmuir A battle there was which I saw, man.

And we ran, and they ran, and they ran and we ran, And we ran – and they ran awa, man!

Although technically a stalemate, both generals claimed victory. Argyll’s was the more credible, for all he’d had to do was stop Mar dead in his tracks. In contrast, Mar badly needed a convincing win, after all that dithering in Perth, to send his men down the road to London

in good heart. Instead, all he could do was slink back to Perth. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when he got there he learned the English Jacobites had surrendered in Preston that same day.

Mar should have thrown in his towel at that point, but he didn’t. Pinning his hopes on the imminent arrival of James VIII, he holed up in Perth once more, knowing Argyll lacked the military capability to take the offensive.

November passed, and most of December too. James duly appeared just before Christmas, at Peterhead – and promptly caught a cold. On 8 January 1716 he and Mar met at Scone, where the earl had thoughtfully arranged his sovereign’s coronation.

By then the game was up. Argyll, reinforced with 6,000 battle-hardened Dutch troops, advanced on Perth, entering it on 21 January. He found the cupboard bare. Mar and James had abandoned it and headed east. On 4 February Bobbing John and Old Mr Misfortune took ship at Montrose and sailed into the history books.

For more about Sheriffmuir, visit www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ battlefields. Meet the Rebels and Redcoats at our Stirling Castle event. See page 51

THE LIFE OF BOBBING JOHN The Earl of Mar fuelled the Jacobite dream – then let it slip through his fingers 1707–1714 Mar is Secretary of State for Scotland

1675 John Erskine born in Alloa Tower

1689 Succeeds his father, Charles, as Earl of Mar

26 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

13 November 1715 Fights Battle of Sheriffmuir

August 1715 Fearing arrest, Mar leaves London for Scotland 6 September 1715 Raises the standard of James VIII and III on the Braes of Mar 1706–1707 Leading architect of Treaty of Union

4 February 1716 Leaves Montrose for exile in France

1724 Finally breaks with James

1721 Accepts pension from George I

May 1732 Dies at Aix-la-Chapelle, or Aachen

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C U LT U R E

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Louise Welsh is among three Scottish writers inspired by intriguing tales and dark spaces at historic locations WORDS: KATHLEEN MORGAN PHOTOGRAPHS: ANGELA CATLIN

Louise Welsh begins a journey of discovery at Edinburgh Castle 28 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

LOUISE WELSH

EDINBURGH CASTLE The writer journeys into hidden corners

T

hrough the gloom in the arched vault at Edinburgh Castle, you can see her eyes gleaming. The writer Louise Welsh is being shown some of the castle’s darkest corners, inaccessible to the public, and she is delighted.

“I was an usherette when I was a student,” she says, giggling as she points a torch light down into a cavernous space below the castle’s Great Hall.

In the vaulted storage area at Edinburgh Castle, Louise can see her breath. The thick sandstone walls are cold and crumbly, and the atmosphere seems to drip with the hopes and fears of soldiers, sailors and jailers, all long dead. Our guide, Edinburgh Castle Steward Colin Chisholm, describes how prisoners from the American Wars of

Edinburgh Castle is a playground for the imagination

Independence and the Napoleonic Wars were packed like sardines in this space, with no gaslight to lighten their lives.

The French and Spanish prisoners were the lucky ones, often exchanged for British PoWs, he explains. “The Americans were here for the duration of the wars because they were colonials.

They were seen to be traitors to the mother country.”

It was precisely because French prisoners were allowed privileges that a

plot to escape Edinburgh Castle almost succeeded in 1811. “The prisoners were given foils for practising fencing with,” says Colin. “They carved their way out with the foils and attempted to escape.”

Earlier in our visit, he had shown Louise the Prisoners’ Escape Hole, cut into the parapet wall, through which 48 PoWs had escaped, only to be recaptured.

Louise’s literary fiction often has its roots in historical events. Her latest title, Death is a Welcome Guest, is the second in The Plague Times Trilogy. Inspired by the Black Death and set in contemporary Britain, it plunges its characters into a pre-industrialised world.

Ascending back into the light, Louise explains she visited Edinburgh Castle with her partner, the writer Zoe Strachan, for her last birthday. The trip, like today’s adventure, took her back in time to childhood expeditions to the castle with friends from Oxgangs, where she grew up.

LOUISE WELSH Best known for: The Cutting Room, A Lovely Way to Burn Did you know?

Louise wrote her first opera, Ghost Patrol, with the composer Stuart MacRae

Next step: The final novel in The Plague Times trilogy; and The Devil Inside, an opera premiering in Glasgow in January Loves: The dog cemetery at Edinburgh Castle

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 29

C U LT U R E

Colin Chisholm shows Louise the spaces used for PoWs

Back in the dark recesses of the castle, she is led down some steps into David’s Tower. Commissioned by King David II as a show of wealth and power, it was brought crashing down during the Lang Siege of 1571-1573. The mighty Half Moon Battery was built on its remains, which were only rediscovered in 1912.

“These towers were built as statements,” says Colin.

“Not so different from what people do now in Dubai or London or Hong Kong, then?” asks Louise, wryly mentioning the gaudy Trump Towers in New York.

“These are the keys of history for me.

We are the same people, motivated by the same things, including the search for power.”

The ultimate show of power within these walls was the Black Dinner of 1440. Sir William Crichton, governor of Edinburgh Castle, had invited his rivals, the 6th Earl of Douglas and his younger brother, to dine with the nine-year-old King James II in the tower. The meal was interrupted by Crichton and the Douglases were tried in an adjacent room, despite James’s protests, before being dragged outside and beheaded.

“Dreadful, really dreadful,” says Louise.

“You can’t help but think an event like that would contribute to the type of adult James II became – prone to extreme violence and temper tantrums.”

Later, over a well-earned sandwich, Louise chats about The Devil Inside, an opera she is writing with the composer Stuart MacRae. Shortly, a train journey back to Glasgow will beckon – leaving her to savour memories of dark places explored that day.

We are the same people, moved and motivated by the same things 30 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

C U LT U R E

CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE

BOTHWELL CASTLE A medieval stronghold fires the imagination

H

The crime writer Christopher Brookmyre pauses for inspiration at Bothwell Castle

e does his writing at a remarkably tidy desk beside a window in his family home, a red sandstone villa in a quiet street.

Cool white wooden blinds separate his fictional landscape of crime, revenge and brutality from the world outside.

Before he begins tapping out his edgy crime novels, though, Christopher Brookmyre can often be found pounding the pathways around the remains of a medieval castle nearby. Bothwell Castle, hewn from the same sandstone as his Victorian home, has been a constant in the writer’s life since he first moved to the area 13 years ago. The Historic Scotland site overlooks the wooded walkway beside the River Clyde where the writer jogs for 7km at a time.

“I don’t know how many books I’ve composed from going on walks along the river there, but I’ll always remember the first time I saw the castle,” explains the author of Quite Ugly One Morning and Flesh Wounds. “All of a sudden you come round a bend and you see it. I remember the sheer scale of it and the redness of it being really, really striking.

“I get the big picture on long walks, but the thing about running is that you get glimpses of things from a slightly different perspective. You get proper headspace. I’ve ended up trying to dictate thoughts to myself using an MP3 player.”

The writer is standing in the centre of Bothwell Castle, perusing the impressive walls that once endured siege after siege during the Wars of Independence with England. He tells of how he and his son Jack explored the stronghold together, enchanted by its tales of medieval might.

These days, with Jack now 14, the castle is more of a reassuring fixture in the landscape as Christopher sweats out his latest plotline in its shadow.

While the writer has flirted with using Bothwell Castle as a scene for one of his novels, he has yet to find the right opportunity. Even so, its brooding atmosphere and sense of foreboding has seeped into his psyche - and onto the page. Close your eyes and you can just

about imagine the great siege of 1301 by Edward I, nicknamed the Hammer of the Scots for good reason. He brought 6,800 soldiers and a laddered tower named the belfry to batter its walls. The castle’s garrison surrendered within the month.

As Christopher wanders through the remains of the Great Hall to the chapel, which once rang with the sounds of joy, misery, fear and loathing, he describes his fascination with past lives in the dark corners of history.

“If there’s one thing I think you get from history, it’s constant gratitude for living in the 21st century,” says the writer with a wry grin. “I can’t be in a space without imagining things going on around. I don’t often see Bothwell Castle as just a ruin. I’m always trying to imagine what it would have looked like, who would have been there and what their lives would have been like.”

Christopher’s next novel, Black Widow, will be a psychological thriller set in Inverness. “It’s about a marriage that goes badly wrong,” he says. “It’s also about sexism in the media – specifically social media – and online trolling, revenge porn.”

It’s a world away from the siege tactics and weaponry employed by Edward.

With the promise of revenge and murder, though, perhaps the plot fermenting in Christopher’s mind is not so far removed from this castle’s history of bloodletting and power games.

CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE Best known for: Quite Ugly One Morning, and Boiling a Frog Did you know?

Christopher has designed a shooter game, Bedlam (above), based on his novel of the same name Next step: Black Widow, a thriller set in Inverness, to be published in January 2016 Loves: Jogging with an MP3 player in the shadow of Bothwell Castle

I’ll always remember the first time I saw the castle – its sheer scale and redness

Jogging near Bothwell Castle helps Christopher Brookmyre work on his dark plots WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 31

OUT AND ABOUT

PETER MAY

THE BLACKHOUSE, ARNOL The French-based writer on Hebridean life

I

t must feel a bit strange to be talking about Hebridean storms when you are actually surveying an idyllic Mediterranean scene with rising temperatures.

The crime writer Peter May is in Andalucia, where he is writing his latest novel, Coffin Road, an eco-thriller set in Harris. A friend has lent him a villa – and the headspace he needs – to focus on the final draft of his book, which will inevitably take the reader into dark places. And in spite of the sparkling views across to north Africa, he has Hebridean weather on his mind.

He describes the time a few years ago when he and a French film television crew escaped sub-zero temperatures and horizontal rain to sit around a peat fire in a tiny stone house on Lewis.

This wasn’t just any thatched cottage – this was the Blackhouse at Arnol.

“The crew were doing a documentary series about British crime writers,” he says. “They started with me in Lewis and ended up with John le Carré in Cornwall. We arrived on the island, and the rain and the wind were absolutely

32 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

PETER MAY Best known for: The Lewis trilogy, and its detective Fin Macleod Did you know?

Peter once covered crime stories as a journalist

appalling for filming, just horrific.”

Then Peter had a lightbulb moment.

“I said, ‘Why don’t we go down to the Blackhouse at Arnol? It’s very evocative.’

We shot a fantastic segment there sitting around the glowing embers.”

The writer is used to making an imaginative leap between cultures and climates. His Lewis trilogy, beginning with The Blackhouse, was written at his home in southwest France, where he lives with his wife, Janice. It was in France he first tasted success, when the book that British publishers had rejected won awards. International book deals – including one in the UK – followed.

It’s extraordinary people were living like that in 1966. It’s almost medieval

Next step: Coffin Road, an eco-thriller set in Harris Loves: The turquoise waters and white sands of Luskentyre, Harris

Today, his thoughts are back in the cramped dwelling at Arnol that he discovered while working for five years as a producer for the BBC Scotland Gaelic series Machair. The Historic Scotland property is the only remaining Hebridean blackhouse. Built around 1880, it gives a glimpse into a way of life prolific for hundreds of years but now just a memory. The last crofting family to live in the Blackhouse at No 42, Arnol, left in 1966.

“When we were filming Machair, there were the remains of blackhouses everywhere on the island,” says Peter.

“It’s extraordinary to think people were still living like that in 1966. It’s almost medieval. In many ways, though, blackhouses were practical for the climate and conditions.”

Another blackhouse was the inspiration for his breakthrough crime novel featuring Fin Macleod, the Glasgow-based detective forced to return to his Lewis roots to investigate a gruesome murder. Every year, ten Lewismen from the community of Ness sail to the remote Atlantic island of Sula Sgeir to harvest 2,000 young gannets, known as guga in Gaelic.

“The rock is totally inhospitable,” explains Peter, “There’s a building there with no roof, just walls, like a small blackhouse. The men have these timbers they use one year to the next.

They construct a roof from the timbers and then cover it in tarpaulin. They eat and sleep there for two weeks in absolutely appalling conditions.”

With memories of driving rain, freezing temperatures and stunning Hebridean landscapes still swimming in his head, Peter turns his focus back to completing Coffin Road. And, with great difficulty, to that Andalucian view.

ANGUS BLACKBURN

Peter May finds sanctuary at the Blackhouse, Arnol

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OUT AND ABOUT

With a little help from his sons, Peter Ross relives childhood adventures at Stirling Castle PHOTOGRAPHS: SIMON MURPHY

THE TIME 34 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Peter Ross as a boy, with his mother, Helen

LORDS

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 35

OUT AND ABOUT

I

ABOVE Peter Ross begins a journey of rediscovery at Stirling Castle with the help of his sons James (left) and Jack (centre). BELOW Reunited with a stony-faced Robert the Bruce

found them in a cupboard – a press, as my grandparents might have called it – on a high shelf; smart shoes that would never again be worn, handbags never again to be carried, and then these wonderful books. All of them Victorian, with sober bindings, their titles stamped in gold.

Old Nooks of Stirling, that was the best of them, published in 1898 and full of the beautiful pen-and-ink sketches I remembered, with a sudden flash, poring over for hours as a child while my gran busied herself in the kitchen.

She was gone now, living in care and in the past, both courtesy of that thief, dementia. My grandfather had died a few years before, and so the time had come to clean out the flat. Those handbags. Those shoes. These books.

Well, no, perhaps not these. Not yet.

“Sentimental value”, people call it; a clichéd phrase for something deeply felt – the way an object can bring us up hard

36 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

against our past. Old Nooks of Stirling did that for me. It took me back to childhood visits to the town, and to this flat, and to this book.

Stirling enchanted my youth. My grandfather built buses for a living. Gran kept house. In their spare time, though, they were keen local historians and amateur archaeologists. They used to take me with them around Scotland on excavations and excursions, but Stirling was their home and for an imaginative wee boy it was heaven. All those turrets and crow-step gables; mossshrouded gravestones and ghost stories. This was the 1970s and 80s, but it was like living inside a history book, inside Old Nooks.

You could see the Wallace Monument out of the living room window, like an altar candle on the Abbey Craig. You could walk the dog on the Gowan Hill and touch the stone on which, according to an unfounded local legend, Mary Queen of Scots laid her thin white neck

OUT AND ABOUT

ABOVE David Frame entertains his band of history hunters; James and Jack attempt to escape incarceration; and a sprint through history. BELOW Jack dresses to impress

in the moments before execution. I had a fantasy in those days that I’d break into Stirling Castle one night, using a homemade grappling hook, scaling the battlements and seeking out the famous Green Lady, said to haunt the place. But time passed and I grew up, more or less forgetting about that rich inner life inspired by the historic buildings of the town. But it left its mark, I think, in a certain predisposition towards old places that feel haunted – whether by ghosts, or memories, or both.

I’ve often wondered, and especially since finding those books, what my sons would make of Stirling. James is 11, Jack seven. We live in Glasgow, so for them it is a small town; for me, it was a metropolis. But I hoped they would enjoy the historic atmosphere. To whet their appetites we planned our route on a yellowed map found in that same cupboard, showing Stirling in 1745. The printed place names suggest hard times – Lepers’ Croft, Hangman’s Mealing – but the shape of the modern town is apparent, and James could trace with a finger our walk to the castle; the same way I had gone so many times as a child, off St Mary’s Wynd and up the King’s Stables Lane. From there, one drizzly summer’s day, we set off.

Jack enjoys the lane. It’s narrow and steep, climbing wearily towards the castle esplanade. I point out the brickedup arches, which my grandparents had told me once led to the stables where the Stuart monarchs kept their steeds.

Whether this is true is hard to say, and beside the point. A story is a hardy time traveller; it comes down to us through the decades and centuries, growing stronger with every telling. It connects

my children with me and, through me, to my grandparents, and through them to whichever distant ancestor once saw a horse being groomed in this place and thought to pass that memory along.

Maybe Jack and James will one day tell it to children of their own, and so it goes.

Stirling Castle is exciting. It’s a thrill just to look at it, and the boys think so too. “Wow,” says James, a word that says it all, as we approach the bridge over the dry moat. He likes the esplanade’s statues, in particular that of Robert the Bruce, who has been staring stonily across the Stirlingshire countryside since the Victorian age, his dignity untroubled by generations of peelywally weans – myself included – eating ice-cream at the foot of his plinth.

Inside, Jack rushes around, keeking

I had a fantasy I’d scale the Stirling Castle battlements with a grappling hook, then seek out the Green Lady

through arrow loops, and suffering himself to be lifted to admire the view from the battlements; one of Scotland’s best, no doubt. The land around here, known as the Carse, is so flat you can see forever. The winding Forth is a silver snake. The Ochil hills are Old Masters daubed with ochre – the whins blooming on their brown slopes. Pink clumps of wild flowers, fairy foxgloves, cling to grey defensive walls, perhaps the most successful invaders in the castle’s almost 1,000-year history.

What’s striking is the sophistication with which the castle is presented to the public, compared with my younger day, and how much more ‘finished’ it seems.

Here, now, are the wonderful replica Unicorn tapestries – the last in a series of seven is to be hung in the Queen’s Inner Hall a few days after our visit – and those celebrated carvings, the Stirling Heads; both projects commissioned to recreate the look of the 16th-century palace.

When I first started visiting, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had not long stopped using the castle as a barracks, and I remember it as something of a shell that, for a child with a headful of stories, was a blank canvas. The noises and sights of battle, of medieval life, figures in doublet and hose – all I had to imagine.

For my sons, though, they are all laid on, via audiovisual displays and actors, and costumes in which they can dress up.

The harrumphing codger in me thinks this a pity; the modern dad, drunk on his boys’ smiles, finds it rather splendid.

We take one of the History Hunters tours, aimed at children, and meant to last 20 minutes – but ours takes nearly an hour, which I suspect is because WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 37

OUT AND ABOUT

One wee girl asks where, during the Middle Ages, a princess would keep her mobile phone the guide, Stirling Castle Steward David Frame, is enjoying himself. He entertains the kids with tales of boiling oil and ghosts, witches and torture. One wee girl asks where, during the Middle Ages, a princess would keep her mobile phone. Frame has worked at the castle for 13 years, he later explains, and has noticed that the popularity of Horrible Histories means children are much more enthusiastic about visiting places such as this than was once the case. “Good thing, too,” he laughs. “They drag their parents here and keep us in a job.”

The parents, in truth, need not be dragged. There are things I can enjoy as an adult, which I didn’t appreciate as a child. The secret visual language of the castle for one. James V started to build his palace here in 1538, commissioning sculptors to decorate the exterior with a series of more than 250 statues, including figures from classical mythology, designed to proclaim the greatness of his reign. These are marvellous. Once they would have been gilded and painted; now they are weather-pocked and pitted, some headless, worn by time and the eternal, infernal Scottish rain. Only the statue of the monarch himself seems to have survived more or less intact. But the

erosion of the others suits them, somehow; the devil looks more devilish, the archer fiercer and more battle-hardened. My boys like them a lot. James enjoys pointing out his namesake, the king.

During the Wars of Independence, over a period of almost 50 years, this place changed hands between the Scots and English eight times. It has, then, long been a debated land, a place never quite belonging to one realm or another.

And so it is, still. Stirling Castle is a place of my past; for my children it is a playground of the present; and in the future, among generations unborn, it will touch many lives. A place of such age and importance belongs to none of us, and yet it is passed down, like a story, like an old book, to be cherished for a while; a national treasure, but a personal one, too.

It is teatime when we cross the moat, heading for home. The sun has come out and the boys are tired. I’m glad they’ve had a chance to see with their own young eyes what I saw with mine. “Have you had a good day?” I ask Jack.

“Yes,” he yawns. “But there’s a lot of castle for little legs.”

EXPLORE DIRECTIONS Travel from the east via the M9 to junction 10, then follow signs for the castle. From the west take the A80, M80 then M9, leaving at junction 10.

HOURS Daily, 9.30am-6pm, until 30 Sept; then 9.30am-5pm.

VISIT www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ stirlingcastle

THREE MUST SEES

THE STIRLING TAPESTRIES These seven hand-woven works commissioned especially for the castle were inspired by tapestries dating from the 1500s and held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. See page 12.

THE STIRLING HEADS A series of 34 oak medallions, some a metre across, were hand carved by skilled craftsmen some time after 1530. It is thought many of them adorned the ceiling of the king’s inner hall, at the heart of the palace.

Stirling Castle: “A national and personal treasure”

HISTORY HUNTERS Tours aimed at children aged five to 12 and designed to bring the past entertainingly to life. Be prepared for tales of boiling oil and ghosts, witches and torture.

Saturdays and Sundays at 2.15pm. Visit www.stirlingcastle. gov.uk/historyhunterstour 38 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Let the stirring sound of the Highland bagpipe add to the excitement of your big day

JOHN MACKINTOSH TRADITIONAL SCOTTISH ARTISTES FOR ALL OCCASIONS

Tel: 0131 556 4342 Mob: 07774 889 931 Email: john@highlandpiper.org

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I S FA C T

I

WHERE THERE’S MUCK ...

As an Iron Age village gives up its treasures, Historic Scotland is making hard financial decisions WORDS: KATHLEEN MORGAN PHOTOGRAPHS: ELAINE LIVINGSTONE

T

here is a frisson of excitement as a van of archaeologists approaches the dig in a boggy corner of Dumfries and Galloway.

The group, off the leash from Historic Scotland’s Edinburgh HQ know this one is likely to be special, but they don’t know just how special.

Cut to the scene 20 minutes later at Black Loch of Myrton. Eyes glitter as we stand over the waterlogged site being excavated by archaeologists shoulder to shoulder with volunteers including John Pickin, a former curator of Stranraer Museum. From beneath the mud – and there is plenty of it – the remains of an Iron Age roundhouse dating from the fifth century BC are being carefully excavated.

Directing the project are Dr Anne Crone and Dr Graeme Cavers of AOC Archaeology Group, who explain to their visitors this site is comparable only to two others in the UK – the lake villages of Glastonbury, and Meare in Somerset. What began in 2010 with the discovery of wooden stakes sticking out of a mound is now the excavation site of the best-preserved loch or wetlands village in Scotland.

The area is renowned for its remains of the first Christian community at Whithorn, founded by St Ninian in AD 400–500. Black Loch of Myrton, dates from some 900 years earlier.

Standing like an orchestra conductor over her team of mud-caked

40 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Kathleen Morgan with volunteer John Pickin

Tools are caked in mud at the Black Loch of Myrton dig

archaeologists, Dr Crone explains, “We’ve been digging test pits to find out what the perimeter of the site is and we’re not finding the perimeter – we’re finding more structures. We are looking at a settlement spread over an area more than 40m in diameter and, within that, at least six or seven mounds.”

What makes this site so extraordinary is that its structures were built directly on to peat, which has helped preserve the wooden stakes, brushwood flooring and woven mats – which are rarely discovered in such sites. These, and the stone hearth at the centre of the site, are a stark reminder that people not so different to us once lived, worked and died here. There could have been up to 20 inhabitants living with their animals

ARCHAEOLOGY

5 DIGS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Historic Scotland has helped fund these key archaeological excavations HIGH PASTURE CAVE Skye Excavations have revealed Bronze Age and Iron Age remains, including the bridge of a lyre dated to 300BC – the earliest find of a stringed instrument in Western Europe.

SCULPTOR’S CAVE Moray Looking at prehistoric ritual and religious activity, finds include decapitated remains of people from the late Iron Age, possibly executed in the cave.

in this roundhouse 12m in diameter.

One of the Historic Scotland team, Dr Lisa Brown, gasps as she hears there have been clusters of gleaming quartz pebbles hidden like treasure under the flooring. “Magpies,” she says excitedly.

Dr Crone smiles. “We’ve been discussing the idea there may be a shiny pebble culture,” she says. “It became a bit of a joke because the quartz pebbles just pop up in the peat, and they’re strewn all over this brushwood flooring.

We found six or seven over there, four

Eyes glitter as we stand over the waterlogged site being excavated

over there … so people are gathering them and putting them as deposits under the flooring.”

The atmosphere among the archaeologists and volunteers is jovial, particularly when they break briefly for lunch under a makeshift canopy. They share a common sense of purpose, though, and an anticipation of something important being discovered.

Lunch hastily eaten, Graeme Cavers disappears through some trees to another excavation site opened up nearby only hours before. A second hearth has been exposed, made again of the local stone, greywacke. It is another focal point where family and friends would have gathered to cook, eat, laugh and cry. Here we meet Hana Kdolska,

AIRIGH!MHUILINN South Uist Excavations at the birthplace of Flora MacDonald have revealed aspects of daily life for this community in the 18th and 19th centuries.

BRORA SALT PANS Sutherland Rescue excavations of these coal-fired coastal salt pans, in use from the 16th century, were undertaken by the SCAPE Trust and local community.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 41

DR COLIN MARTIN; JAMES SYMONDS; STEVEN BIRCH

Archaeologist Charlotte Douglas peels back the layers of time

DUART POINT WRECK Sound of Mull The remains of a small 17th-century warship, probably part of a Cromwellian flotilla sent to attack Duart Castle on Mull, now designated under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.

originally from the Czech Republic and now working with AOC. “It’s a privilege to be at this site,” she says, explaining that sometimes she has to pinch herself.

“This timber looks so fresh, it looks like it was cut down yesterday. You can even see the cut marks from an axe.”

She explains such clues left by people thousands of years ago connect us to them. The day before, she The precious had found a tiny ceramic ceramic pot pot, the only artefact to be discovered on the site so far.

“At first we thought we had found evidence of metal-working,” says Hana.

“The pot resembled a small crucible but contained none of the traces of metal slag the archaeologists expect.

The vessel was made by forcing a thumb into a ball of clay and may have been a toy. We know so little of play and amusement from this time so any evidence is important.”

Back at the main excavation site a few minutes later, Dr Crone unwraps the thumb pot from its protective covering to show us, cradling it in her hand. “It is the icing on the cake,” she says. Dr Lisa Brown glances over at me, grinning from ear to ear.

Excitement aside, the Historic Scotland team is visiting Black Loch of Myrton to ensure the project is worth investing in. The project has already been awarded £60,000 over the last three years, enabling a two-week excavation by AOC in 2013, plus postexcavation analysis and reporting. Now Historic Scotland must consider levels of funding for work beyond the current excavation and post-fieldwork analysis.

Historic Scotland invests around £1.4 million in archaeology every year, lending expertise to and helping fund national, local and community projects, ground-breaking research and the recording of threatened sites. Earlier, as we slipped and stumbled our way through thick mud to get to the Black

Can we afford it and is the new information we get from this worth it?

42 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Dr Rebecca Jones, Rod McCullagh and Dr Lisa Brown from Historic Scotland have tough decisions to make

Dr Graeme Cavers coordinates the project, comparable to the lake villages of Glastonbury and Meare in Somerset

Hana Kdolska, project supervisor with AOC, who found the only piece of pottery to be unearthed so far at the site

Loch of Myrton site, Rod McCullagh, deputy head of archaeology strategy at Historic Scotland, explained: “It’s a tricky equation. You have to ask, ‘Can we afford it, and is the new information we get from this worth it?’”

Having seen the site for himself, at one point from up a tree, he is sounding more like an impassioned archaeologist than an accountant. Even so, he and Dr Rebecca Jones, head of archaeology strategy at Historic Scotland, have some hard thinking to do about future funding of the Black Loch project. Weeks after our visit, AOC is to report its findings to the European Association of Archaeologists conference in Glasgow.

With financial questions momentarily forgotten, there is much to be excited about as work continues apace at Black Loch of Myrton. Even seasoned experts are finding it difficult to wipe the smiles off their faces. Tony Brown, professor of physical geography at the University of Southampton, is visibly inspired by the site, which he jokingly rates eight out of 10.

“We don’t know whether this is a lakeside village, like some in the Somerset Levels, or a dwelling within a wetland, such as the Drumclay site

ARCHAEOLOGY

FORENSIC APPROACH

“WE USED THE SAME TECHNIQUES IN BOSNIA AS TODAY” PROFESSOR TONY BROWN

Dr Anne Crone, second right, leads AOC archaeologists and volunteers

Excavation at the waterlogged site has exposed brushwood flooring and clusters of gleaming quartz pebbles

recently excavated in Ireland,” he says.

Besides academic projects including a major study of lake settlements across Scotland and Ireland, he is involved in forensic work and was part of the UN Bosnia exhumation team at Srebrenica.

Asked why anyone would choose to live in the uncomfortable conditions at Black Loch – whether on an artificial island in a loch, or in wetland – he says: “One argument is it’s about protecting wealth, property and resources – we

know there was a lot of raiding in Iron Age communities. But while it seems obvious you might have a settlement on a promontory surrounded by a lake, why people would choose to live in the middle of a wetland is a major question.”

With these and so many other questions still to be answered, it is time to bid farewell to the team at the waterlogged site. As we disappear into the trees, we glance back at them, up to their elbows in mud and still smiling.

“The same techniques are used in modern-day forensics as we’re using at Black Loch of Myrton,” says Professor Tony Brown of the University of Southampton.

“I worked for four years as part of the UN Bosnia exhumation team. The technique we used was methodical excavation, to amass evidence which was then used in court. Only the purpose the evidence was used for is different from what we’re doing here today.”

Prof Brown’s evidence helped the UN build prosecution cases exposing war crimes including the massacre at Srebrenica in the former Yugoslavia.

About 7,000 men were executed and left in mass graves before the killers then moved and reburied the victims.

“It’s now fairly routine to use environmental archaeology in cases where DNA is not usable,” says Prof Brown. “If there are no witnesses and no DNA, and you want to match a vehicle or clothing to a scene, we use the same techniques as we’re using here today.

“Three months after the executions at Srebrenica, [the killers] dug up the bodies and transported them in an effort to evade justice. Our evidence showed it was all organised.”

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 43

OUT AND ABOUT

THE 15 BEST

COASTAL DAYS OUT From clifftop castles to beachfront boltholes, explore these stunning Historic Scotland locations.

BY JONATHAN MCINTOSH

44 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

Retracing his childhood adventures at Stirling Castle with the help of his sons, Peter Ross unleashes his imagination

TANTALLON CASTLE

Firth of Forth Breathtaking views The mighty stronghold is perched atop dramatic sea cliffs, a dominating presence overlooking the Firth of Forth and Bass Rock.

Once home to one of the most influential noble families in Scotland, the Douglas Earls of Angus, Tantallon Castle served as a defensive fortress for more than three centuries.

Built in the 1350s by William Douglas, it is regarded as one of the last truly great castles in Scotland due to its defensive properties. In the 1380s, the House of Douglas split into two factions: the ‘Red’ Douglases of Angus, Fife and Lothian, and the ‘Black’ Douglases in the south-west. For much of the next 270 years, the Red Douglases resided at Tantallon Castle until it was destroyed by a siege led by Oliver Cromwell’s army in 1651, which lasted for 12 days before the garrison surrendered.

Unleash your imagination as you explore Tantallon’s remarkable red sandstone curtain wall, pit prison and great hall. For those with a head for heights, the battlements offer stunning views of Berwick Law. Recent excavation work has uncovered the walls of early buildings in the outer ward, and evidence of positions where guns were hastily erected.

D AY S O U T

CAERLAVEROCK CASTLE

Dumfries and Galloway Moated stronghold With its unique triangular shape and striking battlements, Caerlaverock Castle is one of Scotland’s most distinctive medieval strongholds. Built in the 1270s by Sir Herbert Maxwell, it remained under

ST NINIAN’S CAVE AND CHAPEL

Dumfries and Galloway Holy hideaway This cave is believed to have been the hermitage of St Ninian, and a retreat from the monastery at Whithorn.

Nearby St Ninian’s Chapel, built around 1300, provided respite for pilgrims coming ashore on their way to the shrine. Today’s pilgrims are invited to add stones to a witness cairn near the site.

LOCHRANZA CASTLE

Arran Fine tower house Lochranza Castle is a fascinating hybrid – a 1500s conversion of a medieval hall house. In splendid isolation on Arran’s north coast, the castle gives spectacular views across Kilbrannan Sound to Argyll and vantage points for seal and deer spotting. Closed Oct–Mar.

IONA ABBEY

Iona Sacred site Arguably Scotland’s most sacred religious location, Iona has been a hub of Christian worship since Saint Columba arrived on the island in AD 563. According to Scottish legend, the cemetery beside the Sraid nam Marbh (‘the street of the dead’) is where many of Scotland’s ancient kings were buried.

46 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

the control of the Maxwell lords for nearly 400 years.

Caerlaverock was involved in various sieges, including onslaughts in July 1300 by Edward I, whose brutal tactics earned him the monicker ‘the Hammer of the Scots’. During a final siege in 1640 the Maxwell family held out against Covenanters for 13 weeks

before the castle fell, leading to its partial destruction.

Walk through the two imposing gate towers, though, and you can imagine how intimidating Caerlaverock once appeared. Explore the nearby nature trail leading to the foundations of the ‘old’ castle built by John de Maxwell in 1220.

D AY S O U T

INCHMAHOME PRIORY

ST ANDREWS CASTLE AND CATHEDRAL

Lake of Menteith Augustinian monastery Set on an island in the Lake of Menteith, Inchmahome Priory was a functioning monastery for more than 300 years and a sometime sanctuary for Scottish royalty, including Mary Queen of Scots. The loch is a hot spot for wildlife and is prime fly-fishing territory for rainbow trout.

Closed Nov–Mar.

St Andrews Episcopal residence Built by Bishop Roger around 1189, the castle was the main residence of the bishops and archbishops of St Andrews and was often caught in the religious tensions of the Protestant Reformation. St Andrews Cathedral also stands close to the shore, a short distance away.

KINNAIRD HEAD CASTLE LIGHTHOUSE

DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE AND CHAPEL

Near Fraserburgh Old tower house Built for the Fraser family, this 16th-century castle was altered in 1787 by Edinburgh engineer Thomas Smith to incorporate the lighthouse. It was the first in Scotland to be lit by the Commissioners of Northern Lights and in 1929 became the first British location for a radio beacon.

BLACKNESS CASTLE

Firth of Forth Outlander location This 15th-century castle built by the Crichtons, one

Firth of Lorn Ancient stronghold Built around 1220 on a rock overlooking the Firth of Lorn near Oban, Dunstaffnage is one of the oldest stone castles in Scotland. It was captured by King Robert Bruce in 1309, remaining in royal hands until the 1460s.

Flora MacDonald was briefly imprisoned there in 1746.

of Scotland’s most powerful families, gives an impressive view of the Firth of Forth with its rail and road bridges. A formidable stronghold

A HISTORY OF FISH AND CHIPS The birth of a seaside favourite

For generations, fish and chips have been one of the nation’s most beloved dishes, synonymous with visits to the coast.

The story goes back to the 17th century, when chips were ‘invented’ in either France or Belgium. As temperatures plummeted and rivers froze, fish-eating locals cut potatoes into the shape of fish and fried them as a substitute for the real thing.

Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain introduced battered fish to Britain at the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign, selling them on the streets. In 1839, Charles Dickens mentions a “fried fish warehouse” in Oliver Twist. It wasn’t until the 1860s, though, that the combination of fish and chips emerged. By 1927 there were around 35,000 fish and chip shops across Britain.

Italian immigrants had settled across Scotland by the end of World War I, opening ice-cream parlours, pizzerias and fish and chip shops. The nation was hooked.

used as a garrison and state prison, it has made a captivating backdrop in more recent times for the historical drama series Outlander.

3 SEASIDE CHIPPIES ROCKETEER RESTAURANT North Berwick Great for its magnificent views over North Berwick after a visit to Tantallon Castle.

THE HARBOUR FRY Kirkwall Enjoy a fish supper at this Orkney

institution after seeing Skara Brae Prehistoric Village.

ANSTRUTHER FISH BAR " RESTAURANT Anstruther Award-winning institution near St Andrews offering the finest local seafood. Prepare to queue for a table!

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 47

D AY S O U T

SKARA BRAE PREHISTORIC VILLAGE

Orkney Neolithic settlement Exposed by a storm in 1850, the Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae is one of the best-preserved groups of prehistoric houses in western Europe.

A series of drystone structures linked by paved passageways, it is

one of the earliest known farming villages in Britain, signifying a shift away from settlements being isolated farmsteads.

Exploring Skara Brae offers an insight into life 5,000 years ago, with artefacts discovered here – now exhibited at the nearby visitors’ centre – including tools, gaming dice and jewellery. An absence of weapons found at the site

indicates this ancient society was a peaceful one.

Village life appears to have ended in around 2,500BC, with no clear explanation as to why.

Some argue the settlement was swallowed by a sandstorm while others believe the village experienced a gradual decline, overshadowed by development on mainland Orkney.

INCHCOLM ABBEY

Firth of Forth History of conflict Augustinian canons settled here in the early 12th century. The island endured naval raids throughout the wars with England from the 14th to the mid-16th century, and was heavily fortified in the early 20th century to help defend Edinburgh, the Forth Bridge and Rosyth Naval Base. Ferries are not operated by Historic Scotland and a charge will apply. Please show membership card when purchasing tickets to ensure the abbey entrance is deducted.

Closed Nov–Mar.

BROUGHTY CASTLE

Firth of Tay Military fortress Built hastily in 1490 by the 2nd Lord Gray on the orders of James IV, the castle at the mouth of the Tay endured only two major emergencies in 450 years. Converted into a military fortress in 1859 to defend against French invasion, it became a defence post during WWII. For information on opening times call 01382 436916.

48 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

HACKNESS MARTELLO TOWER AND BATTERY

Island of Hoy Napoleonic gun station The battery and Martello tower were built between 1813-15 to help defend against French and American raiders during the Napoleonic Wars.

They were the backdrop to the naval events in Scapa Flow during the two world wars. Closed Oct-Mar.

CASTLE OF OLD WICK

Near Wick Norse stronghold One of the oldest castles in Scotland, this stronghold may have been built by Earl Harald Maddadson during in the 1100s.

Perched on a narrow ridge of rock jutting into the sea, the site is dominated by the 12th-century tower, earning the castle its nickname, ‘the Old Man of Wick’.

With its charming medieval abbey, Inchcolm is one of the most picturesque islands in the Forth estuary. Known as the Iona of the east and just 800 metres long, it is a haven for wildlife due to it being legally protected by national and international wildlife designations.

Inchcolm is great for birdwatchers.

Large colonies of seagulls and fulmars dwell on the west side of the island, while other breeds including puffins, guillemots, great cormorants, eiders and shelducks can also be found.

Grey seals, Britain’s largest living carnivores, come ashore in autumn to give birth in the bay south of the abbey. They feed on fish, shellfish, squid and octopus from the kelp forests and wrecks near the island.

Boat tours offer the chance to spot porpoises and minke whales.

SHUTTERSTOCK; FORTH BOAT TOURS

INCHCOLM WILDLIFE

EXTRA 2 MONTHS FREE

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CHRISTMAS MEMBERSHIP GIFT OFFER

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or a Christmas gift with a difference, buy your loved one a year’s membership to Historic Scotland. And if you pay for the membership online using a credit or debit card, your gift will include an extra two months’ membership for free.

What’s more, as a member you

will receive a 20 per cent discount.

To get your 20 per cent discount and two months extra free, make sure you are registered and logged in to the members’ website at www.historic-scotland. gov.uk/member l For more information call 0131 668 8999.

Terms and conditions apply. See website for details. Offer valid for gift memberships purchased between 1 October and 31 December 2015.

Please note, last UK posting date is Thursday 17 December 2015. Orders placed prior to this will be processed and posted out in time for Christmas, but we cannot guarantee delivery.

FIVE REASONS WHY HISTORIC SCOTLAND MEMBERSHIP MAKES THE PERFECT GIFT

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A personal copy of Historic Scotland direct to the gift recipient’s door every quarter, packed with news and features.

1

Free entry to more than 70 of Scotland’s top heritage attractions, including Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Urquhart Castle.

5

3

We’ll send you, or the recipient, a special gift pack complete with your own personal message.

It’s not just Scotland – half-price entry into 500 heritage attractions in England, Wales and on the Isle of Man.

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Member activities, from guided tours to lunches and concerts.

EVENTS

KEEP UP TO DATE Pick up your events guide at any of our properties or visit www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/events for full details

A RANGE OF EXCITING ACTIVITIES ACROSS SCOTLAND

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#BestDaysEver with us online

ARMED FOR ADVENTURE

Prepare for excitement and rally the troops for autumn’s action-packed and explosive line-up 50 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

DAYTIME EVENTS ARE FREE TO MEMBERS, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

SEPTEMBER!NOVEMBER

Toilets

Restaurant/café

Gift shop

Reasonable wheelchair access

Dogs not permitted

Parking

Enjoy a thrilling reenactment of the 1640 siege of Edinburgh Castle

Meet soldiers and Jacobite rebels at Stirling Castle

AUTUMN HIGHLIGHTS

REBELS AND REDCOATS STIRLING CASTLE

Sat 26-Sun 27 Sep; 12-4pm 0131 668 8885 www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/ events Join us in the 300th anniversary year of the Battle of Sheriffmuir.

Meet Government soldiers garrisoned in the castle and captured Jacobite prisoners as they recall their experiences from the battle. Discover more about the military tactics deployed, the difficulties both sides faced in securing a decisive victory and what ultimately led to the failure of the 1715 Jacobite Rising.

THE CASTLE FOR THE COVENANT! EDINBURGH CASTLE

Sat 10-Sun 11 Oct; 12-4pm 0131 668 8885 www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/ events It’s 1640 and the castle’s royalist

garrison are besieged by the Covenanters. The king’s men have held out for three months: a lack of food and water and an outbreak of disease are forcing them to consider a surrender. Come face-to-face with soldiers of the period and discover more about one of the longest sieges endured by Edinburgh Castle.

FRIGHT NIGHT LINLITHGOW PALACE

Fri 30-Sat 31 Oct; Fri 6-Sat 7 Nov; 7.30pm, 9pm Tickets £10, 10% members’ discount 0131 668 8885 www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ members Booking essential As night falls, come to Linlithgow Palace to relive gruesome events and meet some of the less pleasant characters that plague the palace’s past. Join us for a fun and chilling experience.

Not for the faint-hearted.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 51

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For more information visit www.SHETLAND.org /promoteshetland

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SEPTEMBER Dig up the past with our experts

STANDING STONES OF STENNESS AND BARNHOUSE VILLAGE WALK STANDING STONES OF STENNESS

Every Wed in Sep, Oct and Nov; 10am 01856 841732 orkneyrangers@ scotland.gsi.gov.uk Join us on an easy guided tour of our oldest stone circle and explore the fascinating links with the nearby Neolithic village of Barnhouse.

RING OF BRODGAR WALK RING OF BRODGAR

Every Thu in Sep, Oct and Nov; 1pm 01856 841732 orkneyrangers@ scotland.gsi.gov.uk Discover the area around the Ring of Brodgar during an easy weekly guided walk with the Ranger.

Parking

hs.rangers@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Booking essential Join a Ranger for a guided walk, delving into Holyrood Park’s rich Celtic past to uncover the reality behind the myths.

TRINITY HOUSE FAMILY WEEKEND TRINITY HOUSE

Sat 26-Sun 27 Sep; 10-4pm 0131 554 3289

TANTALLON UNCOVERED TANTALLON CASTLE

Sat 12-Sun 13 Sep; 12-4pm 0131 668 8885 www.historic-scotland.gov. uk/events Visit the mighty stronghold and uncover the fascinating history

fascinating study of local plants.

NATURE’S HARVEST

TO LOOS WITH PIPER LAIDLAW

HOLYROOD PARK

EDINBURGH CASTLE

Sun 6 Sep; 1-3.30pm 0131 652 8150 hs.rangers@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Booking essential

Sat 12-Sun 13 Sep; 11.15am, 12.15pm, 2pm, 3pm 0131 668 8885 www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/ events

Join an expert horticulturalist and one of our Rangers for this

Dogs not permitted

To mark the centenary of the

Step into the nautical world of Trinity House with artefacts, craft activities and a family trail. buried beneath the ground.

Discover more about the bitter sieges and fiercely fought feuds that dominated the castle’s past. Hear musket fire and clashing pikes echo from the walls once more and see first-hand the latest archaeological excavations.

Part of Dig It! 2015.

Battle of Loos, hear about the experiences of Piper Daniel Laidlaw during the British offensive on the Western Front.

CELTIC CRAG HOLYROOD PARK

Sat 19 Sep; 9.30am-12.30pm 0131 652 8150

ACTIVE ARCHAEOLOGY HOLYROOD PARK

Sun 27 Sep; 11am-3pm 0131 652 8150 hs.rangers@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Discover what life was like in the Iron Age by meeting characters from the past and trying out skills from the period.

OCTOBER

THE BIG DRAW VARIOUS

Throughout Oct 0131 652 8155 hslearning@ scotland.gsi.gov.uk Be inspired this half term by stories of the magnificent banquets that took place in our iconic attractions.

Join us and create your own feasts of art.

VOLCANO FUN DAY HOLYROOD PARK

Sat 3 Oct; 11am-3pm 0131 652 8150 hs.rangers@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Explore Holyrood Park’s past on the Celtic Crag guided walk

Explore Edinburgh’s very own volcano and learn about volcanoes in our solar system.

Get hands on and guess the rock, create your own volcano and sculpt a model of planet Earth from chocolate.

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 53

Time travel, history, intrigue and passion

13th Annual Outlander Tour

®

Seven Nights • September 18-25, or October 9-16, 2016 • $3,495 A deluxe, fully escorted journey into the magical world of Jamie and Claire, based on the award-winning Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Culloden Battlefield, Loch Ness, Craigh na Dun, Castle Leoch, St Kilda’s Kirk, Fort William, and an evening with a Jacobite soldier when you’re transported back to 1743!

{

Special Extended Tour!

Includes the 7-night tour plus the magnificent Standing Stones of Calanais!

Ten Nights • June 18-28, 2016 • $4,595

}

Deluxe escorted tours • 18-guest maximum • E-mail Judy@celticjourneys.us for more information

www.CelticJourneys.us • Call us at 703.941.6455

Enjoy free re-admission for a year by asking us to treat your ticket purchase as a donation.

Toilets

NOVEMBER

WINTER WARMER WALK: HOLYROOD

Restaurant/café

Gift shop

Reasonable wheelchair access

Dogs not permitted

Parking

A Scottish castle is the perfect place to enjoy a Christmas meal

HOLYROOD PARK

Sun 1 Nov; 10am-12pm 0131 652 8150 hs.rangers@scotland.gsi.gov.uk Booking essential Come along on a guided walk to learn more about Arthur’s Seat’s turbulent past, created by fire and ice.

HALF AND A HALF HOLYROOD PARK

Sat 14 Nov; 1-2.30pm Tickets: £15 10% members’ discount 0131 652 8150 www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ members Booking essential Join experts from the Scotch Whisky Experience and Stewart Brewing for a whisky and real ale taster session. Over 18s only.

THE OTHER MARY EDINBURGH CASTLE

Sat 21-Sun 22 Nov; 11.15am, 12.15pm, 2pm, 3pm 0131 668 8885 www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/ events On the weekend of the 500th anniversary of her birth, join Mary of Guise in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle, and hear her contemplate her life in Scotland.

INDULGE YOURSELF THIS CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS LUNCHES EDINBURGH CASTLE

Fri 4, Sat 5, Thu 10-Sun 13, Thu 17-Thu 24 Dec; 12.30-2pm £32 members, £38 nonmembers, £12 child members, £15 child non-members Tuck in to a traditional Christmas lunch held in the Jacobite Room.

While enjoying the fabulous festive meal, marvel at the views across Princes Street.

Meet the dowager queen, Mary of Guise, at Edinburgh Castle

CHRISTMAS WINE AND DINE EDINBURGH CASTLE

Sun 13 and Sun 20 Dec; 12.30pm £58 members, £65 non-members Spice things up this Christmas and enjoy the best of Scottish cuisine at our Wine and Dine lunch in the magnificent Queen Anne Room.

#HSEat

CHRISTMAS LUNCHES STIRLING CASTLE

Wed 16 and Thurs 24 Dec; 12.30pm arrival for 1.30pm sitting £26 members, £31.95 non-members, £17.25 child members, £19.80 child non-members Enjoy a delicious three-course meal in the castle’s Green Room, not normally open to the public.

Go to www.historic-scotland.gsi.gov.uk/member and log in to book Edinburgh Castle 0131 226 9443; Stirling Castle 01786 431 321; hs.functions@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

WWW.HISTORIC!SCOTLAND.GOV.UK 55

GUESS THE YEAR

WIN

WORK OUT THE MYSTERY YEAR AND WIN

HOW TO ENTER If you can identify the correct year from the options below, visit www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/ guesstheyear or post your answer, with your name, membership number and address, to Guess the Year, Historic Scotland magazine, Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh EH9 1SH by Friday 6 November. See www.historicscotland.gov.uk/member for terms and conditions.

WINNING PRIZE The winning entry will receive a cheese and wine hamper from Scottish Hampers (www.scottishhampers.co.uk) containing a bottle of Bordeaux, Scottish cheese, crackers and flame-roasted coffee, among other treats. The competition is only open to members aged 18 and over.

PORTRAIT OF LORD DARNLEY This portrait shows a young Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in opulent clothing – a dark doublet and gold ornamentation – and wearing a sword. Darnley enjoyed a well-todo upbringing, having family ties to Scottish and English kings. He went on to marry his cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, and the couple honeymooned at Huntingtower Castle. Darnley was murdered at Kirk o’ Field, Edinburgh, in 1567.

ANSWER THIS QUESTION In which year did Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots honeymoon at Huntingtower Castle?

A: 1560 B: 1561 C: 1565 MARY AND DARNLEY’S ONLY CHILD, THE FUTURE JAMES VI AND I, WAS BORN AT EDINBURGH CASTLE

LAST ISSUE’S GUESS THE YEAR MacLellan’s Castle was sold by the family in 1752. Congratulations to Mr J Jefferson of Rochdale 56 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND INDEPENDENTLY MINDED.

AWARD WINNING SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY FROM THE ISLE OF ARRAN. www.arranwhisky.com

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