Historic Scotland Spring 2022

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10 great places to visit in 2022 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

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including ELGIN CATHEDRAL IONA ABBEY BLACKNESS CASTLE

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SPRING 2022

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SPRING 2022 THE MAGAZINE FOR HISTORIC SCOTLAND MEMBERS

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BEFORE AND AFTER

YEAR OF STORIES

How we use archive images to map climate change PRODUCTION

SEE OUR UNFORGETTABLE EXHIBITION

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FACT OR FICTION? Did St Columba meet a creature on the banks of Loch Ness?

HISTORICENVIRONMENT.SCOT/MEMBER

FOUR MIRACLES

The truth behind popular legends

BACK IN ACTION See spectacular jousting this summer

St Mungo

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Welcome VERSION

Welcome to

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Sending you the warmest of welcomes to our first issue of 2022.

Have you made it out to any of our properties yet? If you haven’t, don’t worry as we have collated a ‘bucket list’ for the year with 10 recommended places to go. Plus there are loads more beyond the list that you can read about in this issue and on our website.

These include Huntingtower Castle, which Ida Maspero visits for the first time on page 36, and Fort George, which is in the spotlight on page 14.

A number of our other properties are currently restricted for essential survey work – so we highly recommend you check historyawaits.scot before you head out. Here you can check what’s open and book tickets for popular properties. See page 6 for more about the work going on, from our director of conservation, David Mitchell.

In this issue we also have a couple of illuminating features about big projects – the reconstruction of a Pictish fort (page 30) and the scanning of archive photographs to help map climate change across the world (page 42).

Our historians also tackle some popular myths, legends and mysteries from Scotland’s past in our Fact or Fiction feature on page 24.

TAKE TWO

CLAIRE BOWIE Head of Membership & CRM

CONTRIBUTORS

Celebration of the Centuries

ALASDAIR NORTHROP Mapping climate change (page 42) Professional tour guide and former editor of Scottish Business Insider

HEEDAYAH LOCKMAN Fact or fiction? (page 24) Freelance illustrator with a background in architecture, published in The Skinny and gal-dem

JEREMY SUTTONHIBBERT I’ve never been to ...

Huntingtower Castle (page 36) Award-winning photographer with an international portfolio

Ring of Brodgar guided walks

Unmissable events Turn to page 48 to see all the activity days, exhibitions, walks and talks going on at our properties in the coming months, including Celebration of the Centuries at Fort George, and ranger-led walks at Ring of Brodgar

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CONTENTS S P R I N G

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HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh EH9 1SH 0131 668 8600 historicenvironment.scot Membership enquiries 0131 668 8999 members@hes.scot Editorial enquiries members@hes.scot

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Head of Membership & CRM Claire Bowie Membership Operations Manager Pauline Brews Membership Operations Supervisor Hannah Rose

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Editor Fiona McKinlay fiona.mckinlay@thinkpublishing.co.uk Deputy editor Ciaran Sneddon News editor Jonathan McIntosh Design Katie White

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Advertising Sales Jamie Dawson jamie.dawson@thinkpublishing.co.uk 0203 771 7201

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Sub-editors Sian Campbell, Andrew Littlefield

Think Suite 2.3, Red Tree Business Suites, 33 Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow G40 4LA 0141 375 0504

Executive Director, Think John Innes john.innes@thinkpublishing.co.uk

Photography All images provided by Historic Environment Scotland unless otherwise stated. For access to images of Scotland and our properties, call 0131 668 8647/8785 or email images@hes.scot Historic Scotland is published quarterly and printed on paper made from pulp sourced from sustainable materials.

The views expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect those of Historic Environment Scotland. All information is correct at the time of going to press. © Historic Environment Scotland. All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without prior agreement of the Membership and CRM Manager of Historic Environment Scotland.

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Your 2022 bucket list Ten places to visit this year including Huntly Castle

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is a Non Departmental Public Body established by the Historic Environment Scotland Act 2014. HES has assumed the property, rights, liabilities and obligations of Historic Scotland and RCAHMS.

EYE UBIQUITOUS / ALAMY

Visit historicenvironment.scot/about-us Scottish Charity No. SC045925.

24 St Mungo’s four miracles and other popular tales 2 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

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42 How climates changed

Contents

Places to visit this spring

SKARA BRAE P23

Craigmillar Castle

THE BLACKHOUSE, ARNOL P17

BURGHEAD WELL P33 ELGIN CATHEDRAL P18

FORT GEORGE P14

URQUHART CASTLE P23 DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE P18

HUNTLY CASTLE P19

ARBROATH ABBEY P16

HUNTINGTOWER CASTLE P36

IONA ABBEY P21 BLACKNESS CASTLE P18

CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE P4

MELROSE ABBEY P21

REGULARS

6 14 48 54 56

ACCESSIBLE VERSION Historic Scotland magazine is also available as an accessible PDF. Please log in to our website at historicenvironment.scot/member to download your copy, or contact the membership team on 0131 668 8999 and they will be happy to help.

THE SCRIPT News and updates SPOTLIGHT EVENTS SHOP TIME TRIP

10 FEATURES

16 YOUR 2022 BUCKET LIST 10 must-see landmarks 24 FACT OR FICTION? The truth behind popular myths and legends 30 RECONSTRUCTING A PICTISH FORT

Expert teams create a picture of the past

36 I’VE NEVER BEEN TO …

HUNTINGTOWER CASTLE

Ida Maspero explores the 15th-century property 42 MAPPING CLIMATE CHANGE

Using archive aerial photography to track shifting landscapes HISTORICENVIRONMENT.SCOT 3

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Big pic CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE

In the late 15th century, Sir Simon Preston III inherited Craigmillar Castle. According to later chroniclers, as part of his service to King James III, Sir Simon held James’s youngest brother, John Stewart, Earl of Mar, at Craigmillar under suspicion of sorcery.

James was alleged to have seen a witch in a dream, who warned that he would die at the hand of his nearest kin.

With his other brother, Alexander, Duke of Albany, already locked up in Edinburgh Castle, James believed this to be a premonition about John.

The Earl of Mar’s imprisonment at Craigmillar only ended when he was taken to a house in the Canongate and murdered while having a bath.

The witch’s prophecy may have been misinterpreted, however. James’s death did turn out to be closely tied to the actions of a family member – but it was his son, Prince James, Duke of Rothesay, who hastened his father’s demise and then succeeded him as king, through their fatal engagement in the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. ● Craigmillar Castle is open daily, 10am-4pm. Some areas are currently restricted due to masonry inspections. Book online at historyawaits.scot

PAUL MARSHALL / ALAMY

A prison for ‘sorcerers’

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PEOPLE, PLACES, RESEARCH AND MORE…

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How climate change affects our properties

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Scotland’s landmarks are facing an increasingly hostile environment

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n extensive programme of inspection is currently underway across our properties to assess their condition and to ensure they are safe for visitors.

This means around 70 of our bestloved properties have restricted access while expert teams work on this huge project to assess the scale of the issue.

There are still around 250 places managed by us that you can visit, including favourites such as Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle, Fort George and Urquhart Castle.

Dr David Mitchell, director of conservation, explains: “We identified a potential problem with masonry deterioration at high level in June 2021 at two properties. The type of deterioration and the characteristics of the site gave us cause for concern so we restricted access to 20 properties until we could take a closer look.

“We confirmed there was an issue at these properties and undertook a larger risk assessment exercise for all properties with high-level masonry. It is obviously not a position we want to be in but we 6 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

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Open properties include Fort George

will always act quickly to protect the safety of our staff and our visitors.”

TAKING CARE Teams are using various approaches to assess the sites, including tactile surveys using large hydraulic platforms.

“Remote inspection is really useful but it is not as informative as an experienced eye – and hand,” David says.

What has driven this situation? “There are lots of factors involved but there is

no question that climate change has brought things to a head,” says David. “It has accelerated the natural decay process. Our work in climate change is recognised around the world and we will apply that expertise here.”

He adds: “Our properties are inherently fragile and because they are often unroofed the wall heads are exposed to the weather. Rainfall has increased in Scotland by 100% in some locations since the 1960s and we

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PLACES TO SEE

There are more than 200 properties currently accessible. See our 2022 bucket list feature on page 16 for 10 of our favourites, including Arnol Blackhouse, Elgin Cathedral and Blackness Castle (above).

Visit historyawaits.scot to book

Survey work at Melrose Abbey, which has restricted access

describe moisture as the ‘engine of decay’. Age is, of course, an issue and some of the interventions – materials and techniques used – in the past have not helped, however well-intentioned they were at the time.”

Rainfall has increased in Scotland by 100% in some locations since the 1960s

TIME TO REFLECT

what happens next really depends on what we find.

“Some of our properties will have issues of a scale that the investment costs will be significant and in some instances not viable. The natural decay process can be such that it cannot be resisted, despite our best efforts, and in that scenario we need to manage the decline of the asset respectfully and safely.”

David adds: “We are exploring ways

to enhance our visitor experience in other ways, such as with augmented interpretation or even site tours to see conservation work going on - we know these are popular with visitors.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP The schedule for this work is uncertain because it depends what the teams find and how easy and affordable necessary repairs or safeguarding measures are.

David says: “We appreciate that everyone is keen to get back, but we cannot take shortcuts in this work.

We are aiming to assess a significant number of properties in 2022 but

So how can members support us in this crucially important work?

David says: “You can keep being members – your support makes a real difference to us – and you can be advocates for Scotland’s heritage more broadly and the challenges we are facing collectively. Supporting our work financially is great obviously, but talking about our work to others is just as important.”

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Telling tales in 2022 This is the Year of Stories!

Find out what we have planned

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Flagship event Tales from the Castle will take place in Stirling

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e have an exciting programme of activities to celebrate the Year of Stories 2022 – including Blackness Castle’s brand new exhibition, Unforgettable, which will shine a light on the untold stories of 12 people from Scotland’s past.

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UNFORGETTABLE EXHIBITION Opening in April, Unforgettable celebrates stories of people from marginalised communities whose lives shaped, or were shaped by, Scotland and how they contributed to the country’s history.

Featured individuals include Walter Sholto, a trans writer who was the illegitimate child of the 16th Earl of Morton, and Agnes McDonald, the last Scottish Traveller hanged under antiGypsy legislation in Scotland in 1714. Visitors can also discover Ethel Moorhead (1869-1955) – an artist and one of Scotland’s most vocal suffragettes, who famously threw an egg at Winston Churchill – and Tom Jenkins,

the son of a West African published by Floris Books, is king and slave trader who a fun, fact-packed children’s is thought to have been guide to one of Scotland’s Scotland’s first black largest and most important schoolteacher. castles, which is available to Each fascinating narrative buy on our online store now. has been told by a variety TALES FROM THE of voices with connection CASTLE EVENT to the stories and Another highlight communities of the year is featured and the our flagship exhibition will event, Tales include images from the from our Castle. archives and See the exhibition Taking place specially at Blackness at Stirling Castle commissioned Castle this autumn, the artworks. event, funded by READ ALL ABOUT IT EventScotland, boasts a What better way to celebrate storytelling trail and will this story-themed year than take visitors on a journey with the publication of a to unlock tales, hidden brand new children’s book. truths and the most exciting Stirling Castle for Kids, chapter in Scotland’s history

as they explore the historic site after-hours.

Alex Paterson, CEO of Historic Environment Scotland, says: “Stories are vital to our culture, our communities and our understanding of our past, and many of our Properties in Care, including Stirling Castle and Blackness Castle, are linked to these stories, both old and new.

“Our heritage, and the stories which shaped it, are more than the bricks and mortar. Through the Year of Stories we want to highlight Scotland’s unknown stories and to provide a voice for the individuals and communities who went before us.”

Visit historicenvironment. scot/ys2022 for more details HISTORICENVIRONMENT.SCOT 9

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Make the most of the Historic Scotland app when you visit one of our properties ScRAP volunteers inspect a carved stone

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Scotland’s Rock Art Project uncovers impressive number of prehistoric carvings

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ver the last five years, Scotland's Rock Art Project (ScRAP) has worked with local communities nationwide to gather detailed records of the country’s 3,000-strong collection of prehistoric carvings and to enhance understanding of this ancient tradition to ensure their future care.

Using a wealth of archaeological knowledge and techniques, the project verified 1,080 rock art ‘panels’ (carved rocks or stones) throughout Scotland and discovered 250 previously unrecorded panels, including carved images of two male red deer, and other quadrupeds, at Dunchraigaig Cairn in Kilmartin Glen. This find

challenges the long-held assumption that Britain’s prehistoric rock art was mainly abstract and non-figurative.

ScRAP has also created a project archive, which features digital material co-produced by the team and communities throughout this project, as well as over 16,000 images, including digital photographs, digitised sketches, and snapshots of 3D photogrammetry models.

Users can also request 3D photogrammetry data for more than 1,000 rock art panels, including 3D models, metadata reports, and raw photogrammetry photographs.

Did you know that the Historic Scotland app has an exciting interactive Medal Hunter feature that alerts you to ways you can earn different badges as you visit our properties across the country?

There’s a medal for every type of history adventurer out there.

So, for example, if you are a big fan of Mary Queen of Scots, you could unlock the Queen’s Courtier medal by visiting sites with a connection to the powerful monarch.

Or take on the ultimate challenge of the Half Centurion medal, which can only be achieved by ticking off visits to 50 Historic Scotland sites.

Share your medal collection online by tagging the Historic Scotland social media channels and we’ll give you the (virtual) pat on the back you deserve.

To download the app go to historicenvironment. scot/app

Gain your Film Star medal while out and about

Visit canmore.org.uk

Grab our new guidebooks Urquhart Castle and Fort George visitor guides available now

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isit Urquhart Castle and Fort George this spring to be first in line to buy our brand new guidebooks detailing the ins and outs of each property.

Boasting illustrations, maps and a new compact 10 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

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format and striking new graphic design style – which was informed by consultation with our visitors – these guides make it easier than ever for history lovers to navigate and connect to the incredible stories

at the heart of Urquhart Castle and Fort George.

Each 72-page publication costs £5 – and don’t forget that Historic Scotland members get a 20% discount.

See page 55 for the discount code.

Further titles in this new series will be released soon.

Available at the property or from historicenvironment. scot/shop

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History remembered People are supporting our work through their wills

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ur historic environment has benefitted from many acts of generosity through the wills of supporters, impacting on our properties, research, learning, skills education and archives.

Julie Forster, fundraising development manager, has been getting to know more about our donors: “I had the most wonderful conversation with a couple who have recently decided to make HES a beneficiary in their wills.

They reminisced about sites they loved and their desire to ensure that future generations could experience the same.

“They liked that we care for the seen and unseen, the central and

Eyes on the prize

the remote, the stones and archives, the storytellers and the craftspeople.

“It made me appreciate the strength of feeling expressed in each legacy and I look forward to talking to others who are planning ahead.”

For more information on donating or leaving a legacy to HES, please contact Julie at julie.forster@hes.scot or on 0131 668 8652.

Test your historical knowledge by spotting which of our sites the detail below comes from – and win an M&S E-Gift card.

Find out more or make a donation at www. historicenvironment. scot/donate

ANSWER THIS QUESTION

Auditing our artefacts Survey project will update and improve records of historical objects in our care

From which Historic Scotland property is this detail taken?

A: Melrose Abbey B: Arbroath Abbey C: Iona Abbey UP FOR GRABS

The winning entry will receive a Scottish gift basket hamper.

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o enhance existing records and widen accessibility to the 42,000 objects under our care for the public and researchers alike, the Collections & Applied Conservation Team are piloting the Collections Inventory Project.

Beginning in late October 2021, the project has already encountered archaeological artefacts from Caerlaverock Castle and architectural carved stones at Cambuskenneth Abbey.

Throughout 2022, they will travel to properties across Scotland that hold collections. Each object – from tiny communion tokens to giant stone crosses – will have its record updated in the collections database, to ensure important

COMPETITION

HOW TO ENTER

For your chance to win, visit historicenvironment. scot/guesstheplace by 22 April 2022. Terms and conditions apply (available at the web address above).

Open to UK residents only.

CAN YOU GUESS?

Above: Collections management trainee Chloe Allan cleaning a stone which likely comes from the tomb of Queen Margaret of Denmark and King James III Inset: A fragment of a 13th-century jug from Caerlaverock Castle

information such as measurements, the object’s condition and its history are all present and correct.

The team hope to uncover exciting new stories along the way, too.

This island property is sometimes described as the birthplace of Christianity and has close ties to St Columba.

Last issue’s answer: Stirling Castle

It’s hoped this project will determine the need for an even more comprehensive inventory in the future.

Visit historicenvironment. scot/collections

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Programme will open up the UK’s cultural heritage portfolio

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Lights out for Earth Hour

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Some of our properties will temporarily turn dark to help raise awareness of the climate crisis

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n Saturday 26 March, a number of our properties will be turning out their lights from 8.30pm to 9.30pm. This is because they will be taking part in WWF’s annual Earth Hour event to increase

awareness of the climate crisis and demand further action to prevent its devastating effects.

While not all properties can take part this year due to the pandemic, we’ve taken plenty of other steps to tackle climate change

across our properties – including improving recycling, introducing digital tickets, and installing interpretation highlighting climate change impacts.

Why not play your part in this year’s Earth Hour by switching off too?

Volunteer with us Share your knowledge and passion at one of our properties

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Volunteers are back at our properties

nterested in volunteering with us to share your passion for protecting, researching and celebrating Scotland’s historic environment with others?

Then you’re in luck, because this year we’re hoping to boost the ranks of our historyloving volunteers.

As a partner of the Make Your Mark in Volunteering Campaign – which launched in December 2020 to increase the diversity of volunteers in Scotland’s heritage sector – we are committed to involving under-represented groups in our volunteer programmes.

Volunteers play a crucial role in helping us care for Scotland’s cultural and built heritage, so we’re delighted to welcome them back through a phased return following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Recruitment of new volunteers will start in the summer.

For the latest volunteer vacancies and information, visit historicenvironment. scot/volunteer/ For opportunities with other organisations, see makeyourmark.scot or www.volunteerscotland.net

Led by a team based at Historic Environment Scotland, the £18.9m Towards a National Collection programme aims to break down barriers between the UK’s cultural heritage collections.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the programme has From the National Maritime Museum collection

awarded £14.5m in funding to five Discovery Projects, which will see more than 120 collaborators, 63 heritage organisations and 15 universities linking collections digitally – allowing researchers and the public to access and contribute to them in new ways.

Programme director Rebecca Bailey says: “This will mean everyone will eventually have access to a treasure trove of the UK’s outstanding cultural heritage.”

NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, GREENWICH

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THE CHAPEL Possibly designed by Robert Adam, this quaint chapel pays homage to classical architecture with its symmetrical details. Its interior layout was altered in the 1930s to accommodate a garrison school.

Fort George Once built to fend off a Jacobite threat, this site represents centuries of military might

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When work began on this intimidating fortress in 1748, not long after the last Jacobite rising was squashed, the goal was simple – to create a military hub that would deter any further risings.

After 21 years, and thanks to the work of more than 1,000 people, the fort was completed.

By then, the threat of insurrection had disappeared, and the site was converted into a recruiting and training base.

The fort’s defences were never put to the test, but it is clear how effective they would have been.

Its remote location on a Moray Firth peninsula and strategic star-shaped layout would have made it easy for defenders to see off any approaching forces.

Reservists and new recruits were drawn to the fort for training at the outbreak of both the First and Second World Wars, and a military presence exists at the site to this day.

ORDNANCE STORES Given its remote location, the fort needed sizable storage for food, coal, weapons and other kit.

Some of this space was later used for other purposes when the number of residents dropped.

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Fort George

Timeline 1769

1798

1881

1914

Long after the Jacobite rising of 1745-6 which inspired its creation, construction work on the fort is completed.

It becomes a training base for local Highland regiments.

Leaders of the Wexford Rising – against British rule in Ireland – are imprisoned in the fort’s ‘Black Hole’ cells.

There are new inhabitants at the fort. The Seaforth Highlanders will remain on site for decades to come.

At the start of World War One, soldiers are brought to the fort for basic training.

In August 1914, German and Dutch fishermen are held at the fort as prisoners.

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GARRISON BUILDINGS Sitting just off the parade ground, this is where around 2,000 soldiers would have been accommodated.

Spotlight

THE PARADE GROUND In addition to its ceremonial use, this vast space near the entrance was used as a recreational area by the wives and families of staff officers stationed at the fort.

FUN FACT Napoleon Bonaparte was almost imprisoned at Fort George after he surrendered four weeks after the Battle of Waterloo.

Ultimately, he was taken to the remote island of St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean instead.

DOG CEMETERY A place to lay regimental mascots and officers’ pets to rest. Historically the cemetery was used as a mustering point for troops.

THE ‘BLACK HOLE’ CELLS This is where the fort’s prisoners would have been kept, just beyond two guardrooms.

This prison was replaced in the 1800s by new cells in the provision stores.

PRINCE OF WALES BASTION As the bastion facing over the land – the expected direction of threats in the 1750s – this was perhaps the most crucial of all four bulwarks. It was named after the future George III.

MATERNITY HOSPITAL A campaign led by Violet Douglas Campbell, who arrived at the fort in 1899 with her officer husband, culminated in the creation of a nurse’s cottage and, later, a maternity hospital. It was here that Nurse Jessie Owen, the first resident maternity nurse, delivered 353 babies in 22 years. The maternity hospital closed and was demolished in the 1960s.

1938

1944

1964

2032

In preparation for the looming war in Europe, a camp is built to accommodate thousands of new military recruits.

As part of the training for the D-Day landings in Normandy, soldiers use the fort and the surrounding area as practice grounds.

The site is designated an Ancient Monument, and members of the public can come and visit, even though the fort is still an active military base.

This is the date that the army is expected to formally withdraw from Fort George, 263 years after it was first used.

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Your 2022 bucket list 10 PROPERTIES TO SEE THIS YEAR

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FEATURED PROPERTIES

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1 ARBROATH ABBEY

2 THE BLACKHOUSE, ARNOL

3 BLACKNESS CASTLE

4 DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE AND CHAPEL

5 ELGIN CATHEDRAL

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7

5

6 1

4 3 8

6 HUNTLY CASTLE

7 IONA ABBEY AND NUNNERY

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8 MELROSE ABBEY

9 SKARA BRAE

10 URQUHART CASTLE

Checklist 16-17

ARBROATH ABBEY

Where the Declaration was sealed Where? On Abbey Street in Arbroath town centre – less than 10 minutes’ walk from the train station.

When to visit? Open yearround, but a mid-summer trip will give you the best ice-cream-slurping and Arbroath smokiechomping opportunities.

What’s the history?

The abbey’s most famous artefact is the Declaration of Arbroath – a document endorsed,

with their wax seals, by 39 nobles who swore allegiance to the Scottish crown.

The declaration read: “It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

A detailed reproduction is at the centre of a new exhibition, which

opened last year. While the abbey itself is closed for conservation work, the exhibition and visitor centre are still well worth a visit.

Also… The Stone of Destiny, used in the inauguration of Scottish monarchs but stolen in 1296 by Edward I, was deposited here after it was removed from Westminster Abbey in 1950.

THE BLACKHOUSE, ARNOL

Traditional life on the Hebrides Where? On the north-west coast of the Isle of Lewis.

When to visit? Lewis makes a fantastic summer staycation – but you’ll want to plan ahead as accommodation is limited. The Blackhouse is open year-round.

What’s the history? Number 42 Arnol is unique, not because of its own specific story, but because of what it represents. It is the final insight into centuries-old Hebridean traditions; a perfect preservation of a now all but extinct way of

life. The blackhouse was built between 1852 and 1895 and its final residents didn’t leave until 1965. There are no windows or chimneys, which helped to keep the heat in and prevented the valuable insect-repelling smoke from escaping. Cattle would have stayed inside the house, too, partitioned from the human dwellers.

Also… Twitchers should look out for red-necked phalaropes – one of 30 nesting pairs in Scotland can be found at the site.

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Arbroath Abbey, founded by William the Lion in 1178

19th-century living for Hebridean families and their livestock

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On fighting form at Blackness Castle

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The Lantern of the North

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Where? Right on the water’s edge, a few miles down the road from Linlithgow.

When to visit? Head along in August, when all the other tourists are at the Fringe.

What’s the history? Long before the V&A Dundee came along, there was another boat-shaped institution worth visiting.

Blackness Castle, nicknamed ‘the ship that never sailed’,

looks remarkably like a marooned ship from the Forth. Only, it’s made of stone, has been around since the mid15th century, and the ‘mast’ is actually a tower.

It has been used variously as a royal castle, fortress, prison and ammunition depot. This final role came about in 1870, when the battle-scarred castle was

adapted to become a central storage site for ammunition in Scotland.

Forty-two years later, the depot was closed, and the castle came to be recognised as an attractive monument.

Also… Look out for signs of a siege launched in 1650 by Oliver Cromwell’s army that battered the castle’s normally solid defences.

One of Scotland’s most ambitious and beautiful medieval buildings

DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE AND CHAPEL

Chieftain’s stomping ground

The mighty stronghold of the MacDougalls 18 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

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Where? A 10-minute drive from Oban, just over the water from the airport.

When to visit? Tack this on to a Hebrides trip, before or after getting the ferry from Oban. Closed on Thursdays and Fridays, year-round.

What’s the history? This imposing stronghold on the Firth of Lorn was built in the early 1200s, most likely by Duncan MacDougall, the son of Dubhgall, Lord of Lorn.

Duncan’s grandfather, the King of the Isles, had earned

fame for seeing off Norway’s claim to the Hebrides. Robert the Bruce led a successful siege at the castle around 1308, but it was the Campbells, allies to the Crown, who oversaw upgrades to the site’s defences in 1740.

Also… Flora MacDonald was brought to the castle for a few days in late 1746. She was later taken to the Tower of London for her role in Bonnie Prince Charlie’s escape to the Isle of Skye.

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Where? Right in the heart of Elgin – just a 15-minute walk from the train station.

When to visit? A summer picnic here is ideal, but look out for the hungry ducks, gulls and swans in nearby Cooper Park.

What’s the history? It was “the ornament of the realm, the glory of the kingdom”, according to Bishop

Alexander Bur in the late 14th century. Construction began in the early 1200s and until the Protestant Reformation of 1560 it was the seat of an important bishop. The slow demise of the cathedral following the Reformation is evident in a series of artworks created throughout the 18th century,

just as the site became a tourist destination.

Also… An act of Parliament in 1567 ruled that lead from the cathedral’s roof should be removed and sold. The metal didn’t get far: an overburdened ship due to carry it to the Netherlands capsized and sank in Aberdeen harbour.

HUNTLY CASTLE

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Beauty by the Bogie Where? Roughly halfway between Aberdeen and Elgin, just outside the beautiful market town of Huntly.

When to visit? The open-top ruins will be better enjoyed on cloudfree days.

What’s the history? Four castles have been built at this site, and all have crumbled. The earliest was constructed in around 1180

by Duncan II, Earl of Fife.

His descendant’s treachery against Robert Bruce resulted in the castle being

handed to Sir Adam Gordon of Huntly shortly after the Battle of Bannockburn.

The castle developed over centuries but the most impressive survivals are from the early 1600s.

Also… In 1576, the 5th Earl of Huntly collapsed during a football match and died in the castle a little while later.

Following his death, several reports were made of paranormal activity, including unexplainable sounds emanating from the chamber where the earl’s body had been stored.

Step into the 12th century at Huntly Castle

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Iona Abbey, a creative and religious hub from the 6th century onwards

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IONA ABBEY AND NUNNERY

An important place of pilgrimage PRODUCTION

Where? A short walk from Iona’s harbour.

When to visit? Make sure you plan ahead. No cars are allowed on Iona, and if you’re coming from the mainland, you’ll need to get two ferries and come via Mull. There are more regular

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ferry services throughout the summer.

What’s the history?

In AD 563, St Columba and 12 companions travelled from Ireland to establish a monastery.

They declared Iona a holy isle and by the seventh

MELROSE ABBEY

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Home to the heart of Robert Bruce?

Where? Not far from Melrose High Street, with bus links to Edinburgh, Galashiels and Jedburgh.

When to visit? Book lovers might like to coincide their trip with the Borders Book Festival in mid-June.

What’s the history? An embalmed heart, said to be that of King Robert I, has been found twice at Melrose Abbey: once in 1921, and again in 1998. There is no conclusive proof of who the heart belonged to, but the Melrose Casket is still considered symbolically significant.

century the place was attracting pilgrims from all over. While now seen as a remote island, at the time Iona was a hub of Christian practice, learning and creativity at the heart of the sprawling region of Dál Riata.

Also… The church and abbey would have been coated in thick white render that protected the stone from the Scottish climate.

It also made the site visible for miles around, promoting the glory of God and command of the landscape.

Melrose Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery in Scotland and home to Robert I’s heart (inset)

What remains of the abbey today, including the recognisable pink stonework, is almost entirely different to the original. This is mostly down to Melrose’s location – a frontline in multiple medieval conflicts.

Archaeological digs have turned up many artefacts, including portable loos. The abbey church is currently closed, but you can still access the grounds, cloister and museum.

Also… No trip is complete without spotting the bagpipe-playing pig on the medieval church’s exterior.

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M U S T- S E E SITES VERSION

URQUHART CASTLE

A Neolithic settlement in stunning scenery REPRO OP

Welcome to Nessie’s neighbourhood

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Where? An easy drive from Inverness: just keep the loch on your left as you go, and you’ll reach the castle in around half an hour.

When to visit? Clear, sunny days will give you the best views over the loch (and optimal monster-spotting opportunities).

What’s the history?

A brooch dating back to the late 700s or early 800s suggests that Urquhart was once home to high-status Picts – possibly those visited by St Columba in AD 580.

The earliest surviving stonework today, though,

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is from the 13th century.

The castle saw some military action, and changed hands several times from the 1200s until the 1690s, when it was garrisoned by antiJacobite forces.

When James IV gave Urquhart to the Grant family in the 1500s, he instructed them to restore the castle and the five-storey Grant Tower was built.

Also… Urquhart Castle has been the location of several of the most infamous “Nessie” photographs, including Anthony ‘Doc’ Shiels’ Loch Ness Muppet image.

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Urquhart Castle in its strategic and dramatic setting

SKARA BRAE

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A Stone Age suburb Where? On the western coast of Mainland, Orkney. It takes around 30 minutes to drive there from Kirkwall.

When to visit? Orkney’s tourist season peaks between June and August, so for a quieter experience go in the autumn. However, the long summer months provide near-endless daylight hours.

What’s the history? The village of Skara Brae, all the way down to the furniture, tools, games and jewellery, has been preserved in the sand for more than 5,000 years. Once situated by a loch and home to an

estimated 70 villagers in snugly-positioned buildings, this was likely a tight-knit community of early farmers.

As you’ll discover during your visit, the village is vulnerable to bracing winds. Small doors and passageways would have helped to keep the inhabitants warm, as would now-missing roofs, possibly made of whale ribs and grass thatch.

Also… Skara Brae is a corruption of the term Skerrabra, which was used to describe the mound that covered the buildings for thousands of years.

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FACT OR FICTION?

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Six popular stories about Scotland’s past – but how close to the truth are the accounts we know so well?

ILLUSTRATION: HEEDAYAH LOCKMAN

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Fact or fiction 24-25

Q Did St Columba really face the Loch Ness Monster?

A

St Columba is said to have deterred a monster in the River Ness. He was visiting the Pictish king Bridei at Inverness, and stopped to baptise a man named Emchath at a place called Urquhart. It is not certain

this was the same location as the current castle, but there was a fortified settlement there around Columba’s time.

The tale is recounted in Adomnán’s Life of Columba, and describes how Columba encountered

an “aquatic beast” or water-monster while travelling across the “river Ness”. This is generally thought of as the earliest reference to the Loch Ness Monster. Adomnán refers to “the loch of the river Ness”. And Boece, writing

in the 1500s, describes the loch as a river. There is, though, a tradition of water monsters being associated with lochs, and it may be Adomnán was ‘stealing’ an existing tale and associating it with the saint.

Nicki Scott

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Q Did the Declaration of

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Arbroath inspire the US Declaration of Independence?

A

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Some historians argue that there is no evidence that Thomas Jefferson would have had access to a copy while writing his Declaration.

Others suggest that another writer/editor of the American Declaration, Benjamin Franklin, may have been aware of the Scottish document, as he appears to have owned a book in which the Declaration of Arbroath was printed.

Though we may never know the extent to which Jefferson and other Founding Fathers knew about the Declaration of Arbroath, thanks to Tartan Day the connection is now enshrined in US law.

The real Declaration of Arbroath

Laura Harrison

PRODUCTION

In 1998 a resolution was passed in America declaring each 6 April National Tartan Day, a celebration of Scottish heritage in America. This date comes from the Declaration of Arbroath, a medieval document that famously appears to put limits on the sovereignty of the king and is said to have inspired the American Declaration of Independence.

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Queen Mary and Lord Darnley

Q Was Mary Queen of Scots involved in Darnley’s murder?

A

In 1566 Mary met members of her privy council at Craigmillar Castle, allegedly to plot the permanent removal of her troublesome husband Henry, Lord Darnley, who the following year was killed at Kirk o’ Field in Edinburgh.

Darnley had many enemies, including Mary herself, because he had participated in the murder of her confidant David Riccio.

Subsequent events do not make Mary look innocent: her hasty marriage to the Earl of Bothwell, the main suspect in Darnley’s murder, and the appearance, after she had fled to England, of the ‘Casket Letters’,

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which seemed to prove her complicity.

However, the letters came from Mary’s half-brother, the Earl of Moray, who wanted Mary out of the way so that he could govern Scotland himself, and although they included Mary’s handwriting, they had been extensively tampered with.

There is no contemporary evidence of Mary’s guilt, so we may never know whether or not she was involved.

She was never conclusively cleared of the crime and remained a prisoner in England until her execution in 1587 for plotting against Elizabeth I. Morvern French

Fact or fiction 26-27

MYTHS AND LEGENDS

Q Did St Mungo perform four miracles?

A

John Trumbull’s painting depicting the drafting of the Declaration of Independence

Symbols representing four miracles appear on Glasgow’s coat of arms, and are first found used on the seals of the bishops of Glasgow in the medieval period. The stories of these miracles are (mostly) told in the Life of Kentigern by Jocelyn of Furness, and are popularly shared in the city.

The book speaks of St Mungo bringing back to life the dead, decapitated bird of his teacher, St Serf.

And it claims that he was able to restart monastery fires with a prayer and his breath after jealous rivals extinguished them.

He also allegedly saved Queen Languoreth from execution by recovering

Stained glass representation of the miracle of the fish and the ring

her wedding ring from the Clyde, where it had been swallowed by a salmon.

The issue is that the book is a work of hagiography rather than biography. Like the Life of Columba by Adomnán, it is designed to show how saintly its subjects are. These books can provide evidence of traditions, and world views, but are rarely to be relied on as complete fact.

The story of the fish and the ring may have come from an earlier traditional Celtic tale, Táin Bó Fraích, where a similar situation befalls princess Findabair.

The story of the bell, which is not detailed in the Life of Kentigern, is unclear but also likely designed to strengthen St Mungo’s saintly reputation.

Nicki Scott

Q Did John Damian really try to fly in a suit made of feathers?

GL ARCHIVE / ALAMY, SCIENCE HISTORY IMAGES / ALAMY, EYE UBIQUITOUS / ALAMY

A

Legend has it that John Damian, an alchemist at James IV’s court in the early 1500s, attempted to fly from Stirling Castle wearing a feather coat and wings. Poet William Dunbar wrote how Damian fell from a great height and ‘in a myre up to the ene, amang the glar did glyd’ (‘in a bog up to the eyes, among the mud he slid’).

Later, Bishop John Leslie of Ross added the location of Stirling Castle, the intended destination of France, and the breaking of Damian’s thigh bone. However, Dunbar probably invented the story to ridicule a fellow courtier who had the king’s favour.

As an alchemist Damian tried to create quinta

essencia, believed capable of turning base metals into gold, healing disease, and prolonging life. Large sums were spent on raw materials including mercury, alcohol and saltpetre, and Damian was granted a regular income. It is likely, too, that he was involved in the manufacture of gunpowder.

To James IV, interested in scientific and military advances, Damian’s work was dynamite. It’s no wonder Dunbar was jealous!

Artist’s impression of Damian’s doomed flight to France

Morvern French

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Fact or fiction 28

MYTHS AND LEGENDS VERSION

MORE MYSTERIES

Q

Were the Picts heavily tattooed?

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1930s illustration of Bonnie Prince Charlie raising the standard

Q How much was the Jacobite

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struggle a conflict between Scotland and England?

A

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The Jacobite risings – in 1689-90, 1708, 171516, 1719 and 1745-46 – are often imagined as a Scottish and specifically Highland affair: tartan-clad swordsmen against redcoated English soldiers.

Many of the attempts to restore the Stuarts to the throne began and ended in the Highlands, where there was considerable Jacobite support. Its geographical and cultural remoteness from government in London made

Bonnie Prince Charlie

it difficult for the Hanoverian authorities to gain an effective foothold, so it was strategically important.

The visual legacy of the Jacobites, too, is distinctive, with Bonnie Prince Charlie adopting Highland dress during the ’45.

Yet the reality is more complicated, as participants on both sides came from across Britain. During the ’15, for example, Jacobites were recruited from much of Scotland and northern, midland and south west England.

Also, some Highlanders fought for the government, and the Black Watch (Am Freicheadan Dubh) was established to police the Highlands. Fortifications such as Ruthven Barracks and Fort George were built by the government to control the Jacobite threat and were garrisoned by Scots, showing that allegiances could be complex.

Morvern French

A

There is no evidence that they were, nor that they painted themselves blue.

The intriguing rumour seems to stem from the name given in Roman sources, Picti, meaning painted or tattooed people, though it could also be a Latin version of what the Picts called themselves. It was then popularised by early modern artists, showing fierce warriors painted and tattooed, though these have little basis in fact.

We do have depictions that the Picts themselves created, including the Hilton of Cadboll Stone and the Dunfallandy Stone, but if they were ever painted the colour has since faded!

Laura Harrison

Q A

Did medieval people wash?

Yes. There’s ample evidence that medieval people washed regularly. Hands and faces were washed throughout the day and certainly before and after meals.

Not everyone had access to a tub at home, but

warming water in a basin for a sponge bath was within reach for most people. And soap (a medieval invention) could be made at home from ash and fat if you couldn’t afford the fancy stuff from Europe. Some urban areas had specialist bathhouses, where for a small fee you could enjoy a ‘proper’ soak.

Nicki Scott

Q A

Were Scottish castles colourful?

In historical films, Scottish castles often appear as dark, dingy places with bare stone walls and very little colour.

However, over time the plaster and decorative paintwork which coated interior walls has degraded and been lost.

Wealthy households kept fires and candles lit throughout the colder, darker months. The light twinkled on the shining silver and gold plate and brightly coloured tapestries which we know about from inventories, as you can see today at the recreated palace in Stirling Castle.

Morvern French

LORDPRICE COLLECTION / ALAMY, IANDAGNALL COMPUTING / ALAMY

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Our historians consider three more talking points about Scotland’s past

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A composite image shows Burghead then and now

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Reconstructing a Pictish Fort How archaeology and technology can take us back to the 10th century WORDS: JOAN MCFADDEN

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D

iscoveries from new research have been presented through a breathtaking reconstruction of Scotland’s largest known Pictish fort at Burghead in Moray.

The images and video showcase the enormous defensive ramparts, thought to be eight metres thick and six metres high, as well as dwellings within the fort, which occupied a large part of the headland, including what became the village of Burghead.

There were two distinct areas to the fort, with the smaller, higher area known as the upper citadel occupying the south-west side of the promontory.

Here, excavation has shown that the remains of the ramparts still survive to a height of almost three metres.

In the lower citadel, a large building or activity area has been found, with midden remains revealing details about the people who lived in the fort and their way of life. The recent finds build on 19th-century discoveries including a spectacular well, the most complex of its kind known at a Pictish fort.

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H OW T H E PICTS LIVED

Reconstruction artist Dr Alice Watterson of the University of Dundee

Fragments of Christian sculpture were also found during the development of the modern town of Burghead, suggesting the fort had an early Christian chapel near the entrance. The fort appears to have been destroyed in the 10th century, by which time the Pictish kingdoms had merged with the Dál Riata to create the kingdom of Alba.

This project answers many questions posed about the Picts, often considered the lost people of Europe due to the lack of historical records for this region in c.AD 300-900. Described in late

This project answers many questions posed about the Picts, often considered the lost people of Europe

It was thought that the 19th-century development of the modern town had destroyed most traces of this important period of its history, as the landward ramparts were levelled and part of the seaward defences destroyed when a new harbour was built.

Roman sources as troublesome, barbaric peoples living north of the Roman frontier, the Picts caused further present day problems by being so elusive, though Burghead was known to be home to a major Pictish settlement.

More than 30 Pictish carved stones were discovered during the construction of the harbour, but just six carved bulls have survived. The bull stones may well have been embedded in the ramparts.

When University of Aberdeen

DIgging up the past

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Part of Dr Alice Watterson’s reconstruction of the Burghead fort

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archaeologists began excavations there in 2015, the loss of eight metres of coastline within the last 100 years compelled them to rescue parts of the fort before it was lost forever to the sea.

Over the last five years, a rich picture has emerged and the digs, led by Professor Gordon Noble, have yielded some of the most significant Pictish items and building remains ever uncovered, effectively rewriting history.

“We started with small-scale work in some gardens at the seaward end of the fort in Burghead in 2015 and quickly discovered really well-preserved layers and objects,” says Gordon.

“The perception that the 19th-century work had destroyed the site proved wrong and we’ve found many deposits and objects which have helped us to learn more about the everyday lives of Burghead’s inhabitants between the 6th and 10th centuries AD. With each new dig we’re finding out more about the Picts who lived here, uncovering everything from metal-working to weaponry and even hair and dress pins.

The scale of the houses and buildings we have discovered evidence of show that 32 HISTORIC SCOTLAND

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this was a densely populated and important Pictish site. The foundations of the huge ramparts have survived far better than anyone anticipated, despite their wilful destruction over the centuries, and the midden layers, which is effectively where the Picts threw their rubbish, have provided startling insights into the lives of the Picts.”

Filming the fort

The reconstructions were coordinated

by Dr Alice Watterson of the University of Dundee, who began by discussing with Gordon which key areas of the interpretation he thought they should focus on for the film reconstruction.

The University of Aberdeen team provided site plans from the excavations and some historic maps from Burghead which showed the

The digs have yielded some of the most significant Pictish items ever uncovered

extent of the fort and the encroachment of the modern town over the years.

“From here we simultaneously began producing a storyboard for the script and 3D modelling the fort,” says Alice.

“The storyboard also helped the rest of the team, Kieran Baxter and Kieran Duncan, when we came to start filming on site, to ensure we had a good idea of the angles and shots we wanted to get for the film.

“Burghead has certainly been one of our most challenging projects to date.

Not only has it been one of the largest sites I have reconstructed, but in order to model its full extent we had to completely remodel the landscape to remove the modern town and rebuild the eroded cliffs – so it was quite an undertaking.”

Alice goes on to say, “As a reconstruction artist, although I do have a background in archaeology, I don’t specialise in any specific time periods or areas and have to be more like a ‘jack of all trades’. The archaeologists are the ones who know the site better than anyone and a core part of reconstruction

Pictish fort 32-33

H OW T H E PICTS LIVED

Kieran Baxter captures images using a drone

Xxxxx xxxxx

xxxxx xxxx ALL’S WELL xxxxx AT BURGHEAD

Senior cultural resources advisor Rachel Pickering on Burghead Well

Aerial photography shows modern-day Burghead

artwork is understanding how to communicate the specialist knowledge of the experts. So I know how to speak the language of archaeology and can interpret the site plans, know my way around a dig and have a good grounding in the theory and context of the field.

That gives me a solid foundation to begin

with, and from there it is a lot of back and forth between draft images and speaking with the dig team.”

Alice is well aware that as new material is excavated current interpretations could evolve further, so she may need to update her work accordingly.

“Burghead Well is one of the few surviving recognisable remains of this hugely significant site. Today it is hidden away and unassuming, an important but nevertheless easily overlooked and poorly understood link to Scotland’s Pictish past.

“The well was discovered in 1809, when the planned village was under construction, and there is little else like it known in Scotland. It is a complex and well-built structure and would have been in a prominent location within the fort, almost within the ramparts themselves, close to the main entrance to the lower citadel. Through a narrow entrance, a flight of 20 stone steps leads underground to the mysterious rockcut chamber.

“This impressive 3D reconstruction, produced in collaboration with the University of Dundee, brings it to life and really helps us to put the enigmatic well structure into context, and imagine how it would have fitted into the fort.

“The University of Aberdeen Northern Picts Project is transforming the way we understand Pictish power centres such as Burghead, the people that lived there, and activities that once took place.”

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“Burghead has been reconstructed by a number of artists over the years and no doubt it will continue to be visualised in the future as interpretations keep evolving and new evidence comes to light,” she says.

“Gordon and the team are still excavating Burghead, so it may be that in a year or two we return to this imagery and look at what else can be added or updated. It’s really interesting to think about how we communicate evolving interpretations, so if we returned to these visualisations later I’d be interested to focus on a narrative which explored these changes.

“Working in visualisation and outreach involves blending interpretation and research with compelling visual storytelling. For our team, capturing a sense of place for Burghead was particularly important. Its dramatic location on the Moray coast is key not only to its archaeological interpretation but also what makes it such a special place to visit today.”

Archaeology manager Dr Kevin Grant says: “Grant-aiding projects is one way in which we fulfil our role as lead body for Scotland’s historic environment.

“Our grants aim to deliver public benefits and develop our understanding of Scotland’s past. It is no exaggeration to say that recent work at Burghead and elsewhere has transformed our understanding of early medieval Scotland and in particular the Picts.

“Just in the time that I have worked at HES, I have seen what I was taught about the Picts at university go completely out of date – and it is exciting to be involved in such a fast-

about the past. This includes the striking Burghead reconstructions, which capture the imagination and help us think about what it would have been like to have visited the site in its heyday.”

Reaching a wide audience The project has had an amazing response, with more than 35,000 people viewing the video and more than 16,000 followers for the

The Burghead reconstructions capture the imagination and help us think about what it would have been like to visit in its heyday changing area of archaeological research. Work like that at Burghead helps us understand our collective past and gives us the information we need to protect, value and celebrate archaeological remains which survive across Scotland.

“One of our aspirations as part of Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy is encouraging greater engagement, and we’re proud to support new, innovative and engaging ways of telling stories

Northern Picts project on Facebook and Twitter. “Academic research is reaching a much wider audience in this accessible way,” says Gordon.

“We have students at Aberdeen University who first took an interest when they visited sites on school trips, which perfectly illustrates how this project captures the imagination and delivers far more than we could have originally hoped by encouraging the next generation to keep searching.”

Burghead was a densely populated and important Pictish location

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H U N T I N G TO W E R CASTLE VERSION

Huntingtower Castle lies hidden near the suburbs of Perth – and once housed secret hiding places

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Huntingtower 36-37

I’VE NEVER BEEN TO…

Huntingtower Castle WORDS: IDA MASPERO PHOTOS: JEREMY SUTTON-HIBBERT

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or years we’ve regularly shuttled north on the A9, fleeing the city for the delights of the Highlands.

So, how is it possible I had no idea that Huntingtower Castle existed? Maybe because its suburban location on the outskirts of Perth, right beside the junction of the A9 and A85, is the last place you’d look for an unusually-shaped 15th-century castle steeped in centuries of intrigue.

Yet, there it is as I exit the slip road – perched on a small hill, its medieval lines an incongruous sight marooned in a land of new-build houses, retail parks and highway intersections. Who would have thought it?

Welcoming me to the castle is monument manager Alison Sullivan.

“We get so many visitors who come to investigate after driving past the castle time after time. Just the other day a guy popped in who’s been commuting along the A85 between Crieff and Perth for years. Like you, he seemed genuinely surprised at what he found.”

TALE OF TWO TOWERS

As we explore, it becomes clear that its location is just the first of many surprises that Huntingtower Castle has to offer.

There’s also its unusual construction, the painted treasures and secret hiding places inside, and stories of intriguing events – most famously a royal kidnapping known as the ‘Ruthven Raid’.

SIMON PRICE / ALAMY

Ida Maspero explores the once imposing seat of the Ruthven clan

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Huntingtower Castle took shape in stages from the 15th century as the imposing seat of the then powerful Ruthven family – indeed, it was once known as ‘Place of Ruthven’.

The family’s forebear, named Swein, had settled in Perthshire from East Lothian in the late 1100s, and it is quite likely that, before the present castle was built, the family’s stronghold would have been an earthwork-and-timber moated residence in much the same place.

The Ruthvens had gained prominence as patriots during the Wars of Independence. In 1297, William of Ruthven took men to help William Wallace besiege the English in Perth, and in 1314 he helped Robert Bruce capture Jedburgh Castle. For his loyalty, William was appointed Sheriff of Perth, an office that became almost hereditary in the family.

The castle’s current block-like form is, in fact, comprised of two tower houses built sometime between 1480

Details of a painted ceiling ART PRODUCTION

Inside the tower house

and 1530, and only joined up more than a century later. Unusually, the Ruthvens chose to build two separate tower houses with a gap of just under three metres between them. The gap between their battlements became known as the ‘Maiden’s Leap’ (see page 40).

The reason the Ruthvens built two tower houses so close together is one of the castle’s great mysteries. One theory is linked to a legal arrangement made in 1480, whereby the lord, Sir William Ruthven, divided his lands with his son and heir, Master William. This might have meant that two sets of living quarters were needed.

Beside the two towers once stood a great hall for banqueting and official events, as well as the usual array of medieval ancillary buildings – a bakery and brewhouse, perhaps, as well as stables, a smithy and so forth.

There would have been lavish gardens at its southern side too, though none of these remain today.

PAINTED JEWELS CLIENT

We enter the west tower via what would have been an internal door to the great hall.

“Turn around,” says Alison, pointing up. On the wall above the doorway, fragments of a skilfully painted geometric pattern hint at what would have been a highly decorative interior.

In a window alcove in the anteroom, traces remain of the family’s coat of arms in yellow and red.

Faint yet distinct, these painted plasterwork fragments are glimpses of the Lords Ruthvens’ status, wealth and lavish lifestyle.

“Just wait until you see the spectacular paintwork in the east tower,” Alison assures me in a conspiratorial tone. “It’s awesome in the true sense of the word!”

HOW TO GET THERE ● Huntingtower Castle is close to Perth, just off the A9 ● Book your visit online at historyawaits.scot

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Huntingtower 38-39 Writer Ida at the castle

But first, she draws my attention to a rectangular recess in the stonework called an aumbry – a cupboard for storing documents or valuables.

“With solid metal hinges and wooden doors, aumbries such as this were the safes of their time,” she explains.

We cross a wooden bridge into the east tower. Ducking through the doorway, we are met with a breathtaking sight: the most exquisite painted ceiling glows in the light of a standing lamp. Precise, intricate knotwork patterns in black draw the eye first, while red and yellow joists are festooned with delicate foliage and fruit motifs, creatures lurking among them: a dragon, the half-human, half-lion form of the mythical manticore, and the distinctive cheeky face of a green man.

A perfect spot to sit by the window

The crown in the secret chamber

Warm welcome

Lord Ruthven stored his most valuable possessions in a secret hiding place This is one of Scotland’s oldest surviving tempera-painted ceilings – the spectacular jewel of Huntingtower Castle. Created in around 1540, it is in remarkably pristine condition, probably thanks to having been later covered by ceiling panels and only rediscovered in 1913.

Complementing the ceiling are remnants of exquisitely detailed plasterwork paintings adorning the western window alcoves. As I take in the warm glow of the ceiling and paintings, it’s easy to imagine this hall in its heyday: fire roaring in the large fireplace, the stone walls clad with rich tapestries, fabric drapes or wood panelling, Lord Ruthven entertaining prominent guests.

“And little did the lord’s guests know that he stored his most valuable possessions right beneath their noses in a secret hiding place,” says Alison as, with a flourish, she pulls a cardboard sheet (proxy for a stone slab) from a slit at the bottom of an aumbry in the wall. Ah, a false bottom.

I stick my hand into the secret chamber roughly the size of a shoebox … and yes, there’s a (plastic) crown!

A ROYAL RAID No doubt the Place of Ruthven’s two impressive tower houses were fit for a queen – Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley visited in September 1565, soon after their wedding. However, the House of Stuart’s relationship with the

Ruthvens was complicated to say the least. In short… Mary and Darnley’s host, Patrick, 3rd Lord Ruthven, was one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, and together with his son William played a part in the murder of Mary’s personal secretary just a year after the visit. William, the 4th Lord, went on to assist with Mary’s forced abdication. Appointed treasurer of Scotland a few years after the coronation of Mary’s infant son James VI, William was bestowed the title Earl of Gowrie by the young king in 1581.

The following year, in a bid to drive a wedge between James and his proCatholic advisors, the 1st Earl invited the 16-year-old monarch to overnight at the Place of Ruthven … but didn’t let him leave. For 10 months the young king was held at the castle in a Protestant power grab known as the Ruthven Raid.

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Get a bird’s eye view

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after, in 1584, having again threatened the king’s reign, the first Earl of Gowrie was beheaded at Stirling. His property, including the Place of Ruthven, was forfeited to the Crown. Surprisingly, King James VI restored the estate and title to the executed earl’s son, James, just two years later.

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THE GOWRIE CONSPIRACY What follows is a bizarre series of events known as the Gowrie Conspiracy. According to the king’s official account, he was invited to stay at the Perth townhouse of James Ruthven, 2nd Earl of Gowrie. Again, he found himself locked in. A struggle during his rescue saw Gowrie and his brother stabbed to death.

Had the Ruthvens been plotting another coup, or was this a convenient excuse for the king to rid himself of a long-standing enemy?

The motive remains a mystery, but for the Ruthvens the outcome was grim – the brothers’ corpses were hanged, drawn and quartered in Edinburgh for high treason (even though they were already dead!), and the family was effectively cancelled. The Ruthven name was suppressed by an Act of Parliament in 1600.

Their family seat became Crown property once again, and was renamed Huntingtower. For the next 200 years, a succession of keepers from the Murray family occupied the castle: among them was John, 1st Duke of Atholl, who was most likely behind

the significant alterations made in the late 1600s.

This brings us back to Huntingtower’s unusual design. The three-metre gap between the Ruthvens’ two tower houses had a roof added at that time,

and the number and size of windows in the towers were increased, resulting in the building we see today.

Our tour around the castle concludes with a quiet moment standing on the ground floor of the connecting section, our gazes drawn upwards by the sweep of three-storey stone walls.

“This is another of my castle highlights – so impressive,” says Alison. “If only the castle walls – and their beautiful paintings – could talk, The things they’ve seen and the tales they’d tell!”

Turning onto the motorway home, I reflect on the greatest surprise of the day – how splendid remnants and dramatic stories from the past can so often be found hidden in plain sight, where you least expect them. Like a crown in a secret compartment.

So, next time you find yourself heading along the A9, or even just visiting the garden centre across the A85, be sure to visit Huntingtower Castle for a delightful day out.

ALSO LOOK OUT FOR… Doo’cot in the eaves Look up when standing in the wing of the west tower.

At the very top, just below the ceiling, are rows of pigeon holes.

These birds were a valuable source of eggs and meat in the Middle Ages.

Garderobes The castle has three medieval-style toilets, known as garderobes.

Located in tiny cubicles, their outlets led straight to the outside, like a pit latrine. No flush facilities were available here!

Gun loops The Place of Ruthven was built as a fortified residence. The inverted

keyhole design of the gun slits helps to date the tower houses.

Bat droppings The castle is home to at least three species of bat – tiny pipistrelles, brown long-eared bats and shy natterer’s bats.

You’re unlikely to see the bats themselves during a visit, but might spot the odd ‘calling card’.

Forgotten doorways As you walk around the northern exterior wall of the castle, see if you can spot the outline of filled-in doorways – an indication of where the great hall and other long-gone wings would have been.

The Maiden’s Leap The space between the battlements of the two original towers takes its name from the story of a secret love affair between Dorothea Ruthven, daughter of William, 1st Earl of Gowrie, and a lodger.

Hearing her mother’s footsteps come up the stairs while she was in the young man’s room, she escaped to her own chamber in the other tower by running onto the roof and leaping across the battlements!

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Mapping climate change HOW WE’RE USING ROBOTS TO HELP TRACK AN EVOLVING ENVIRONMENT ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH

Big Bend, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) in 1947, 1961 and 1971 The images show the development of road communications, agricultural practices and human habitation around this meander in the River Lusutfu.

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unique collection of 1.5 million aerial photographs, featuring 55 Commonwealth countries, is set to be digitised in a new project for which grant funding of £750,000 will enable researchers to track environmental change since the 1940s.

The National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP), which has been based in Edinburgh since 2008 and is part of Historic Environment Scotland, holds more than 30 million images, including many taken over continental Europe during the Second World War. A team of eight humans and five robots are preserving and digitising imagery of the Commonwealth countries in a new multi-million-pound, 20,000 sq ft facility on the outskirts of the city.

The five robots can scan up to 10,000 prints a day – far more than five humans could achieve.

According to Dr Allan Williams, who is head of NCAP, the aerial photographs were originally created for the Directorate of Overseas Surveys (DOS) between the 1940s and the 1980s to facilitate the creation of maps of 55 Commonwealth countries.

“DOS was originally the Directorate of Colonial Surveys and its founding director, Brigadier Martin Hotine, had the vision of using air photography for creating mapping,” Allan says.

“In the 1940s and into the early 1950s, the RAF would go to a country like Malawi and photograph the entirety of the country. They did that stereoscopically, creating a threedimensional image of the Earth.

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A robot scans images for inclusion in the NCAP archive

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State-of-the-art technology A team of eight humans and five robots are working on this new digitisation project

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“Many of the countries which were surveyed had literally no maps, so for the initial surveys they had to build radar stations and fly concentric rings around them. The maps were created and the photographs were put into storage and were largely not consulted thereafter.

“The model after you had this baseline dataset was that when areas changed – so for example Blantyre, Malawi – more photography was taken of the areas and that happened throughout the existence of DOS from the 1940s to the 1980s. Even when countries became independent that relationship carried on.”

NCAP acquired the collection in 2012 when it was in danger of being destroyed because its then home, at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol, was being closed.

The collection is now housed in a massive records management facility near Livingston with the rest of NCAP’s archive.

Measuring change “The collection covers a large proportion of the Earth’s surface and also records change over the second half of the 20th century,” says Allan.

“The photographs are survey quality.

The earliest photographs pre-date the first generation Landsat satellite images by 30 years and are of a quality well in excess of them. It is allowing us to look at and measure change. So, things like coastal erosion or deforestation can all be measured from this photography. For climate change research it provides realworld data rather than modelled data.

“Nobody to my knowledge has ever taken so much historic aerial imagery and actually measured reality because it is so hard to get this data.”

For climate change research this photography provides real-world data

A typical example of the DOS photography is three separate photographs taken above the same area in eastern Eswatini – then called Swaziland – which shows how an empty landscape was developed between 1947 and 1971.

“It has gone from wilderness to a bridge over the river, to plantations appearing, and the creation of a new settlement,” says Allan.

This year-long project has been grant-funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, and HES is also working in partnership with the Department of Economics at Stockholm University and the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at the University of California (Berkeley).

Allan says the top-flight US university has expertise in matching together individual images to create a seamless mosaic.

“The resultant country-sized images – macro level data – allow us to analyse change over time,” he adds.

BOMB DISPOSAL NCAP receives most of its funding from images taken before, during and after bombing raids by the Allies during the Second World War. These are used to locate unexploded ordnance in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

“It is an enormous legacy of the global conflict that so

much unexploded ordnance survives underground and underwater,” Allan Williams says. “Every day of the week we are supplying images to specialist consultancies and bomb disposal units. They think this work will go on for at least another century because the number of bombs dropped was so enormous.”

NCAP images help locate unexploded ordnance and bombs

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Montserrat in 1968, 1982 and 1999 Images show development in the area and the impact of a volcanic eruption in July 1995

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The project’s robots are technically called ‘cobots’ – collaborative robots – because they aren’t housed in cages and can interact with humans. Allan says digitising the volumes of DOS photography held by NCAP would have been a challenging job for humans alone, so the discovery of a US company called Rethink Robotics which had developed a ‘cobot’ arm was an important turning point for the project.

Yorkshire company CBM-Logix won a tender to develop an integration system that uses the arm to lift prints from the in tray, puts them onto scanners, operates the scanners and once the scans have completed, the arm carefully places the prints in the out tray.

Millions of images Allan Williams has been involved with NCAP since 2000, when it was based at the University of Keele in Staffordshire.

At that stage NCAP held 5.5 million images in its archive. Between 2004 and 2008, NCAP acquired a further 20 million images from the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Outgrowing its accommodation at the university, NCAP was acquired by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) which in 2015 merged with Historic Scotland.

Now Allan is looking forward to next year, when NCAP’s website is being relaunched and the newly digitised DOS photographs will be available to researchers. He says: “With this project we are actually going to be able to make huge amounts of photography of large parts of the world accessible for free at postcard size. People will also be able to buy a subscription and then access all of that imagery at higher resolution. It is just a start. Year on year, millions of extra images will become accessible online.

“It has taken a very long time to get to this stage. We started off quite small in terms of resources and equipment. We have developed hundreds of different processes for handling and preserving the film and our new production centre effectively brings all of that work together on an industrial scale.”

NCAP will shortly be receiving another tranche of declassified aerial photography from the MOD that will include both Gulf Wars and the conflict following the breakup of Yugoslavia.

“From a military perspective that period was the end of analogue film and thereafter if we receive anything it will be in digital format,” says Allan.

“In terms of collecting other collections we have most already – but never say never.”

We have developed hundreds of different processes for handling and preserving the film

A NEW HOME FOR NCAP The new multi-millionpound state of the art facility in Sighthill, Edinburgh, has been purpose-built to preserve and digitise historical records – specifically aerial photography. It features large hermetically sealed chambers and a cleanroom environment.

“We digitise modern film at a high resolution and, if there is dust in the atmosphere and dust in the scanner, we are digitising dust,” Allan Williams says.

“So we go to extreme lengths to make sure we are not damaging the original and also getting the best quality scan as well.”

The new facility

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Membership

r u o Tell y s! d n e i fr

Reasons to be a Historic Scotland member

SUBS ART

Free entry to our properties, including Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and many more 1

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Enjoy discounts on products in store and online 2

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Support heritage outreach and education projects in Scotland 4

A great magazine delivered four times a year

SHUTTERSTOCK

3

Your friends and family can save 20% With our Member Get Member scheme, your friends and family can get a 20% discount on their first year of membership. This means they can enjoy days out at incredible

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landmarks and join you in helping us to protect Scotland’s heritage.

Terms and conditions apply.

Send them here to sign up: historicenvironment.scot/mgm

Half-price entry to other UK heritage attractions, including English Heritage properties 6

Help to protect Scotland’s historic buildings with our conservation work 5

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EXCITING ACTIVITIES ACROSS SCOTLAND

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Enjoy knight and day events across Scotland

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MARCH - JUNE

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Toilets

Gift shop

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Restaurant/café

Reasonable wheelchair access

Picnic area

Dogs not permitted (except assistance dogs)

A summer of fun for all Jousting season has arrived at Linlithgow Palace and Caerlaverock Castle Tickets will be available nearer the time of the events.

Keep an eye on your emails to find out when you can book.

The Rock of Ages DUMBARTON CASTLE *

Sat 11-Sun 12 Jun; 11am-4pm 0131 668 8885 events@hes.scot historicenvironment. scot/events Once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde, this year Dumbarton celebrates 800 years as a royal burgh. But what was life like back then? Join us in the shadow of the rock as we journey back 800 years and beyond.

Spectacular Jousting LINLITHGOW PALACE *

Sat 2-Sun 3 Jul; 11.30am-4.30pm 0131 668 8885 events@hes.scot historicenvironment. scot/events Experience an afternoon of exhilarating horsemanship and impressive skills as the brave

See Scotland through the ages at Fort George’s Celebration of the Centuries

and courageous knights compete in this exciting annual jousting tournament.

Spectacular Jousting CAERLAVEROCK CASTLE *

Sat 30-Sun 31 Jul; 11am-4pm 0131 668 8885 events@hes.scot historicenvironment. scot/events Hear the thundering

of hooves and the clash of lances as our four champions take to the arena to battle it out in our spectacular show.

Celebration of the Centuries FORT GEORGE

Sat 13-Sun 14 Aug; 11am-5pm 0131 668 8885 events@hes.scot historicenvironment. scot/events

Fort George is once again set to host Celebration of the Centuries – our largest re-enactment event. In this weekend long celebration, re-enactors will bring the mighty fortress to life with a living timeline depicting over two thousand years of Scottish history.

* Access is for the event only. There is no visitor access to the site

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Visionary Palaces: Designs

by Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Unforgettable: The Untold Stories of People Who Shaped Scotland

SUBS

DUFF HOUSE

BLACKNESS CASTLE

Fri 18 Mar-Sun 8 May During opening hours 01261 818181 historicenvironment. scot/events

Sat 9 AprSun 10 Jul, daily During opening hours 01506 834807 historicenvironment. scot/events

ART

Visionary Palaces presents a selection of rare colour prints by the outstanding German architect and artist Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841).

APRIL

This exhibition explores stories from people who shaped and were shaped

by Scotland.

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SPYNIE PALACE

Stenness and Barnhouse Walk STANDING STONES OF STENNESS AND BARNHOUSE VILLAGE

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Wed, Apr-May, then Mon-Fri from Mon 16 May; 10am 01856 841732 orkneyrangers @hes.scot Join the Rangers for a walk around one of the oldest stone circles and the nearby Neolithic settlement of Barnhouse.

Get hands-on in the great outdoors with the Rangers

Medieval Weekend Sat 30 Apr-Sun 1 May; 11am-4pm 0131 668 8885 historicenvironment. scot/events Hear about Robert the Bruce’s campaign in the north and experience what life was like in medieval times.

Ranger events HOLYROOD PARK, LINLITHGOW PEEL, BLACKNESS CASTLE

Various dates and times 0131 652 8150 historicenvironment.scot/ ranger-service Enjoy the great outdoors with our Rangers. Our programme includes Holiday Club events for children with fun themes

Easter Eggsplorer

including Brilliant Birds and The Big Minibeast Hunt; guided walks for all abilities; and our new dog-friendly ambles.

There’s something for all the family! Many of our Ranger events are free to join, but prebooking is essential.

Crack the puzzles – but don’t crack your egg!

VARIOUS SITES

Brodgar Walk RING OF BRODGAR

Thu, Apr-May, then daily from Mon 16 May; 1pm 01856 841732 orkneyrangers @hes.scot Join the Rangers to learn more about the Ring of Brodgar and the wider landscape in which it sits.

Parking

Toilets

Fri 15-Mon 18 Apr During opening hours Included in admission historicenvironment. scot/events The popular Easter Explorer trails are back! Visit some of our most iconic castles, abbeys, forts and palaces for an epic Easter exploration.

Gift shop

Restaurant/café

Reasonable wheelchair access

Picnic area

Dogs not permitted (except assistance dogs)

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Masterpiece Loan 2022: Sir Alexander Morison, 1779-1866 DUFF HOUSE

SUBS

Fri 13 May 2022Fri 19 May 2023 During opening hours 01261 818181 historicenvironment. scot/events

Richard Dadd is the latest in a series of paintings to be loaned

by National Galleries of Scotland.

The Ghaist Drifter and Other Tales DUFF HOUSE

Fri 20 May-Sun 17 Jul During opening hours 01261 818181 historicenvironment. scot/events

The Ghaist Drifter and Other Tales is a landlubber’s homage in paintings to the fisher folk of the North East of Scotland.

Viking Invasion DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE

Sat 28-Sun 29 May; 11am-4pm 0131 668 8885 events@hes.scot historicenvironment. scot/events

This masterpiece by ART

BSL Days

Watch fearless Viking warriors in thrilling clashes. Wander around the living history camp and find out how Vikings lived and how they made weapons and clothes.

JUNE

Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus

STIRLING CASTLE

Sat 11 Jun; 7.30pm Book tickets at sco.org.uk The Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus, under the direction of Gregory Batsleer, bring sublime choral music to the magnificent setting of Stirling Castle’s Great Hall, for what is certain to be a memorable evening.

Encounters in time

PRODUCTION

Explore Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle with deaf tour guide John Hay. His British Sign Language tour will also be translated into English by an interpreter.

Included in admission, carers go free.

CLIENT

EDINBURGH CASTLE

STIRLING CASTLE

Sat 9 Apr and Sat 18 Jun; 10.30am and 2.30pm edinburghcastle. scot/events

Sat 23 Apr and Sat 11 Jun; 10.30am and 2.30pm stirlingcastle.scot/ events

See history come to life

Deaf tour guide John Hay

Parking

Toilets

Gift shop

Restaurant/café

Reasonable wheelchair access

Picnic area

Living History VARIOUS SITES

Various times and dates Meet people from the past with our exciting Living History programme!

Running throughout the year at Edinburgh and Stirling castles and during the summer season at more of our sites, including Urquhart Castle and Fort George, come along to say hello to historical characters.

Check our website for full details.

Dogs not permitted (except assistance dogs)

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Buzzing new products

1

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If you’re looking to give your kitchen a spring refresh, check out our new bee and Highland cow kitchen ranges!

PRODUCTION

3 CLIENT

2 6

Based on the outskirts of Edinburgh, artist Chloe Gardner’s love of colour and nature is captured beautifully in her designs.

9

Items include ceramic mugs and jugs, cotton aprons and tea towels, oven gloves and chopping boards.

Prices start from £7.50. To buy and view the full range, visit our online shop.

BEE KITCHEN RANGE 1 Oven gloves £21.00 2 Apron £20.00 3 Jug £13.00 HIGHLAND COW KITCHEN RANGE 4 Chopping Board £15.00 5 Espresso Mug £11.00 6 Coaster (set of two) £7.50 7 Oven Gloves £21.00 8 Tablemat £10.00 9 Apron £20.00

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Retail

R E TA I L

Add to basket and bookshelf ...

1

2022 is the Year of Stories! Tales new and old, of people and places, inspired by nature and local myth and legend.

Here are some of our new titles from Scottish writers...

1 The Unremembered Places: Exploring Scotland’s Wild Histories by Patrick Baker £9.99

2

This much-praised exploration of the many strange relics hidden across Scotland’s landscape visits forgotten places that are gateways to stories and past lives which still resonate today.

Patrick Baker makes a series of journeys on foot and by paddle.

Combining a rich fusion of travelogue and historical narrative, he threads themes of geology, natural and social history, literature and industry from the places he visits, discovering connections between people and place more powerful than can be imagined.

2 Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart £8.99 Set in 1981, this Booker Prize-winning Scottish novel is a moving and resonant family saga.

Agnes Bain has been abandoned by her philandering husband, and she and her three children find themselves trapped in a gutted mining town. As Agnes descends deeper into drink, the children try their best to save her. It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest, believing that if he tries as hard as he can, he can be normal like other boys and help his mother escape this hopeless place.

3 The Queen of Birds by Karine Polwart and Kate Leiper £6.99 An exquisite picture book retelling of a well-known traditional tale by Karine Polwart, one of Scotland’s most admired songwriters and storytellers, illustrated by renowned artist Kate Leiper.

After a terrible storm, the Kingdom of the Birds is looking for a new leader. Will it be the bird with the loveliest song, or the brightest plumage, or the one who flies highest or fastest? Across the sky, birds are flocking: nightingales and robins, barn owls and blackbirds, curlews and cuckoos, herons and hoopoes. And Wee Jenny Wren.

3

4 Strong Brave True: Great Scots Who Changed the World

by Mairi Kidd and Tom Morgan-Jones £12.99 This book showcases the innovations of Scots throughout the ages and in many different fields, from astronomy, philosophy and lighthouse design to technology, poetry and medicine.

Strong Brave True offers an elastic approach to Scottish identity and aims to inspire readers of all ages. The afterword, for everyone of ‘an enquiring mind’, considers recent controversies around social change.

SPEND Members receive a 20% discount by using & SAVE the code MEMBER22 at the checkout

4

SHOP Visit the online shop at historicenvironment.scot/shop HISTORICENVIRONMENT.SCOT 55

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Time trip

ARCHIVE VERSION

Ann MacArthur feeding lambs on Iona in 1950, photographed by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor

Two women get involved in lambing season, c.1960

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A shepherd and his dog with two lambs, c.1955

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A two-year-old girl feeds Oxford cross lambs in Roxburghshire, c.1964

TIME TRIP

Flocking together throughout history LAMBING SEASON It’s often said that it takes a village to raise a child, and the same can be said of livestock. Traditionally, every member of a farming family was expected to help rear the young animals that arrived each spring.

Lambing season was, and is,

one of the busiest times of year and the list of jobs would be split between children and adults.

As captured by travel writer and photographer Alasdair Alpin MacGregor during his time in rural Scottish communities in the early to mid-20th century,

girls and young women had the job of feeding the lambs, while boys and young men would help with sheep shearing and other strenuous activities.

Much of Scotland’s sheep farming was concentrated in and around the Scottish Borders, as is the case today.

The Border Leicester had likely become the most popular breed by the mid1900s, although Oxford crosses – the offspring of Southdowns and Cotswolds breeds – were also common.

See scran.ac.uk for more archive photography.

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