History Scotland Magazine

Vol. 5 No. 4 July/August 2005

Contents

The Abernethy Foundation Account & its Place-Names
Simon Taylor

Abernethy, Perthshire, an important Pictish ecclesiastical centre, is fortunate in having a short foundation account, in one version of which are embedded several very old forms of local place-names. The account purports to date from the 6th century or earlier (the chronology is confused), but was written down much later. The version with the place-names survives as part of a Pictish king-list found in the famous Poppleton Manuscript, a codex containing important early Scottish material compiled by order of Brother Robert of Poppleton, probably in York shortly before 1364

Edward’s Hostage
Frank Harkness

More than seven hundred years ago hostages were seized in Scotland and taken to the Tower of London by Edward I. Negotiations for their return were started soon after. Eventually some were returned; some ‘disappeared’; and one has only just been released. The tale of this last ‘hostage’ begins on the first Friday in August 1280, when in a small chapel in the Pentland Hills outside Edinburgh, a priest sat down with pen and parchment to record a matter of local concern. This was not state business or the usual charter or decree. It was an account of a meeting of ordinary 13th century working people trying to resolve a problem that affected their everyday lives. Why did Edward I seize this and other Scottish documents? Frank Harkness, a retired Detective Inspector of Police and enthusiastic historian, relates the story behind this ‘lost’ Scottish document recently found in the National Archives in London. His investigation lead to its return to Scotland in May 2005.

Rough Justice A Life & Death in Late Medieval Edinburgh
Elizabeth Ewan

Uncovering the lives of late medieval Scottish women is not easy. There are no diaries, letters, photographs, census materials or memoirs, and few surviving artefacts. Historians of this period have to rely on more impersonal sources such as government, financial and court records, property and legal transactions, chronicles and travellers’ accounts, and archaeological evidence. Most women are found only in one type of record and often only once. What is unusual about the subject of this article - Alison Rough - is that she appears in almost every type of record that exists for the period. Because her husband was a notary, she moved in a world where written records were increasingly common, although she herself appears to have been unable to write. Another reason for her visibility, however, was her character – determined to uphold her rights and those of her children, she became a well-kent figure in the Edinburgh courts.

The Outbreak of the Marian Civil War
Harry Potter

The first in a series of articles to ap pear in the coming months on the Marian Civil War. This opening article sets the scene and focuses on two of the main figures William Kirkcaldy of Grange, Captain of Edinburgh Castle and in contrast to this man of military prowess, William Maitland of Lethington - an enormously gifted civil servant and wily politician, a man of words, winning battles by intellect, subterfuge and cunning.

Cornmills & Cartwheels
David Macadam

Caithness is the most northerly of the mainland counties of Scotland, and the impression that seems to greet most visitors is one of a tranquil, remote rural backwater: a very pleasant place to live and work. It is this image that assists the historic impression that Caithness must always have been this way. It is an impression that has been reinforced by local historians such as Calder in his classic history of Caithness and influenced by outsiders such as Samuel Smiles in his biography of Robert Dick. Together these give a now commonly held belief that Caithness was a poor place, even a wretched place, in the eighteenth century and did not experience any agricultural improvement until the nineteenth century improvements were led in by the indefatigable John Sinclair of Ulbster.

David Macadam’s studies of the history of the parish of Watten in the centre of the county and in particular in the history of two corn mills in the parish convinced him that the picture of Caithness being economically backward prior to the intervention of the great agricultural reformers was just simply wrong.

James Stobie & his surveying of the Perthshire landscape, 1780-1804
Chris Fleet

Chris Fleet, Deputy Map Curator at the National Library of Scotland, examines the life and achievements of James Stobie. Of particular importance were his two county maps of Perthshire, revised and reissued also in 1805 which were works of huge endeavour, skill, and quality. Examining these maps and their author reveal that Stobie was in fact a man of many talents, a mathematician, land-surveyor, architect, artist, and estate factor, who played a decisive role in reorganising the rural landscape of Perthshire.

Conveyance & Contribution: Mormon Scots Gather to an American Zion
Fred E.Woods

Around 90,000 European converts heeded the call to gather with the Saints in America during the nineteenth century (1840-1900). According to Professor Frederick S. Buchanan, of this group, some ten thousand Scots converted to Mormonism, and about half (five thousand) responded to the call to gather to Zion. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as Mormons) believe that God selected Joseph Smith Jr. to restore the early Christian church on earth in Fayette, New York, in 1830. They are unique among Christian faiths in their belief in The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith led his Latter-day Saint followers first to Kirtland, Ohio, then to Missouri, and on later to Illinois to establish a community at Nauvoo (1839-1846). Two years after a mob killed Smith in 1844, Brigham Young became the leader of the church and determined to settle in the Great Basin, far from persecution. He led the first group of Mormon settlers into the valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847. This article relates the experience of their conveyance to America and the subsequent contributions they made on an ever-expanding Zion in the West. Part two of this article will appear in the next issue of History Scotland - September/October 2005 Vol.5.No.5

Historic National Treasures Found at Loch Lomond Site.

Leading Scottish archaeologists recently confirmed that a vast array of important national treasures dating back as far as the Iron Age have been discovered on the site of the 5-star Carrick at Cameron House. Includes: a beautiful Iron Age glass bead believed to be only the second ever discovered in Scotland, an early Christian burial site with possible Viking or Norse connections, an unbroken shale bracelet, a roundhouse believed to be from a Neolithic or Bronze Age settlement, a blacksmith's iron smelting workshop where weapons were made and an Iron Age settlement covering more than 1000 sq. m.

Craiglockhart Castle - Recent work.
Melanie Johnson & Nicola Scott

A detailed picture of the development of the estate of Craiglockhart, now absorbed into the southern Edinburgh suburbs, has been gained as a result of a recent programme of archaeological excavation, building recording and historical research.

Obituary: Graham Ritchie - Surveyor of Scotland's ancient monuments
David Breeze