News Archive - March-April 2004
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Highland Clearances Website
Tourists declared "no threat" to Maeshowe
Ancient monuments regain their Orcadian names
Iron Age Chariot discovered in Edinburgh oldest in Britain
World War II in Moray
Argyll Islands heritage gets grant boost
Shetland Maps, Cartoons and Engravings on-line
'Carved Stone Balls - a Prehistoric Mystery' - Exhibition
National Library of Scotlands Annual Awards
Migdale Hoard returned to the Highlands
The Highland Clearances website
http://www.theclearances.org
A rapidly-growing digital archive on Scotland's Highland Clearances. Concentrating on first-hand accounts it tells the stories of where people came from and the places to which they went. Photographs, articles, statistics, people and passenger searches, maps and much more.
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Tourists declared "no threat" to Maeshowe
Increasing visitor numbers is not having a detrimental effect on one of Orkney's top visitor attractions, Maeshowe and Skara Brae, according to initial findings of a study carried out by scientists brought in by Historic Scotland. State-of-the-art technology is being used to analyse whether the walls were moving and being eroded at both sites. Interim results for Maeshowe has suggested that visitor numbers are not a problem. Small recording devices are being used to record information on temperature and relative humidity and take a reading once every minute. Photogrammetry - a process of measurement by photography - is being used to tell whether the stones are moving or decreasing and if cracks are appearing. Investigations at the Stone Age village of Skara Brae have still to be analysed. Monitoring will continue and the study will be completed in the first half of 2004. (Source: The Orcadian, Orkneyjar)
For more information on these sites: http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/skarabrae/
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Ancient monuments regain their Orcadian names
Historic Scotland are to start referring to two of Orkney's best known monuments by their rightful Orcadian names. The name "Ring of Brogar" will be replaced by Ring o' Brodgar in Orkney's West Mainland. In addition, they are to revert to the local one-word spelling of Maeshowe, doing away with the "Maes Howe" spelling that does not reflect the Orcadian pronunciation, mayz-ow or mayz-oo.
The splitting of the name and subsequent mispronunciation first began to appear in the late 80s and has since gradually crept into use outside Orkney. Although "Brogar" is technically correct - from the Old Norsebrar-garr meaning "Bridge Farm" - the name is no longer found in this form in Orkney. Recorded in 1563 as "Broager", it seems likely that it's local pronunciation (broa(d)yeur), led to the gradual inclusion of a "d" when the name came to be written.
Historic Scotland's decision to use "Ring of Brogar" for the Brodgar henge was based on the name that appeared on Ordnance Survey maps - which are notorious for corrupting Orkney placenames. However, although they always referred to the stone ring as "Brogar", they would refer to the other related placenames as "Brodgar" - Ness of Brodgar, Brodgar Farm, Brig of Brodgar, etc - a fact that caused considerable confusion among visiting tourists and even academia. Source: Orkneyjar (12 January 2004)
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Iron Age Chariot discovered in Edinburgh oldest in Britain
An Iron Age chariot unearthed at an Edinburgh building site has been proved the oldest in Britain. Radiocarbon tests on the wheels of the chariot, which has been described as a "Ferrari of the Iron Age", have proved it dates back to 400BC - 200 years earlier than the previous oldest British find. The chariot is remarkably complete, with surviving parts including its base, two wheels and even the remains of a bridle. The Newbridge Chariot is a British-style chariot, but the way in which it was - where the chariot is buried intact - is similar to burials in Northern France and Belgium. The chariot was unearthed on a building site almost three years ago at the Edinburgh Interchange business park, near the Newbridge roundabout. Described as one of the most important archaeological discoveries ever made in Scotland, it was found just 200 metres from the Huly Hill stone circle. Scientists have just finished studying the remains and it is now being prepared to go on public display, probably at the Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street.
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World War II in Moray
A book recently published entitled World War II in Moray is the first to record an account of the war years in Moray. It includes the life of the people in the towns and villages, not just the stories of those who saw active duty in the war. The authors are Bill Bartlam and Ian Keiller both local historians and archaeologists who served during the War in the RAF and the Army respectively.
More information from: Allane Hay e-mail: allane@ahcelgin.fsnet.co.uk
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Argyll Islands heritage gets grant boost
A major environmental scheme across the historic Argyll Islands has been given the green light as the Heritage Lottery Fund recently announced a Stage One pass for a grant of 2,216,000 for the Ndair programme.
Ndair is a highly innovative area-wide scheme which will co-ordinate 38 projects across 14 islands. Run by the Ndair Trust, it provides a holistic approach to working with the natural, cultural and built heritage in a way which will not only conserve them but regenerate the area bringing economic, educational and social benefits to the people that live there.
Ndair is already assisting island communities with a range of heritage projects through its current programme, due for completion next year. Thirty-one projects are ongoing, with some already complete, including the award winning Tigh Iseabal Dhaidh Crofters Cottage on Lismore.
Projects proposed for the new programme range from area-wide initiatives such as the Butterflies and Burnet Moths Recovery Programme, to be coordinated by Butterfly Conservation Scotland, to local initiatives such as the An Iodhlann archive on Tiree, and a Community Eagle Watch on Mull.
The Ndair programme will make an important contribution to the local economy. Major new interpretative exhibitions on Islay and in Oban will encourage island tourism, while a number of new attractions, such as the soon-to-be restored Gigha Gardens, and a new Heritage Museum on Lismore, will encourage more visitors and longer stays. Visitors and locals alike will benefit from initiatives to improve access to walking routes and wildlife viewing areas on Islay, Jura, Mull, Colonsay and Tiree.
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Shetland Maps, Cartoons and Engravings on-line
Shetland Museum's "Shetland Maps, Cartoons and Engravings" project comprises 100 images on a selection of engravings, cartoons and the museum's pre 1880s map collection, which provide a distinctive view of Shetland culture and heritage along with an historical look at the map makers art. Thumbnail images are freely available to all viewers. To look at these records, enter the following search into the Instant or Quick searches: 0872 in project at http://www.rls.org.uk/homepage/
Those who subscribe to the SCRAN database at www.scran.ac.uk can also avail of the full text accompanying each record plus view the images at large sizes, including the new Image Zoom facility, allowing users to zoom in on the text of documents which would otherwise be difficult to read or illegible at the usual web resolution.
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'Carved Stone Balls - a Prehistoric Mystery' - Exhibition
'Carved Stone Balls - a Prehistoric Mystery' is a new exhibition at Marischal Museum (Aberdeen, Scotland) that explores a prehistoric mystery with the help of local children from Woodside School and of the sculptor Keiji Nagahiro.
Some 4000 years ago a series of decorated stone balls were painstakingly made - they are each about the size of an orange and have a number of regular bosses carved on them. As nearly 90% of the balls have been found in North East Scotland, archaeologists think they were made in this area. No-one knows what the carved stone balls were used for. Archaeologists look at the wear marks, the find spots and the associated finds. This does not solve the mystery. This exhibition suggests some possible ideas from archaeologists, from children from Woodside School and from the sculptor Keiji Nagahiro.
As over 70 stone balls will be on display from 19 January to 31 March 2004, this is a unique opportunity to see one of the largest collections of these enigmatic carvings. At the same time another exhibition at the same museum, titled 'Spirit of Stones' is showing (until 19 February 2004) the batiks by Annabel Carey. The batiks are all of stone circles and standing stones, many of them in Scotland, including well known north-east sites such as Sunhoney, Cullerlie and Loanhead of Daviot. The title 'Spirit of Stones' sums up the feel of this exhibition: they are very evocative of the atmosphere which surrounds many stone circles and other prehistoric sites.
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National Library of Scotlands Annual Awards
Application forms for two of the Library's annual awards have gone online this week. The Robert Louis Stevenson Award provides writers with a chance to develop their work during a two-month residence in the international arts centre at Grez-sur-Loing in France. Publishers of poetry pamphlets are invited to apply for the Callum Macdonald Award, which aims to encourage the publishing of poetry in this form. For the application forms (downloadable
PDFs) and further details of the competitions, see:
http://www.nls.uk/news/awards/index.html
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Migdale Hoard returned to the Highlands
The Migdale Hoard has been returned to the Highlands of Scotland for an exhibition at Inverness Museum. A priceless collection of Bronze Age jewellery - including a bronze axe head, bronze hair ornaments, sets of bronze bangles and anklets, and several carved jet and shale buttons - it was found in May 1900 in a rock crevice above Loch Migdale, Sutherland. Although kept in Edinburgh at the National Museums of Scotland, the artefacts are being lent to Inverness Museum for an exhibition lasting until mid-June.
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MAJOR NEW HISTORICAL WEBSITES:
Medieval or Later Rural Settlement (MoLRS) Website
http://www.molrs.org.uk
Scottish Archive Network
http://www.scan.org.uk
Old News!: browse news articles from previous months.
November-December 2003
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