This essay considers the connections between two cultural objects from 16th-century Scotland, the St Mary’s College Mazer and St Andrews MS 39000, a copy of Regiam maiestatem written in vernacular Scots. Both items were made in Edinburgh by men from the same burgess family: the goldsmith Thomas Ewyn and his brother the notary Robert Ewyn. Attention is focused first on methods of authentication. The essay sets Robert Ewyn’s notarial mark alongside Thomas Ewyn’s goldsmith’s mark in order to highlight their similarities in form and to contextualise them within a broader discussion of contemporary practices of authentication across different media. Historic descriptions of the St Mary’s College Mazer, one of the earliest known pieces of fully hallmarked Scottish silver, are revisited and fresh attention is paid to the circumstances and date of its production. The brothers’ precise location within central Edinburgh is established through close analysis of craft and burgh records, wills and testaments, and the documentation of land transactions through instruments and in notaries’ protocol books. This research has also illuminated their family background and extensive social networks. From this personally framed study of two brothers and their different professional spheres of operation, new insights arise into the closely interlocked nature of 16th-century Scottish urban society and especially into the Edinburgh burgess families who dominated craft production, property holding and wealth creation in the decades surrounding the Scottish Reformation.
In 2020–21, excavations at Glenlee Power Station, near New Galloway, uncovered the remains of an iron bloomery mound (NGR: NX 60607 80411). The site comprised three large working hollows, containing truncated ironworking features, including furnace basal pits, and other clusters of pits, post holes and ditches. Over 450kg of vitrified debris was recovered, containing smelting slag, bloom, plano-convex bases, possible clay tuyère fragments, and other ironworking debris. Analysis of the ironworking remains indicates that the site was used primarily for iron smelting with some evidence for bloom smithing and blacksmithing. Radiocarbon dates place the site within the early medieval period, making it the largest iron smelting assemblage and the only known bloomery site recognised so far from this period in Scotland.
The paper seeks to outline UK Treasury support for the buildings owned by the Crown (largely acquired on the final abolition of the Episcopacy in 1689) and other buildings in Scotland deemed of national interest for the period 1832–79. It charts Treasury policy of grant-aid after the transference of Scottish hereditary land revenue to the Commissioners of Woods, noting that although the 1707 Act of Union implied a legal obligation to uphold and upkeep Scottish Crown property, support was limited, conditional on local contributions and notionally attributed to Scottish land revenue. It then details the evolution of subsequent preservation policy and, in the light of local representations to promote public access for recreation and enjoyment, the reclamation of other Crown property funded unconditionally from parliamentary grants. With reference to the role of Treasury patronage it then discusses the provision of grant-aid for the preservation of a number of non-Crown historic buildings and sites, a policy not commonly available in England. While noting the contribution of contemporary antiquarians, the paper concentrates primarily on the decisions of Treasury ministers, and highlights the intervention of William Gladstone and Queen Victoria in such matters. It then reviews the Treasury decision not to lease or sell such properties to local authorities and its acceptance that as the extended list of properties were owned by the Crown there remained an obligation to prevent them ‘falling into decay’. It concludes by considering the policy’s impact after the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 on heightening Scottish interest and commitment towards the preservation of other sites of historical interest.
Although an ever-growing body of modern discoveries has corrected previous accounts of the ancestry of many medieval families, the Scottish Wars of Independence remain an era rich in historical figures of uncertain descent. In particular, with a better understanding of the important role women played during the long years of imprisonment, forfeiture and minorities that plagued many Scottish families of the era, reassessments of a variety of traditional accounts are now overdue. Isabel Stewart, countess of Mar, is one such individual of the age for whom far too little study has been conducted. The following article carefully reviews the relationships of Isabel and her children and the inheritances to which they succeeded, coupled with an extensive reconstruction of the Barclay family, employing traditional and genetic genealogy to investigate the kinship between them and Isabel’s son, Thomas, earl of Mar. As a result, the position of each as descendants and representatives of the Soules family of Liddesdale is exposed, offering a new perspective on some of the most enduring mysteries of 14th-century Scottish genealogy and history.
Crannogs, enigmatic artificial islands dotting the landscapes of Scotland and Ireland, have been subjects of intrigue and debate for centuries. These complex sites exhibit a remarkable time-depth of use, often revealing multiple phases or periods, coupled with a great diversity in their structural forms and settings. Moreover, the extensive yet fragmented early historiography of crannog research has left a lasting legacy on our modern understandings and interpretations of these sites. Adding to the complexity is the more recent discovery of Neolithic crannogs, which has pushed back the accepted date for these sites by over 3,000 years.In our pursuit to shed light on this newest piece of the enigma, we embarked on a systematic study, departing from the simple replication of existing databases. Instead, we focused on mining and extracting information from articles published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, which represent a substantial portion of early crannog research. While generating descriptive statistics is useful, true knowledge advancement comes from contextualising the data and the ideologies that shaped their generation. Our meticulous data mining and information extraction analysis allowed us to understand the historiography of Scottish crannogs in new ways. By analysing terminologies used through time, we identified inconsistencies, biases and even geographic discrepancies in site classifications. Through additional refinement of this database and subsequent fieldwork, we were able to identify new, previously unrecorded, sites and question the validity of some ‘known’ sites.To address ambiguities surrounding island origins and classification inconsistencies, we expanded our focus to include all ‘archaeological islands’. This broadened scope has deepened our understanding of site types and their differential visibility in the national heritage record. To avoid interpretative dissonance, future insights must be integrated with national datasets, ensuring that the archaeological record continues to foster innovation and accommodate expanding knowledge.
In terms of its material record, the Inner Hebridean island of Islay is best known for its ancient fortifications and its Viking graves. Both types of site can be seen as important markers in early landscapes of power and control. The remains of the broch on the summit of Dùn Bhoraraic, for instance, overlooks the important early harbours in the Sound of Islay and Lochindaal, while the pagan Scandinavian grave field at Ballinaby in the Rhinns commands sweeping views across Loch Gorm, and out over the Atlantic. At present, however, they diverge in at least one significant respect. Whereas Islay’s ancient fortifications are encountered island-wide, her confirmed Viking graves are restricted to just two discrete locations: Ballinaby, and Newton Cottage, with only a few other sites suspected. The Dùn Bhoraraic Project, on which this article is based, set out to explore the possibility of connections between these two groups of data, with a view to modelling accessible locations for further Viking burials. The point of departure was the mysterious stone setting on the slopes of Dùn Bhoraraic in the Dunlossit Estate believed locally to be the remains of a Viking grave. Following review of its geo-spatial and cultural context, including the localised Old Norse namescape, funding was secured from the Society to undertake a visual investigation and excavation of the site. While similarities were noted with the Hebridean ‘U’ structures discussed by Leslie Alcock in 1983, the discovery of a cremation burial without culturally diagnostic artefacts prompted comparison with a range of Viking Age graves. In the end, radiocarbon dating traced the cremated bones to the final centuries BC – a conclusion which was unexpected but served to confirm the prestigious connotations of the location, and the general validity of the approach. It also offered a rare and valuable window onto the mortuary practices of the Atlantic Iron Age in the Inner Hebrides.
This article is a close examination of nine Jacobite tokens made from halfpenny coins. All of them are engraved with the words ‘Down with the Rump’, and some with the additional cry ‘God Bless Prince Charles’. Dating to around and after 1748, these tokens are evidence of continued support for the Jacobite cause, and the Stuart prince specifically. While little detail can be elucidated from the objects themselves, a comparative analysis of the known surviving examples and proposed conditions of their manufacture is put forward. Contextualised among other object types, they are shown to be embedded in not only Jacobite, but longer Stuart royalist, political and emotional cultures of 18th-century Britain.
The Inner Hebrides and western seaboard of Scotland has several place-names along its coasts that are suggestive of a network of observation points guarding maritime routes. The places are almost all elevated sites, primarily with Gaelic place-names containing the words teine (fire) and faire (watch/sentinel). These sites have hitherto elicited little comment in the scholarly literature and this paper rectifies that gap by mapping the sites and examining their applicability as coastal watch places. In addition, those on Mull, Lismore, Kerrera and the Morvern peninsula are assessed in detail for viewsheds and intervisibility. The combination of desk-based study and field visits to sites on Mull, Colonsay and Gigha demonstrates that the sites allowed for the observation of key waterways across long distances, enabling those manning the sites to warn their communities of an attack. Where a series of beacon or watch places occur close together in a logical sequence, it indicates a co-ordinated approach across an island or wider geographic area. As with many pre-modern place-names, providing precise dates for the names of the sites is difficult, and the paper includes a discussion of one likely context. A co-ordinated defence system implies a high level of resources and planning at least at the local or regional level, and this knowledge helps to date the sites. Further clues to dating are provided by examining the political and military context of the medieval era. It is determined that the sites could belong to multiple periods from the Viking Age on, and it is likely that many of them were used at various times over the centuries. The paper particularly focuses on the rule of Somerled/Sumarliði/Somhairle (d ad 1164, hereafter Somerled) and his descendants as a time that the system may have operated.
Whin mills were horse-powered machines used extensively in north-east Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries to crush gorse for animal fodder. Although the few that remain form an important tangible legacy of improvement agriculture that sought to adapt, exploit and capitalise on an abundant resource, they are commonly overlooked within the mostly top-down and estate-level-dominated historical literature of the improvement period. This paper presents a programme of desk-based and field investigation to determine the extent of whin mill preservation in north-east Scotland with a view to building on Ritchie’s 1925 inventory of whin mills. We report 54 records of whin mills including 17 sites with whin mill remains but only three with earth-fast courses. As more than obscure technological curiosities, we situate the innovation of whin mills within the social and economic history of the improvement period. Whin mills were not only used by the poorer class of farmers with access to gorse on rough ground, they were also taken up by farmers across the social spectrum. Unconstrained by environmental parameters, whin mills helped to increase the supply of fodder allowing for larger herds suitable for a growing beef market.
Professor Colin Renfrew (as he was universally known; his first name of Andrew was not used), Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, Fellow (1970–2000) and Honorary Fellow of this Society from 2000, died in Cambridge on 24 November 2024, aged 87.
The first English-language translation of Ibn Faḍlān’s Arabic account of a Rūs funeral appeared as part of a Danish essay translated for Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine in 1818. This was not the only translation of Ibn Faḍlān published in Scotland in the 19th century; in 1871, Joseph Anderson (1832–1916) published another translation, again translated from Danish, in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in which he expressed doubt as to the existence of the 1818 translation. Neither translation has seen significant attention, since both treatments of Ibn Faḍlān were better suited for antiquarian rather than orientalist engagement, and so do not feature prominently in the historiography of Ibn Faḍlān as an Arabic geographical source. Looking at the Scottish antiquarian reception of this source, this article traces Ibn Faḍlān’s journey from Danish into English, and identifies Alexander Nicoll (1793–1828) as the first English translator of the source. I explore the tragic personal circumstances leading Nicoll to visit Denmark and establish scholarly networks with the Danish literati and, evaluating the impact of Nicoll’s work, contextualise the publication of both the 1818 and 1871 translations against the development of Scottish antiquarian efforts to explore the Viking Age in order to present a trajectory for the increased study, interest and comparative merit of Ibn Faḍlān as an Arabic source for antiquarians, setting the source against the scholarly networks in which it circulated.
Gordon Maxwell was not just a Roman archaeologist of distinction, but a pioneer in the development of aerial reconnaissance for archaeology in Scotland, his aerial revelations transforming the understanding of our Lowland archaeological heritage. His discoveries of Roman forts in the early 1980s even prompted a cartoon in The Times, the original proudly displayed on the wall of his study at home in Aberdour.
This paper presents the results of one of the most extensive archaeological battlefield surveys ever undertaken in Scotland. The Bannockburn 700 project sought to find physical and artefactual evidence for the location of the Battle of Bannockburn fought on 23 and 24 June 1314. Among over 5,000 artefacts recovered and assessed, three can be attributed to the 14th century, and analysis reveals these to represent the clearest archaeological evidence found so far for the location of part of this iconic battle.
The Traprain Law Treasure, discovered in 1919, is composed mostly of silver objects cut up and buried in Scotland in the first half of the 5th century AD. Among many fragmentary vessels, a small gilt-silver jug stands out for its principal register of four biblical scenes. Three are easily recognised as Adam and Eve, Moses Striking the Rock, and the Adoration of the Magi. This essay explicates a unique iconographic feature in the Moses episode and proposes a new identification of the fourth scene as the Miracle of the Manna. It then analyses the adjacent, smaller registers that depict pastoral scenes and a grapevine. With its multiple references to eating and drinking, the jug likely provided visual and intellectual stimulation, along with physical and spiritual sustenance, at lavish banquets held somewhere in the Late Roman world in the early 5th century.
Three flags in the collections at Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, undocumented by Scott and believed to be connected with the Battle of Waterloo, have long raised questions about their provenance and authenticity, emerging in the decades after Scott’s death in 1832 as Abbotsford transitioned from private home to Victorian tourist destination. This paper re-examines the flags and researches their provenance to conclude that they could not be genuine artefacts from the battlefield, and to establish that Sir Walter Scott could not have believed in their authenticity when he acquired them. Their likely origin as props in pageantry and exhibitions staged in London to celebrate the British victory at Waterloo provides insight into how Scott knowingly combined authenticity with theatricality in his aesthetic creation of Abbotsford.
Formulated as the Cold War was intensifying in 1950, Operation Rotor was intended to restore the Royal Air Force’s control and reporting organisation on Britain’s east coast. Planning exposed the country’s vulnerability to a Soviet attack from the north and new radar stations were built in northern and western Scotland. Rotor brought about a northerly reorientation of Britain’s air defences that, along with economic and technological factors, ultimately saw them integrated within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s intercontinental early warning system. Like other major defence projects of the period, Rotor also had a significant effect on Scottish society as wartime mass organisation was revived and Royal Air Force units encountered local communities, often in rural areas. The new infrastructure had developmental potential, bringing with it electricity and other modernisation, but Rotor’s colossal cost and the overriding priority of national security could likewise be at odds with local needs. This article will examine why Scotland became of greater strategic importance in the 1950s and also assess Rotor’s societal impact and its implications for British state power.
The Pictish inscription from Dyce, Aberdeen, preserves a name Rogoddadd that appears to be the patronymic of the person commemorated by the monument, a class-II Pictish symbol stone held in the former parish kirk of St Fergus. The Dyce inscription evidently also preserves the name of the person who commissioned the stone, and the syntax of the inscription is comparable to those attested in other Pictish memorials written in ogham. These include the inscription on the Lunnasting stone, long considered the best evidence that Pictish is not a Brittonic language. The Dyce inscription preserves morphosyntax of a characteristically Indo-European type and its analysis is key to developing a broader understanding of Pictish.
In terms of its material record, the Inner Hebridean island of Islay is best known for its ancient fortifications and its Viking graves. Both types of site can be seen as important markers in early landscapes of power and control. The remains of the broch on the summit of Dùn Bhoraraic, for instance, overlooks the important early harbours in the Sound of Islay and Lochindaal, while the pagan Scandinavian grave field at Ballinaby in the Rhinns commands sweeping views across Loch Gorm, and out over the Atlantic. At present, however, they diverge in at least one significant respect. Whereas Islay’s ancient fortifications are encountered island-wide, her confirmed Viking graves are restricted to just two discrete locations: Ballinaby, and Newton Cottage, with only a few other sites suspected. The Dùn Bhoraraic Project, on which this article is based, set out to explore the possibility of connections between these two groups of data, with a view to modelling accessible locations for further Viking burials. The point of departure was the mysterious stone setting on the slopes of Dùn Bhoraraic in the Dunlossit Estate believed locally to be the remains of a Viking grave. Following review of its geo-spatial and cultural context, including the localised Old Norse namescape, funding was secured from the Society to undertake a visual investigation and excavation of the site. While similarities were noted with the Hebridean ‘U’ structures discussed by Leslie Alcock in 1983, the discovery of a cremation burial without culturally diagnostic artefacts prompted comparison with a range of Viking Age graves. In the end, radiocarbon dating traced the cremated bones to the final centuries BC – a conclusion which was unexpected but served to confirm the prestigious connotations of the location, and the general validity of the approach. It also offered a rare and valuable window onto the mortuary practices of the Atlantic Iron Age in the Inner Hebrides.
Crannogs, enigmatic artificial islands dotting the landscapes of Scotland and Ireland, have been subjects of intrigue and debate for centuries. These complex sites exhibit a remarkable time-depth of use, often revealing multiple phases or periods, coupled with a great diversity in their structural forms and settings. Moreover, the extensive yet fragmented early historiography of crannog research has left a lasting legacy on our modern understandings and interpretations of these sites. Adding to the complexity is the more recent discovery of Neolithic crannogs, which has pushed back the accepted date for these sites by over 3,000 years.In our pursuit to shed light on this newest piece of the enigma, we embarked on a systematic study, departing from the simple replication of existing databases. Instead, we focused on mining and extracting information from articles published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, which represent a substantial portion of early crannog research. While generating descriptive statistics is useful, true knowledge advancement comes from contextualising the data and the ideologies that shaped their generation. Our meticulous data mining and information extraction analysis allowed us to understand the historiography of Scottish crannogs in new ways. By analysing terminologies used through time, we identified inconsistencies, biases and even geographic discrepancies in site classifications. Through additional refinement of this database and subsequent fieldwork, we were able to identify new, previously unrecorded, sites and question the validity of some ‘known’ sites.To address ambiguities surrounding island origins and classification inconsistencies, we expanded our focus to include all ‘archaeological islands’. This broadened scope has deepened our understanding of site types and their differential visibility in the national heritage record. To avoid interpretative dissonance, future insights must be integrated with national datasets, ensuring that the archaeological record continues to foster innovation and accommodate expanding knowledge.
This article will analyse the mid-19th-century classification and display strategies of the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and consider the ways in which this changed between 1849 and 1870. This was a key period in the development of the museum when it changed from a private antiquarian collection to a state-funded national museum. The development of material-focused methods of research by archaeologists had a noticeable impact on the way that collections were displayed, described and arranged in Scotland, with comparable developments found in England and Ireland but also some interesting differences. Museum displays ‘perform’ meaning through labels, catalogues and physical arrangements. An analysis of such displays reveals the priorities informing the ways in which antiquities were presented in the mid-19th century and how this developed in Scotland compared to England and Ireland. I argue that a literary engagement with people and events from the Scottish past promoted by the novels of Sir Walter Scott influenced the arrangement of museum displays in Scotland in the early to mid 19th century. However, by the 1860s this was overtaken by archaeological approaches with greater emphasis on scientific language and arrangements. To provide a broader context the display practices at the Antiquities Museum in Scotland will be compared with the approaches of the British Museum and the museum of the Royal Irish Academy to demonstrate how these ideas were shared across antiquarian networks in Britain and Ireland.
