Monday, December 4 2017

Hidden History of Nursery Rhymes Part 2: Old King Cole from the Roman Occupation to Georgian Times

Catherine Mills

Venue: John Knox Church Hall, High Street, Stewarton

Stewarton and District Historical Society

Hear about the sinister and dark origins of our traditional nursery rhymes

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Tuesday, December 5 2017, 5.30 pm - 7.30 pm

Eighteenth Century Scotland

Allan Macinnes, Murray Pittock, Chris Whatley

Venue: Kelvin Hall, Glasgow

Historical Conversations

This free public programme of talks, interviews and panel discussions (organised by Dr Catriona Macdonald, Scottish History and Dr Stephen Mullen, History, University of Glasgow) hosted in the Kelvin Hall in academic term 2017-18 (in partnership with The Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies, The Hunterian, UofG Library, Archives and Special Collections) explores the remarkable transformation of Scottish history over the course of the last fifty years; the current challenges faced by the discipline; and leading practitioners’ hopes for the future. The range of speakers in the programme lends this initiative authority and remarkable range: there’s something here for all lovers of Scottish history, and an opportunity to get to know a little better the writers behind the books that have shaped how we understand our past. Indeed, all events will be recorded and hosted online by the University library, establishing a fantastic resource for scholars in the future.

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Tuesday, December 5 2017, 7.30 pm

Made from Textiles; A story of Rouken Glen and Thornliebank

Venue: Fairweather Hall, Barrhead Road, Newton Mearns, G77 6BB

Mearns History Group

A film by Tom and Josette Marchant

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Wednesday, December 6 2017, 10 am - 11 am

Standing Stones of Stenness Walk

Venue: Stones of Stenness Circle and Henge

Historic Environment Scotland

Join the Orkney Ranger Service for a free guided tour of our oldest stone circle, and explore the fascinating links with the nearby Neolithic village of Barnhouse.

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Wednesday, December 6 2017, 7.30 pm

Christmas past and social evening

Venue: Smith Museum and Art Gallery

Central Scotland Family History Society

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Thursday, December 7 2017, 5.30 pm

‘The Scots in 17th century Anglo-Swedish Commerce’

Dr Adam Grimshaw (University of St Andrews)

Venue: New Seminar Room, St John’s House, 71 South Street, St Andrews

Institute of Scottish Historical Research

See here for more details.

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Thursday, December 7 2017, 7 pm

A Travelling Woman’s Memories of the Kingdom

Jess Smith

Venue: The 252 Memorial Hall, Betson Street, Markinch

Markinch Heritage Group

Free to members and £2 for non members

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Thursday, December 7 2017, 7.30 pm

East Lothian in the early 1950s: Shops and shopping – The Store

James Herring

Venue: Dirleton Kirk Hall

Gullane and Dirleton History Society

Gullane’s Co-op shop was original named Tranent Co-operative. James Herring explains why.

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Thursday, December 7 2017, 7.30 pm

Wine, Nibbles and Quiz etc.

Christmas Meeting

Venue: Portland Church hall, South Beach, Troon

Troon & Ayrshire Family History Society

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Thursday, December 7 2017, 7:30 pm

Members Evening – A fun night for all

Venue: Paisley Museum, High Street, Paisley

Renfrewshire Family History Society

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Friday, December 8 2017, 7.30 pm

Perthshire Piping, Past and Present

Prof Gary West

Venue: Hilton Church, Inverness

Gaelic Society of Inverness

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Friday, December 8 2017, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm

Perthshire Piping, Past and Present

Prof Gary West

Venue: Hilton Church, Inverness

Gaelic Society of Inverness

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Saturday, December 9 2017, 10 am - 4 pm

Telling Tales: An Introduction to Graveyard Research and Interpretation

Venue: St Ninian’s Graveyard, Stonehouse

Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership

Ever wonder where to find out more information on about a graveyard? Join us on the journey from finding out more, to presenting your findings in an engaging way.
http://www.clydeandavonvalley.org/component/zoo/item/treasured-remains-to-bring-historic-graveyards-to-life

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Monday, November 27 2017, 7.30 pm

Scottish conservation projects at the Botanics

Dr Heather McHaffie

Venue: Millennium Room, Cramond Kirk Hall

Cramond Heritage Trust

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Monday, November 27 2017, 7.30 pm

Lindores Abbey and Distillery

Helen McKenzie Smith

Venue: Age Concern Building, Provost Wynd, Cupar

Cupar Heritage

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Tuesday, November 28 2017, 1 pm

Conceptualising Whiteness in the Black Imagination

Rianna Walcott, Kings College, London

Venue: G16, William Robertson Wing, Old Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

Diaspora Studies graduate workshop. For more information see http://edin.ac/1MSzwtw

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Tuesday, November 28 2017, 7.30 pm

The Great Hawick Election Riot of 1837

Norrie Mcleish

Venue: Lecture Hall, Hawick High School

Hawick Archaeological Society

Everybody Welcome. Voluntary Collection.

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Wednesday, November 29 2017, 10 am - 11 am

Standing Stones of Stenness Walk

Venue: Stones of Stenness Circle and Henge

Historic Environment Scotland

Join the Orkney Ranger Service for a free guided tour of our oldest stone circle, and explore the fascinating links with the nearby Neolithic village of Barnhouse.

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Wednesday, November 29 2017, 7 pm - 9 pm

Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson 1817-2017

Venue: St Vincent Street Church, 265 St Vincent Street, Glasgow

Alexander Thomson Society

A celebratory talk on the life and legacy of Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. Free.

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Thursday, November 30 2017, 5.15 pm for 5.30 pm

‘“In warre sharpe and fierce”: James II and Anglo-Scottish Relations, 1448-1464’

Dr Alastair MacDonald (University of Aberdeen)

Venue: Room 1.434 (Teaching Room 7), Doorway 3, Old Medical School

University of Edinburgh

Scottish history research seminar. See here for more details.

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Friday, December 1 2017, 2.30 pm - 4.30 pm

200 Years of the Inverness Courier

Venue: Highland Archive Centre, Bught Park, Inverness

Highland Archive Service

2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the Inverness Courier, which was founded in December 1817. The Highland Archive Centre will mark the event with a tak by local author and historian Jim Miller on the development of the Courier and its place in Highland history. The talk will be accompanied by a display of original archive material relating to the Inverness Courier and its long-term owners, the Barron family. For more information please phone 01463 256444 or email [email protected]

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Saturday, December 2 2017, 10 am - 12 pm

Beginners in English Genealogy

Ken Nisbet

Venue: Scottish Genealogy Society Library, 15 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL

Scottish Genealogy Society

Beginners in English Genealogy: We have found that many of our members have some English ancestry which, with the records not as readily available as the Scottish system, can be difficult to navigate. Ken Nisbet will give a workshop on where to begin.

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Saturday, December 2 2017, 2pm

Teaching Heraldry to an Edwardian child

Very Rev. Allan Maclean of Dochgarroch

Venue: Royal Scots Club, Abercromby Place, Edinburgh

The Heraldry Society of Scotland

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Monday, November 20 2017, 1 pm - 1.30 pm

Reformation Dramas

Donald Smith and Sandy Andrew Carr

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Netherbow Theatre, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Previously Scotland's History Festival

From Robin Hood to Mystery Plays and The Satire of the Three Estates. Part of the FREEDOM AND FAITH 1517-2017 series. In the 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 controversial arguments to the church door, Protestantism has had a huge influence on Scotland. This series looks at some of the turning points and conflicts, and then checks our contemporary pulse. Led by storyteller and author, Donald Smith, with Theatre Designer and Museum Interpreter, Sandy Andrew Carr, whose theatre models are on display in John Knox House.
Ticket price : £5.00 (includes access to John Knox's House)

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Monday, November 20 2017, 2 pm - 3 pm

All Mary's Men

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Netherbow Theatre, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Previously Scotland's History Festival

To lose one husband might be careless or unfortunate but to lose three and almost net a fourth seems extravagant. Who were Mary's men, and what went wrong? Part of the FREEDOM AND FAITH 1517-2017 series.
In the 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 controversial arguments to the church door, Protestantism has had a huge influence on Scotland. This series looks at some of the turning points and conflicts, and then checks our contemporary pulse. Led by storyteller and author, Donald Smith, with Theatre Designer and Museum Interpreter, Sandy Andrew Carr, whose theatre models are on display in John Knox House.
Ticket price : £5.00 (includes access to John Knox's House)

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Monday, November 20 2017, 2.30 pm - 3.30 pm

Coffee, Tea and a PhD : Mark Huggins : A Thousand Years Of Easter

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

A chance to join some of our brightest young researchers as they bring the freshest research to us. Why not grab a coffee and some delicious cake to hear Mark Huggins.
The development of the celebration of Easter is uncovered by Mark Huggins in this fascinating talk. Mark has studied manuscripts in ancient libraries from Georgia, to Jerusalem, to the Vatican to uncover and record the Easter celebrations in Eastern Christianity over an entire millennium.
FREE

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Monday, November 20 2017, 6 pm - 7 pm

Tartan Rebels

Caroline Young

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Tartan. The favourite of fashionistas as diverse as Queen Victoria, Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier. A badge of rebellion for Jacobites in '45 and Punk Rockers in '76. Scotland gave this iconic fabric to the world - but what is the truth behind the plaid? Caroline Young, co-author of 'Tartan + Tweed' explores the chequered history of tartan from its origins in the Scottish Highlands to its reinvention in contemporary fashion design, music, art and film.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Monday, November 20 2017, 6.30 pm - 7.30 pm

The Course of History

Struan Stevenson

Venue: The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Many decisions which have had enormous historical consequences have been made over the dinner table, and have been accompanied (and perhaps influenced) by copious amounts of food and wine.
Struan Stevenson brings to life ten such moments, exploring the personalities, the issues and of course, talks about the food which helped shape the course of history.
Struan Stevenson MEP represented Scotland in the European Parliament since 1999. He retired at the Euro elections in May 2014, and is well known in Europe and Scotland for his in-depth knowledge and understanding of Scottish affairs.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Monday, November 20 2017, 7 pm for 7.30 pm

Scottish Italians - Immigrant Families in the 20th Century

Venue: Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh

Scottish Genealogy Society

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Monday, November 20 2017, 7.30 pm - 8.30 pm

St Peter's, Cardross: Birth, Death and Renewal

Diane Watters

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

It has been called both Scotland's best and worst twentieth century building. In 1992, it was listed category A. One of its architects suggested the idea of 'everything being stripped away except the concrete itself - a purely romantic conception of the buildingas beautiful ruin'.And now in 2016, St Peter's is renewed as a cultural space through the work of the arts organisation NVA.
In this landmark book, Diane Watters looks at the history of a structure that emerged out of an innovative phase of post-war Catholic churchbuilding. She traces the story of an architectural failure which morphed into a tragic modernist myth: unappreciated architects betrayed by an unloving client, and abandoned by an uncaring society. This is a historian's account of the real story of St Peter's College: an exploration of how one of Scotland's most singular buildings became one of its most troubled - and most celebrated.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Monday, November 20 2017, 8 pm - 9 pm

Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas : Scotland and Empire

Dr Stephen Mullen (University of Glasgow)

Venue: The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Doctor Stephen Mullen (University of Glasgow) argues that from an economic perspective, the British Empire was actually a 'good thing' for many Scots and Scotland overall. The nation became great post-1707 due to the Union, access to the British Empire and the historical connections with New world slavery. Doctor Stephen Mullen lays out an Atlantic world economic argument: connections with the transatlantic slave trade, connections with cotton, sugar and tobacco trades, Scottish involvement in the Caribbean.
How far did Scotland develope due to this relationship with Empire and slavery?
Lets be clear, colonialism and slavery were evils, but Scotland would be a very different country today without those historical connections.
How should this relationship be acknowledged today?
Ticket price : £3.00

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 1 pm - 1.30 pm

Kings, Demons and Witches

Donald Smith and Sandy Andrew Carr

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1SR, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Why did witchcraft in Scotland become a focus for fear and persecution?
Part of the FREEDOM AND FAITH 1517-2017 series
In the 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 controversial arguments to the church door, Protestantism has had a huge influence on Scotland. This series looks at some of the turning points and conflicts, and then checks our contemporary pulse. Led by storyteller and author, Donald Smith, with Theatre Designer and Museum Interpreter, Sandy Andrew Carr, whose theatre models are on display in John Knox House.
Ticket price : £5.00 (includes access to John Knox House). Tickets available from The Scottish Storytelling Centre

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 1.30 pm - 2.30 pm

Coffee, tea and a PhD : Iida Saarinen : Making Priests in the 19th century

Iida Saarinen

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Iida's PhD research has taken her to explore the lives of priests-to-be, or seminarians, in the nineteenth century. She argues that Scottish Catholic priests, like their counterparts elsewhere, were 'made' rather than simply trained.
She will explain how the Scottish Catholic Mission selected and encouraged suitable boys as young as eight, and trained them to become men of God by the time they were twenty-four.
This training took place in seminaries, boys-only boarding schools, which were either dedicated for the training of priests or offered a similar quality of elite-level education. The training took place in Scotland and abroad and thoroughly transformed these boys.
They were transformed from children into adult priests, but also into manly Christian men, genteel scholars, disciplined subjects of their bishops and the Pope and approachable 'Fathers' to their parishioners. Iida will share her research on how this transformation took place and explore some priestly life stories along the way.
FREE

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 1.30 pm - 3 pm

Guided Tour of Dean Village

Venue: The House on Dean Bridge, Randolph Cliff, Edinburgh EH3 7TZ

Previously Scotland's History Festival

A stroll around the historic milling village, which once fed the City of Edinburgh, where many old buildings still survive. The tour will also describe the changing nature of the Village through the centuries and tell the tales of some of the personalities who once lived here.
Ticket price: £5, Free for children under 12. Outdoors, please dress appropriately.
Pay on arrival. Booking essential. To book your place(s) please email: [email protected]

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 2 pm - 3 pm

Wars of Religion

Donald Smith and Sandy Andrew Carr

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1SR, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Despite his personal motto, 'Blessed are the Peacemakers', James VI and I set the scene for a century of bloody conflict. Why was 17th century Scotland so tragically divided and what is the legacy?
Part of the FREEDOM AND FAITH 1517-2017 series.
In the 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 controversial arguments to the church door, Protestantism has had a huge influence on Scotland. This series looks at some of the turning points and conflicts, and then checks our contemporary pulse. Led by storyteller and author, Donald Smith, with Theatre Designer and Museum Interpreter, Sandy Andrew Carr, whose theatre models are on display in John Knox House.
Ticket price : £5:00 (includes access to John Knox House)
Tickets available from Scottish Storytelling Centre

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 2.30 pm - 3.30 pm

Charles Mackie

Pat Clark

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

In her wonderful biography 'People, Places And Piazzas: The Life And Art Of Charles Mackie', Pat Clark wrote of Mackie, "His epitaph would reside in the obituaries, memorial exhibition and plaudits in the years immediately following his death. Then he would be largely forgotten, subsumed within a Scottish pantheon dominated by the Glasgow Boys and the Colourists.”
A lost giant of Scottish art, Mackie was an artist who is notoriously hard to categorise. He travelled to France for his honeymoon in 1892, where he famously befriended Sereusier and Gauguin, friendships which had a drastic effect on the rest of Mackie's career, most notably in his use of colour and technique.
Join Pat Clark as she brings this unjustly neglected artist back to life.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 3.30 pm - 4.30 pm

Ways of Seeing : representations of disabled people in visual culture

Sasha Callaghan

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Sasha Callaghan of Disability History Scotland explores how the world of visual culture has represented the disabled from the art of William Hogarth to the films of James Bond. What does it mean to be human? How is the body used and represented in visual culture and what is being signaled by artists and film-makers when disabled people are routinely used as ciphers for malign misdeeds and pariah status?
Ticket price : £3.00

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 6.30 pm

'Child Murder by a Nurse Girl’ - The True Story of Agnes Norman in the Press

Venue: The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Previously Scotland's History Festival

On Monday the 17th of April, 1871, a court in London convened to hear an inquest to the death of 14-month-old Jessie Jane Beer while in the care of Agnes Norman, a 15-year-old servant girl. As more details were uncovered by the sensationalist press, it appeared that Agnes had a suspicious track record of being around when tragedy struck. In other families she’d worked for, three children, three dogs, one cat, a dozen exotic birds, a parrot, and a number of goldfish had died. Hardly more than a child herself, the case shocked the nation and was widely reported. But who was the real Agnes?
Join us in exploring Agnes’ alleged crimes, the way they were reported in nineteenth-century press, and the fifteen-year-old girl at the centre of it. The story is followed by a brief Q&A session, exploring the themes behind the case. Original research by Dr Iida Saarinen Storytelling by Linda Perttula
Ticket price : £3.00

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 6.30 pm - 7.30 pm

The Myth of British Tuition of the CIA

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

According to the official historiography of the CIA, American foreign intelligence did not exist before the 1940s. It portrayed that as a terrible crime, but held that a ‘miracle’ came to the rescue in World War II in the shape of tuition from Ian Fleming and other agents of the legendary British intelligence services.
The result was the creation of the CIA in 1947. This creation mythology was fiction with a purpose, a justification for peacetime intelligence expansion. The expansion ultimately spilled over into counterproductive covert operations, and into domestic surveillance. Now, however, there arose an anti-statist counter mythology, a mythology that held that government was creating a surveillance society – in truth, our surveillance society is more private in origin. The lecture will be, then, critique of both the CIA and its critics.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 7 pm - 8 pm

Alfred The Great

Max Adams

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

At Easter 878AD Alfred, king of the West Saxons, could claim lordship over no more than a few square miles of Somerset marsh.
The kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia, and now the whole south of England had been invaded and brought to submission by the ‘Great Host’ of the Danish Vikings. By the time Alfred’s grandson Athelstan died two generations later, all England south of the Humber was united in one kingdom, and the whole of the islands of Britain recognised his overlordship.
England is Alfred’s legacy. His military and administrative triumphs stand alone in British history, and they are all the more remarkable for the circumstances in which he achieved them. Like Charlemagne before him and perhaps only Napoleon afterwards, he had the vision to build the foundations for a political and social entity whose fruits could only possibly be reaped long after his own death.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Tuesday, November 21 2017, 8.30 pm - 9.30 pm

Ye Jacobites By Name

Sarah Fraser and Murray Pittock

Venue: The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Previously Scotland's History Festival

The word Jacobite has come down to us as short-hand for a romantic, doomed cause. But who were the real Jacobites? What did they stand for? Why does the story of the Bonnie Prince still hold the entire world enthralled, much to the delight of the Visit Scotland? Murray Pittock and Sarah Fraser are your guides to the reality behind the romantic image of the people who stood beside Charles Edward Stuart.
Sarah Fraser won the 2012 Saltire First Scottish Book of the Year for her acclaimed debut The Last Highlander, which in 2016 also became a New York Times ebook bestseller. Her latest work, 'The Prince Who Would Be King', is a moving biography of Prince Henry, son of James VI and I, the boy who would have been the first King of Great Britain. A writer and regular contributor on TV and radio, she has a PhD in obscene Gaelic poetry and lives in the Scottish Highlands. She has four children. She is also a fabulous speaker, massively entertaining and all round terrific woman.
Murray Pittock is Bradley Professor and pro Vice-Principal at the University of Glasgow. He grew up in Aberdeen, attended Aberdeen Grammar School, and studied at University of Glasgow aged 16. As a toddler, he noted: “It’s the blasted drizzle puts the fever in my bones”. His work covers English, History, Irish Studies, Theology and Politics, and he is best-known for writing on Scotland. In 2013 he authored and presented the Radio 4 series 'The Roots of Scottish Nationalism' and in 2016 his study of Culloden was chosen as one of the ten best history books of the year by History Today. Murray has been shortlisted for or won a number of literary prizes. He also serves as an adviser for many bodies, including the National Trust for Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. That fever in his bones means he basically make the rest of us look like slackers.
Ticket price : £5.00

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 1 pm - 1.30 pm

Unionists and Jacobites

Donald Smith and Sandy Andrew Carr

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Netherbow Theatre, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Explore the Old Town haunts of heroes, spies, sangsters and rebels.
Part of the FREEDOM AND FAITH 1517-2017 series
In the 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 controversial arguments to the church door, Protestantism has had a huge influence on Scotland. This series looks at some of the turning points and conflicts, and then checks our contemporary pulse. Led by storyteller and author, Donald Smith, with Theatre Designer and Museum Interpreter, Sandy Andrew Carr, whose theatre models are on display in John Knox House.
Ticket price : £5.00 (includes access to John Knox House). Tickets available from Scottish Storytelling Centre

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 10 am - 11 am

Standing Stones of Stenness Walk

Venue: Stones of Stenness Circle and Henge

Historic Environment Scotland

Join the Orkney Ranger Service for a free guided tour of our oldest stone circle, and explore the fascinating links with the nearby Neolithic village of Barnhouse.

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 2 pm - 3 pm

Protestant Union, Jacobite Cause

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Netherbow Theatre, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Why did the 1707 Union of Parliaments not settle Scotland's conflicts? What drove the Jacobite Risings?
Part of the FREEDOM AND FAITH 1517-2017 series.
In the 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 controversial arguments to the church door, Protestantism has had a huge influence on Scotland. This series looks at some of the turning points and conflicts, and then checks our contemporary pulse. Led by storyteller and author, Donald Smith, with Theatre Designer and Museum Interpreter, Sandy Andrew Carr, whose theatre models are on display in John Knox House.
Ticket price : £5.00 (includes access to John Knox House). Tickets available from Scottish Storytelling Centre

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 3 pm - 4 pm

Growing up in Scotland: A century of childhood

Rachel Bell

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Childhood has changed tremendously in the last hundred years. Today most children in Scotland are protected, cosseted and well fed: just over a hundred years ago many of them still worked in factories. Partly based on BBC Scotland's recent series, producer Rachel Bell uses archive film, interview clips and original research to tell the story of some of the big changes in children's lives, and debate whether things have really all improved for the better.
Tickets : £3.00

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 7 pm

The Lords of The Isles

Venue: Bannockburn, FK7 0LJ

National Trust for Scotland

The Lords of the Isles c1300 - 1500c Encounter the medieval Western Isles and the men who ruled over them. This fascinating new talk is delivered by one of Scotland's leading historians. Discover how this maritime medieval world was politically and culturally different from the rest of Scotland. Be quick, this event will sell out. For tickets please call: 01786 812664 or email: [email protected]

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 7.30 pm

Sculpting the Past: Exploring the art and history of George Sutherland and Sons, sculptors, Galashiels

Alison Martin

Venue: Volunteer Hall, Galashiels

Old Gala Club

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 7.30 pm - 8.30 pm

Edinburgh in the Shadows

Venue: The Banshee Labyrinth, 29-35 Niddry St, Edinburgh EH1 1LG

Previously Scotland's History Festival

What the tourist guides never reveal - stories, tales and poems of drugs, murder, witchcraft, executions and hatchet jobs that reveal the truth behind Edinburgh’s lesser-known miscreants, unfortunates and flawed geniuses. Including Doctor Death, the medical hatchet man with a penchant for poisons and punctures; Jessie King – baby butcher or drunken dupe; George Meikle Kemp, the subject of Scotland’s original and most controversial cold case; and the re-enactment of a 1616 witchcraft trial where the audience decides the veracity of allegations such as a satanic pact and fateful curses, and the truth or guilt of the accused.
Tickets: £4.00

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 7.30pm

Land Legacies: the enduring impact of the First World War on Highland land issues

Dr Iain Robertson

Venue: Highland Archive Centre, Bught Park, Inverness

Highland Family History Society

Non-members will be charged £2

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Wednesday, November 22 2017, 8 pm - 9 pm

Tom Devine in conversation with Kevin McKenna

Venue: The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Previously Scotland's History Festival

In a no-holds barred conversation, Kevin McKenna probes Scotland's knighted historian to find out what he thinks of Scotland, her institutions and her education system. There may be some shredded reputations and a few shaken establishment pillars. Come and join two men with big brains and big opinions over a glass of something refreshing as Devine faces McKenna.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Thursday, November 23 2017, 5.15 pm for 5.30 pm

‘Toleration and State Formation in Scotland, 1702-1712’

Ben Rogers (University of Edinburgh)

Venue: Room 1.434 (Teaching Room 7), Doorway 3, Old Medical School

University of Edinburgh

Scottish history research seminar. See here for more details.

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Thursday, November 23 2017, 5.30 pm

‘Disability, charity and the boundaries of Reformed discipline in early-modern Scotland’

Dr Chris Langley (Newman University, Birmingham)

Venue: New Seminar Room, St John’s House, 71 South Street, St Andrews

Institute of Scottish Historical Research

See here for more details.

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Thursday, November 23 2017, 7.30 pm

People and Water at the Heart of Neolithic Orkney

Caroline Wickham-Jones, University of Aberdeen

Venue: Blue Room, Town Hall, Ayr

Ayrshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

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Saturday, November 25 2017, 10:30am-12:00pm

Alford Genealogy Group

Venue: Alford Community Campus Library, Alford Academy, Greystone Road, Alford, AB33 8TY

Aberdeenshire Libraries

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Tuesday, November 14 2017, 1 pm

The Establishment of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain and its Influence on the Ukrainian Diaspora in Scotland

Peter Kormylo, University of Glasgow

Venue: G16, William Robertson Wing, Old Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

Diaspora Studies graduate workshop. For more information see http://edin.ac/1MSzwtw

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Tuesday, November 14 2017, 10:15 - 11:45

U3A Family History Group

Open Session

Venue: Turriff Library, Grange Villa, The Square, Turriff, AB43 5AE

Aberdeenshire Libraries

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Tuesday, November 14 2017, 5.30 pm - 7.30 pm

Modern Scotland

Callum Brown, Richard Finlay, W. Hamish Fraser

Venue: Kelvin Hall, Glasgow

Historical Conversations

This free public programme of talks, interviews and panel discussions (organised by Dr Catriona Macdonald, Scottish History and Dr Stephen Mullen, History, University of Glasgow) hosted in the Kelvin Hall in academic term 2017-18 (in partnership with The Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies, The Hunterian, UofG Library, Archives and Special Collections) explores the remarkable transformation of Scottish history over the course of the last fifty years; the current challenges faced by the discipline; and leading practitioners’ hopes for the future. The range of speakers in the programme lends this initiative authority and remarkable range: there’s something here for all lovers of Scottish history, and an opportunity to get to know a little better the writers behind the books that have shaped how we understand our past. Indeed, all events will be recorded and hosted online by the University library, establishing a fantastic resource for scholars in the future.

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Tuesday, November 14 2017, 7.30 pm

The Northern Picts Project

Dr Gordon Noble

Venue: Buchan Hotel, Ellon

Ellon and District Heritage Society

Entrance £3

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Tuesday, November 14 2017, 7.30 pm

Court of the Lord Lyon

Lord Lyon - Joseph Morrow

Venue: Volunteer House (Vonef Centre) in 69 Crossgate Cupar KY15 5AS

Fife Family History Society

Tea/coffee and biscuits included. Members entry free - Non members very welcome entry £2 for refreshments. Phone Dave Reid on 01333 350557 for any queries re talks.

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Tuesday, November 14 2017, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm

Women in Glasgow in WW1

Fiona Hayes (Glasgow Museums)

Venue: Masonic Halls, Collier Street, Johnstone

Johnstone Historical Society

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Wednesday, November 15 2017, 10 am - 11 am

Standing Stones of Stenness Walk

Venue: Stones of Stenness Circle and Henge

Historic Environment Scotland

Join the Orkney Ranger Service for a free guided tour of our oldest stone circle, and explore the fascinating links with the nearby Neolithic village of Barnhouse.

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Wednesday, November 15 2017, 7 pm

Marks, Meanings & Messages: an Archaeology of Hidden Voices

Alex Hale, RCAHMS

Venue: Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh

The Old Edinburgh Club

Free to members, £5 for guests. Disabled access and hearing loop

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Wednesday, November 15 2017, 7.30 pm

The Remarkable Life of Mary Lee Milne: Her adventures with the Scottish Women’s Hospital during the Great War

Shona Sinclair

Venue: Selkirk Parish Church Hall

Old Gala Club

Joint meeting with Selkirk Antiquarian Society

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Wednesday, November 15 2017, 7.30 pm

The Lost Mansions of the Clyde and Renfrewshire

Dan Sweeney

Venue: Best Western Eglinton Arms Hotel, Eaglesham

Eaglesham History Society

Members free, non-members £3 at the door

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Wednesday, November 15 2017, 7.30 pm

Scotland and the Spanish Civil War

Fraser Raeburn

Venue: Chalmers Hall, Linlithgow Bridge

West Lothian History and Amenity Society

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Thursday, November 16 2017, 5.15 pm for 5.30 pm

‘Remembering Revolution: The Covenants after 1660’

Dr Neil McIntyre (University of Glasgow)

Venue: Room 1.434 (Teaching Room 7), Doorway 3, Old Medical School

University of Edinburgh

Scottish history research seminar. See here for more details.

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Thursday, November 16 2017, 7.30 pm

TBA

Venue: Portland Church hall, South Beach, Troon

Troon & Ayrshire Family History Society

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Thursday, November 16 2017, 7.30 pm

Dunfermline/Trondheim Connection

Gifford Lind

Venue: Abbey Church Hall, Abbey Park Place, Dunfermline

Dunfermline Historical Society

Visitors are charged a fee of £2.00 per meeting and are made very welcome.

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Thursday, November 16 2017, 7.30 pm

The Wilkhouse Excavations of May 2019

Warren Baillie and Donald Adamson - Archaeologists, GUARD Archaeology Ltd

Venue: Brora Community Centre

Clyne Heritage Society

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Thursday, November 16 2017, 7:30 pm

The Covenanters in Renfrewshire

Dane Love

Venue: Paisley Museum, High Street, Paisley

Renfrewshire Family History Society

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Friday, November 17 2017, 7.30 pm

John Carswell’s Adventure: 450 years of Gaelic in print

Mark Wringe

Venue: Hilton Church, Inverness

Gaelic Society of Inverness

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Friday, November 17 2017, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm

The Flyting

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Netherbow Theatre, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Previously Scotland's History Festival

A welcome return for this lively showcase for the Scots language. William Dunbar and Walter Kennedy, the two great makars at the court of James IV, squared up to each other for a verbal battering, around 1508. The verse is sublime, the insults are grotesque and the swearing is genuine. This couldn't be more Scottish if it tried. You, the audience, get to judge the winner of this poetic pyrotechnic who goes home victorious? Dunbar? Kennedy? Ultimately, it's the Scots language itself!
Tickets £8 / £6 / £5.50 SCS

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Friday, November 17 2017, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm

John Carswell's Adventure: 450 years of Gaelic in Print

Mark Wringe

Venue: Hilton Church, Inverness

Gaelic Society of Inverness

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 12.30 pm - 1.30 pm

In the footsteps of CK Scott Moncrieff

Jean Findlay

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

From the outside an enigma, Scott Moncrieff left a trail of writings that describe a man expert at living a paradoxical life: fervent Catholic convert and homosexual, gregarious party-goer and deeply lonely, interwar spy in Mussolini’s Italy and public man of letters – a man for whom honour was the most abiding principle. He was a decorated war hero, and his letters home are an unusually light take on day-to-day life on the front. Described as ‘offensively brave’, he was severely injured in 1917 and, convalescing in London, became a lynchpin of literary society – friends with Robert Graves and Noel Coward, enemies with Siegfried Sassoon and in love with Wilfred Owen.
Scott Moncrieff’s great-great-niece, Jean Findlay, has exclusive access to the family archive, creating a a portrait of a man hurled into war, through an era when the world was changing fast and forever, who brought us the greatest epic of time and memory that has ever been written.
Jean Findlay has walked in the footsteps of CK Scott Moncrieff….. For eight years she carefully disinterred his life : visiting the battlefields of Flanders and Picardie, finding his flat in Rome, flying to New York to read his letters in the NYPL, tracing his steps up and down the Mediterranean coast of Italy. Jean has described this epic task as being like Scott Moncrieff’s translation of Proust itself, it seemed a never ending task, but it was worth the wait.
Ticket Price : £3.00

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 2 pm - 3 pm

Greedy Queen

Annie Gray

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Voracious and adventurous in her tastes, Queen Victoria was head of state during a revolution in how we ate - from the highest tables to the most humble. Bursting with original research, The Greedy Queen considers Britain's most iconic monarch from a new perspective, telling the story of British food along the way.
Born in May 1819, Victoria came 'as plump as a partridge'. In her early years she lived on milk and bread under the Kensington system; in her old age she suffered constant indigestion yet continued to over-eat. From intimate breakfasts with the King of France, to romping at tea-parties with her children, and from state balls to her last sip of milk, her life is examined through what she ate, when and with whom. In the royal household, Victoria was surrounded by ladies-in-waiting, secretaries, dressers and coachmen, but below stairs there was another category of servant: her cooks. More fundamental and yet completely hidden, they are now uncovered in their working environment for the first time.
Annie Gray: historian, cook, lecturer, broadcaster, writer & consultant. She specialises in the history of food and dining in Britain from around 1600 to the present day, and does this fascinating research both in libraries and in my own (and others') kitchens.
Ticket price : £5.00

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 2 pm - 4 pm

Canadian Records

Neil Menzies

Venue: Renfield Saint Stephen's Church Centre

Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 2.30 pm - 4 pm

In The Footsteps of the Enlightenment

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Join writer and walking enthusiast Stephen Millar, author of Edinburgh’s Hidden Walks, on a wee wonder around Edinburgh’s Old Town and discover the sites of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Meet at 14.30 at the portico of the City Of Edinburgh Methodist Church Hall on Nicholson Square. Remember, it is November, and Scotland, so sensible shoes and equally sensible clothing would be a great idea!
Ticket price : £8.00

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 2.30pm-4.30pm

Dominican Blackfriars

Alison Cameron

Venue: Unitarian Church Centre, 43A Skene Terrace, Aberdeen, AB10 1RN

Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 3.30 pm - 4.30 p

The Prince Who Would Be King: The Life and Death of Henry Stuart

Sarah Fraser

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales was once the hope of Britain. Eldest son to James VI of Scotland, James I of England, Henry was the epitome of heroic Renaissance princely virtue, his life set against a period about as rich and momentous as any. A lively, intelligent prince destined for greatness, but dead at only 18.
Sarah Fraser seeks to restore Henry to his place in history. Set against the bloody traumas of the Thirty Years’ War, the writing of the King James Bible, the Gunpowder Plot and the dark tragedies pouring from Shakespeare’s quill, Henry’s life is the last great forgotten Jacobean tale: the story of a man who, had he lived, might have saved Britain from King Charles I, and the Civil War.
Sarah's outstanding work on restoring Prince Henry is the foundation of a new documentary on the lost prince, scheduled to air this autumn.
Ticket Price : £3.00

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 5 pm - 6 pm

Culloden

Trevor Royle

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Culloden. The last major battle fought on British soil: a vicious confrontation between Scottish forces supporting the Stuart claim to the throne and forces loyal to the Hanoverian cause. But this wasn't just a conflict between the Scots and the English, the battle was also part of a much larger campaign to protect the British Isles from the growing threat of a French invasion.
Trevor Royale takes us into the ranks, on both sides, alongside doomed Jacobites fighting fellow Scots dressed in the red coats of the Duke of Cumberland's Royal Army. And we meet the Duke himself, a skilled warrior who would gain notoriety due to the reprisals on Highland clans in the battle's aftermath. Royle also takes us beyond the battle as the men of the Royal Army, galvanized by its success at Culloden, expand dramatically and start to fight campaigns overseas in America and India in order to secure British interests; we see the revolutionary use of fighting techniques first implemented at Culloden; and the creation of professional fighting forces.
Culloden changed the course of British history by ending all hope of the Stuarts reclaiming the throne, cementing Hanoverian rule and forming the bedrock for the creation of the British Empire. Royle's lively and provocative history looks afresh at the period and unveils its true significance, not only as the end of a struggle for the throne but the beginning of a new global power.
Ticket Price : £3.00

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 7 pm - 8 pm

War. What is it good for?

Aaron Edwards

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

War has been a perennial feature of human history since ancient times, yet it remains a poorly understood phenomenon. It has done much to shape our world, from overthrowing leaders, establishing international governance, and inspiring social change, to destroying cities, dividing nations and breeding animosity.
Dr Aaron Edwards succinctly combines political theories with historical realities. and invites us to question whether violence is the most effective way to resolve disputes.
Dr Aaron Edwards is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Defense and International Affairs at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Ticket Price : £3.00

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm

Runaway Slaves In Britain

Simon Newman and Mara Menzies

Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, Netherbow Theatre, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Relatively little is known about the enslaved people who lived and died in 18th century Britain. Runaway slaves inadvertently generated records of themselves, when slave-owners placed advertisements in newspapers, describing people who are otherwise all but completely absent from historical records.
The Runaway Slave Project in Britain, has been uncovering and cataloguing these advertisements. Professor Simon Newman, of the University of Glasgow’s School Of Humanities has been leading the effort to collate these records, and joins us to tell us more about this project. Mara Menzies, internationally renowned Scots Kenyan storyteller will weave these tiny fragments of lives lived into tales of the people history ignored, but are slowly uncovering again.
TICKETS £8 / £6 / £5.50 SCS

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Saturday, November 18 2017, 8.30 pm - 9.30 pm

Scotland : A Century of Nationalism

Tommy Sheppard

Venue: The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Previously Scotland's History Festival

For many, the very real possibility of a sovereign Scotland brought the Independence movement with its hopes, dreams and aspirations into sharp focus for the first time. But what about the history of this ambition? The story of Scottish nationalism is far deeper than the galvanising two year independence campaign of 2012 -2014. Join Tommy Sheppard MP as he explores this rich and sometimes controversial history with Professor Richard Finlay (University of Strathclyde).
Ticket price : £3.00

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Sunday, November 19 2017, 1.30 pm - 3 pm

GUIDED TOUR OF DEAN CEMETERY

Venue: Dean Cemetery, 63 Dean Path, Edinburgh EH4 3AT, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Opened in 1846, this is one of the Capital’s early Victorian designed garden cemeteries. It quickly became one of the premier burial grounds of the City, so that many eminent persons chose Dean for their final resting-places. It’s still immaculately maintained by the Dean Cemetery Trust, thus the many fine monuments may be viewed clearly as intended. The tour will introduce you to many of the personalities interred within, including Dr Elsie Inglis and some of the family and friends of Robert Louis Stevenson.
£5 free to children under 12. Pay at Gate. Booking essential. To book email [email protected]

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Sunday, November 19 2017, 1.45 pm - 2.45 pm

Pirates!

Dr Eric Graham

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Do you have what it takes to join the crew of a Black Flag pirate? How would you fare on the decks of a cruising 30 gunner looking for prey off the Gold Coast? Can you handle the cut and thrust of the boarding party? Would you have been a Blade of Fortune or a Forced Man? And did they all say 'arrr Jim, lad' (hint: they didn't.)
Dr Eric Graham, maritime historian and pirate king can take you through what it really meant to be a pirate in the Golden Age of Piracy, and what happened if your pirate dream was to retire…
Ticket price : £3.00

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Sunday, November 19 2017, 12.30 pm - 1.30 pm

A Very Short Introduction To : Hieroglyphs

Penelope Wilson

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Hieroglyphs were far more than a language. They were an omnipresent and all-powerful force in communicating the messages of ancient Egyptian culture for over three thousand years; used as monumental art, as a means of identifying Egyptianness, and for rarefied communication with the gods. Penelope Wilson explores the cultural significance of the script with an emphasis on previously neglected areas such as cryptography, the continuing decipherment into modern times, and examines the powerful fascination hieroglyphs still hold for us today.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Sunday, November 19 2017, 3 pm - 4 pm

Castle Hunter

David Weinczok

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

David Weinczok hunts castles, and for that Scotland is undoubtedly the place to be. You won't find him at many gold-laden palaces; he's more the ‘windswept ruin atop a seaside crag’ sort of guy. Some of his favourites, however, exist in the realm of fiction and to that end he is now looking at the castles of the big, silver, and video game screens and asking, 'but could it actually keep the bad guys out?'
From Game of Thrones' Winterfell to Disney's iconic turreted tower and the classic keeps of Super Mario Bros., David will lay siege to the cracks in their defences and crown a King of (Fantasy) Castles. Find out what separates proper castles from phoney ones and prepare for a nostalgic, pixellated assault on the castles all good geeks grew up with.
Ticket Price : £3.00

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Sunday, November 19 2017, 3 pm - 4 pm

Pixelated Pagans: Four Decades of Vikings in Video Game History

Christian Cooijmans

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Christian Cooijmans of the School of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh looks at the Vikings.
From Golden Axe to Skyrim, the Vikings have been a well-represented, recognisable subject of video game design for almost forty years. Bridging the gap between history and popular culture, Chris Cooijmans will consider how these Scandinavian seafarers and their society have thus far been (mis)represented by this rapidly-evolving creative medium, horned helmets and all.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Sunday, November 19 2017, 4 pm - 5 pm

A Very Short Introduction To The Napoleonic Wars

Mike Rapport

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

The Napoleonic Wars have an important place in the history of Europe, leaving their mark on European and world societies in a variety of ways. In many European countries they provided the stimulus for radical social and political change - particularly in Spain, Germany, and Italy - and are frequently viewed in these places as the starting point of their modern histories.
In this Very Short Introduction, Mike Rapport provides a brief outline of the wars, introducing the tactics, strategies, and weaponry of the time. He considers the origins and course of the wars, the ways and means in which it was fought, and the social and political legacy it has left to the world today.
Ticket price : £3.00

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Sunday, November 19 2017, 5 pm - 6 pm

Ghosts, Skeletons and Koopa Troopas: A Brief History of Baddies in Computer Games

Dr Chris Jefferson

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX, UK

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Anyone will tell you that since the beginning of entertainment history, the baddies have always had the best lines, the smartest gear and the coolest weapons. The computer games industry is no different. Learn the history of the pixelated villains with Dr Chris Jefferson of St Andrews University, and possibly even some tricks to defeat them!
Ticket price : £3.00

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Sunday, November 19 2017, 7 pm - 9 pm

HAPpening: History in Art Projects Launch

Venue: The Canon's Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Previously Scotland's History Festival

Previously… is launching History in Art Projects, a new scheme to encourage the exploration of history through the arts! Our aim is to support artists of all sorts by bringing them into contact with historians looking for new ways to share their research with the world. Through seed funding and matchmaking, we want to help new projects to come to life.
Join us at our launch event to hear more – we’ll be announcing the first recipient of our Seed Fund for New History Plays, and there’ll be a special performance by storyteller Mara Menzies who is developing a piece in collaboration with The Runaway Slave Project. Come and find out what’s HAPpening!

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