Of poles,pressmen, and the newspaper public: Reporting the Scottish national Antarctic expedition, 1902–1904

Between 1902 and 1904, the Scots naturalist William Speirs Bruce (1867–1921) led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition on a voyage of oceanographical discovery. Unlike other British expeditions undertaken during the ‘Heroic Age’ of polar exploration, Bruce's Expedition placed undivided attention upon scientific accumulation, and dismissed the value of territorial acquisition. As a consequence, Bruce and his Expedition were subject to a distinct interpretation by the press. With reference to contemporary newspaper reports, this paper traces the unique mediation of Bruce, and reveals how geographies of reporting served to communicate locally particular representations of him, and of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.     

The Bruce dynasty,Becket and Scottish pilgrimage to Canterbury, c.1178-c.1404

This paper seeks to question the assumption that the outbreak of prolonged Anglo-Scottish war in 1296 brought an abrupt decline in Scottish interest in St Thomas, his shrine at Canterbury and the great abbey dedicated to him in Scotland at Arbroath. A survey of Scottish devotion to Becket after 1296 reveals that in fact the interest of the monarchy and certain sections of Scottish society intensified. For the two Bruce kings, devotion to Becket developed a double importance although in very different political contexts. For Robert I (1306-29) St Thomas, Canterbury and Arbroath served as both a focus of personal faith and of strategic observances in the struggle against England. However, for David II (1329-71), captured in battle against England in 1346, such observances also became a central feature of attempts to persuade his subjects of the value of closer Anglo-Scottish relations: David's reign was marked by a surge in pilgrimage to Canterbury by Scottish royals, nobles, clerics and ordinary lay folk. Had David lived longer and/or produced a Bruce heir, continued Scottish devotion to Becket might have formed the basis of far more amicable Anglo-Scottish relations than would be the norm under Stewart kings of Scots after 1371.     

Restorationist Counter‐Enlightenment: Thomas M'Crie on the Concept of Civil Liberty

Enlightenment notions for Counter‐Enlightenment purposes have not to date been used to provide a comprehensive context for Scottish religious history‐writing in the age of Counter‐Revolution and Restoration. The Evangelical historian and divine Thomas M'Crie's studies on Scottish Reformation history, Life of John Knox and Life of Andrew Melville, published in 1811 and 1819 respectively, exhibit an abundance of historiographical material for research. M'Crie was among the most renowned writers of his own time, but his historical works have been briefly passed over in recent secondary sources. The main purpose of this study is to rescue M'Crie's historical works on the Scottish Reformation past from near oblivion. This article argues that M'Crie produced an apology for the Scottish Reformation, adopting an aggressive style that attacked Scottish Enlightenment historians and thinkers such as William Robertson and David Hume, especially in the matter of their treatment of John Knox and Andrew Melville. M'Crie tried to restore his chosen past in order to influence the religious and political affairs of Scotland. In M'Crie's Counter‐Enlightenment historiography, the concept of civil liberty and Presbyterianism become interchangeable in a Restorationist religio‐political discourse. That is why M'Crie's enthusiasm for the Scottish Reformation constitutes the most representative example of the Presbyterian interpretation, which held its own against Enlightenment influence.     

From the Arctic and Antarctic to ‘the back parts of Mull’: The life and career of William Gordon Burn Murdoch (1862–1939)

Published and archival sources are examined to elucidate the career of William Gordon Burn Murdoch, artist, bag‐piper, explorer, geographer, hunter, Scottish nationalist, traveller, whaler and writer. Burn Murdoch's diverse contributions to geography are discussed, as are the roles he played in the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and other Scottish scientific and literary societies. A preliminary list of his extant original works of art is included.     

The Extra‐Parliamentary Organisation of the Whig Junto in the Reign of William III

There is much evidence for the parliamentary organisation of the whig junto in Queen Anne's reign, but little for its extra‐parliamentary organisation. This note gives evidence for such extra‐parliamentary organisation late in the reign of William III from letters by both James Vernon and Robert Harley, which describe meetings of the junto and some of its supporters in the country houses of followers in the summers of 1698, 1699 and 1700.     

Faith in war: the religious experience of Scottish soldiery, c.1100–c.1500

This paper examines the comparatively patchy evidence for the pastoral provision and personal faith of late medieval Scottish combatants below the rank of knight. By examining such sources as papal supplications, royal financial accounts, parliamentary rolls, chronicles, poetry and the cartularies of Scottish monastic houses and burgh collegiate churches, it is possible to identify elite and parish provision of churchmen serving the needs of Scottish troops as they mustered, trained and prepared for battle. In addition, this evidence also highlights a number of cults and relics popular with the social ranks of the ordinary Scottish soldiery, including those of SS Ninian, Leonard, Thomas Becket, Columba, the Blessed Virgin Mary and — often cast as the nemesis of Scottish troops — Cuthbert. However, this survey also points to some tensions between the spiritual interests of Scottish servicemen and their ruling elites.     

Scotland,Atlantic slavery and the Scottish National Party: From colonised to coloniser in the political imagination

Over the last three decades, a major shift has taken place in Scottish nationalist understandings of Scotland's colonial past. During the second half of the twentieth century, independence supporters viewed Scotland's relationship with England in colonial terms. Since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999, nationalists have increasingly recognised Scots' role in Atlantic slavery. This paper explores this change within the Scottish National Party (SNP) using archival sources, published material and Scottish Parliamentary records. It demonstrates that a maturing historiography has drawn attention to Scotland's slavery past. History has become politically relevant in transatlantic deliberations over racial injustice, which have grown in intensity since the international Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. SNP ministers and parliamentarians have responded to this context by incorporating addressing Scotland's role in Atlantic slavery within a case for independence that is styled as progressive and contrasts with the more recalcitrant attitudes, which predominate at UK level.     

William speirs bruce,the ben nevis observatory,and antarctic meteorology

Following his participation in an expedition to the Weddell Sea (1892–1893), William Speirs Bruce determined to undertake further polar research and sought training and experience in such techniques and methodologies as might prove useful to him in securing opportunities to participate in future expeditions. During 1895–1896 he worked at the Ben Nevis Observatory gaining experience of meteorological research. The experience he gained in the design and operation of an observatory in a harsh environment he was later to apply when he established an observatory on Laurie Island, South Orkneys. This paper draws on a recently discovered archival source (Swinney (2001) to re‐examine Brace's involvement with the Ben Nevis Observatory.     

British Merchants in New Markets: The Case of Wylie and Hancock in Brazil and the River Plate,c. 1808–19

In 1808, after the Portuguese royal family was forced to leave Portugal and move to Brazil, Brazilian ports were opened to British merchant houses, which were quick to open offices in the likes of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. By 1810 there were probably over 200 British merchant houses operating in Brazil, but we know very little about them because most of their historical records have not survived. In addition, scholars have assumed that, on account of the dominant British economic power, the establishment of new mercantile houses in South America c. 1808–19 was an easy task. This assumption is challenged in this paper, which sheds new light on the activities of one of these British merchant houses, making use of a recently discovered business collection concerned with the activities of Wylie & Hancock, a Scottish house which operated in Brazil and the River Plate from 1808 to 1819. These papers also provide a unique insight into neglected topics such as: the nature of managerial mercantile organisations; what the economic actors at the time actually did and thought; and how strategic and tactical choices were reached.     

Faith in war: the religious experience of Scottish soldiery,c.1100–c.1500

This paper examines the comparatively patchy evidence for the pastoral provision and personal faith of late medieval Scottish combatants below the rank of knight. By examining such sources as papal supplications, royal financial accounts, parliamentary rolls, chronicles, poetry and the cartularies of Scottish monastic houses and burgh collegiate churches, it is possible to identify elite and parish provision of churchmen serving the needs of Scottish troops as they mustered, trained and prepared for battle. In addition, this evidence also highlights a number of cults and relics popular with the social ranks of the ordinary Scottish soldiery, including those of SS Ninian, Leonard, Thomas Becket, Columba, the Blessed Virgin Mary and — often cast as the nemesis of Scottish troops — Cuthbert. However, this survey also points to some tensions between the spiritual interests of Scottish servicemen and their ruling elites.     

Mankind and its Histories: William Robertson,Georg Forster,and a Late Eighteenth-Century German Debate

The Scottish historian William Robertson's works on European encounter with non-European civilizations (History of America, 1777; Historical Disquisition […] of India, 1791) received a great deal of attention in contemporary Germany. Through correspondence with Robertson, as well as by reviewing and translating his texts, Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg took an active part in this process. The younger Forster also became simultaneously involved in a debate which was unfolding on the German intellectual scene concerning the different or equal “value” (Wert) of the various “races of mankind” (Menschenrassen), engaging especially the relevant views advanced by the Göttingen historian Christoph Meiners and Immanuel Kant. The debate was firmly embedded in the context of an emerging ‘science of man’ in the German Enlightenment, to which Forster contributed an almost incomparable richness of empirical knowledge as well as theoretical sophistication. Forster's direct engagement with Robertson's work during the same period (mid-1780s to the early 1790s) creates a context through which the Wissenschaft vom Menschen in the Aufklärung and the Scottish version of the science of man – built on the neighbour disciplines to which Robertson's historiography was crucially indebted – is set in an interesting comparative light. This paper, part of a comprehensive project tracing the German reception of Robertson as an instance of inter-cultural exchange in the Enlightenment, will exploit the opportunities presented by one particular and documented case for a general comparison of enlightened ‘sciences of man’.     

On Dilwyn Church

Abstract

The stone castle was probably begun in the first quarter of the 13th century by Alan, the king's steward, or his son, Walter. Bute had only recently been wrested from the kingdom of Man and the Isles, whose overlord, King Håkon IV of Norway, sent two expeditions to retake it in 1230 and 1263. When Bute returned to Scottish control in 1266, the castle was strengthened by the addition of four rounded projecting towers and a gatehouse facing the sea. Rothesay played little part in the Wars if Independence from 1290 onwards. The marriage of Walter III Stewart with King Robert the Bruce's daughter, Marjorie, however, eventually resulted in the Stewarts obtaining the throne in 1371 through Marjorie's son, Robert.

Both King Robert II (1371–90) and his son Robert III (1390–1406) spent time at Rothesay Castle and carried out minor building works. James IV (1488–1513) also took a personal interest in it, and in August 1498 appointed his kinsman, Ninian Stewart, as captain and keeper. He also began construction of the large residential gatehouse, called le dungeon, that was added on to the earlier gatehouse; this work was finished under James V in 1540–42.

In 1685 the castle was burnt by the duke if Argyll, and the keeper's family abandoned it as a residence. In 1816–18, the second marquess of Bute had the courtyard cleared of vegetation and rubble; and in 1871–9, the third marquess cleared the moat and engaged the architect William Burges to carry out restoration of the masonry. The gatehouse hall was also rebuilt in 1900.     

Painted Textiles in a Buddhist Temple

Abstract

This article investigates women's dye practice at a time when natural dyes were deemed obsolete, or when created by men working from an artisanal studio, transformed into idealized labour more consistent with the ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The objective of this article is to assess the extent to which gender plays a role in the historical and contemporary determination of the aesthetic, cultural, and social value of natural dyeing. Another goal is to move away from the term 'craft work' with its acquired pejorative context and locate dyeing within 'artisanal practice' as an occupational choice. Current studies on women's participation in the Arts and Crafts Movement raise questions as to the distinction between amateur and professional status among practitioners in many media. The only dyer deemed to be 'professional' was William Morris; yet in north-west Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, and England's Lake District, female dyers contemporary with Morris also made important contributions. That their production of colour originated from the separate sphere of home need not mitigate against professional status nor historical value, but there is a lingering perception that men such as Morris possessed inherently superior abilities. The focus of this article is also to analyze the mythology of natural dyeing which has limited the opportunity to recognize female dyers whose practice aligned with the utopian ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Three examples are discussed here against a brief summary of centuries of women's involvement in the business and trade of dyeing. The Arts and Crafts dyers discussed in this paper are also compared to Morris. Women's abilities as colourists were as worthy of professional designation as were those same skills when they emanated from men who comprised the Movement's elite.     

Mobile Peoples: Pastoralists and Herders at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Bruce Trigger's and Adam Smith's comparative studies of state-level societies provide new theoretical approaches and are important components in a resurgence of explicit comparative analysis of early states by archaeologists. Trigger presents a massive systematic comparison of seven ancient states on an unusually large number of themes, whereas Smith carries out more intensive comparisons of a smaller sample on more limited themes. These well-written works make significant contributions to a number of areas, including empirical analysis, theory, and comparative methods.     

The geography and natural resources of Bolivia

This paper tries to show the main thread of Scottish national identity in the nineteenth century and how Scotland's close connection with the empire did not asuage Scottish desires to retain a national identity. The paper tries to illustrate that the interpretation of the union connection by the Scottish political classes was central to the understanding of Scotland as a nation during the period. Examples are also provided of the way in which the union could be questioned in this century, but this was with the caveat that this would necessarily be limited; for such was the extent to which national identity was played out on an imperial stage. Although Scots never lost sight of their distinctiveness, any extension of the critique of union would have ultimately worked against their ability to confidently display their identity as they did quite successfully in the nineteenth century.     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
The Architecture of Scottish Government. From Kingship to Parliamentary Democracy .
Mercy and Authority in the Tudor State .
Intrigue and Treason .
The Government of Scotland .
The History of the Scottish Parliament, Volume Two. Parliament and Politics in Scotland, 1567–1707 .
The Politics of Commonwealth. Citizens and Freemen in Early Modern England .
Machiavelli, Hobbes, and the Formation of a Liberal Republicanism in England .
Restoration. Charles II and his Kingdoms, 1660–1685 .
William III, the Stadholder-King .
Enlightenment Prelate. Benjamin Hoadly, 1676–1761 .
The Pamphlet Controversy about Wood's Halfpence (1722–25) and the Tradition of Irish Constitutional Nationalism .
Problems and Perspectives in Irish History since 1800. Essays in Honour of Patrick Buckland .
Reform and Reformers in Nineteenth Century Britain .
The Whig Revival, 1808–1830 .
Harcourt and Son. A Political Biography of Sir William Harcourt, 1827–1904 .
Baldwin Papers. A conservative Statesman, 1908–1947 .
Labour's Crass Roots. Essays on the Activities of Local Labour Parties and Members, 1918–45 .
Controversial Issues in Anglo-Irish Relations, 1920–1921 .     

Corporate kin-groups,social memory,and “history houses”? A quantitative test of recent reconstructions of social organization and building function at Çatalhöyük during the PPNB

It has been argued that the corporate kin-group was the main form of socioeconomic organization at the Turkish site of Çatalhöyük during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). This hypothesis is linked to a claim of long-term repetitive patterning in the use of household space. Çatalhöyük's corporate kin-groups, it is suggested, would have been maintained by social memory, and social memory would have been created by the repeated rebuilding of houses with the same floor plan and by the burial of important members of the corporate kin-groups under house floors. This hypothesis been taken up by a number of authors in recent years. However, it is not clear how much confidence should be invested in the hypothesis as the use of household space at Çatalhöyük during the PPNB has not been subject to formal evaluation. With this in mind, we carried out a study in which we examined the relationship between continuity in house floor plans and the percentage of houses that contain burials. To assess the co-variation between these variables, we developed a GIS-based method of quantifying house wall continuity, and then subjected the resulting index and a number of other variables, including the percentage of houses that contain burials, to factor analysis. The results of the analyses do not support the hypothesis. The house-wall continuity index and the percentage of houses that contains burials load on different factors, which indicates that they do not co-vary through time. This is contrary to the predictions of the corporate kin-group hypothesis. Thus, claims that during the PPNB Çatalhöyük's occupants formed corporate kin groups that were maintained by social memory and “history houses” should be curtailed and interpretations built on this hypothesis should be viewed with suspicion.