Scottish Archaeological Sites Threatened
Experts say major archaeological sites on the Scottish coast are in danger of being washed away as sea levels rise. for more click here
May 31, 2007
A Strange Map of Leith
During the craze for Canal Building in the late 18th and early 19th century there was a proposal to build a canal across Leith Links to join Leith Docks with the Forth-Clyde Canal and that is what is shown on this map. Fortunately it never happened! (more…)
May 30, 2007
The Rough Wooing
The Rough Wooing was a term coined by Sir Walter Scott and H. E. Marshall to describe the Anglo-Scottish war pursued intermittently from 1544 to 1551. It followed from the failure of the Scots to honour the terms of the 1543 Treaty of Greenwich, by which the infant Mary Queen of Scots was betrothed to Edward Prince of Wales, the son and heir of Henry VIII. The war had the opposite effect from that intended: rather than agree that Mary be married to Edward, the Scots sent their queen to France, where she was betrothed to the Dauphin Francis, the son of Henry II. The war itself can be divided into two distinct phases. The first, while Henry was still alive, was principally a campaign of large-scale intimidation, England’s main military effort being directed against France. The second phase under Protector Somerset saw a much more serious onslaught on Scotland, with major invasions in 1547 and 1548. for more click here
The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club
The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club has been in existence for over 110 years, having celebrated its centenary in 1994. It has a membership of over 350, most of whom live in or around Edinburgh and Glasgow, but there is a considerable number from other parts of Scotland, and also from England and overseas. for more click here
World’s oldest clipper to be scrapped
Glasgow’s Evening Times newspaper reported today that the world’s oldest clipper, the sv CARRICK, is to be scrapped.
North Ayrshire Council have decided that the ship should be ‘deconstructed’, despite pleas from Sunderland and Australia as well as voices in Scotland pointing out the historic merits of the Sunderland-built ship. for more click here
Club tees up plan for new Leith golf course
AS the place where the rules of golf were first written down, it lays claim to being the birthplace of the sport.
But with the exception of an annual four-day festival, a club has rarely been swung on Leith Links for well over a century. for more click here
May 29, 2007
Join the Campaign for a Leith Museum
The recent announcement that National Trust for Scotland was likely to sell off Lambs House to for a housing redevelopment has led to a lot of public interest in the idea of setting up a Leith museum. (Another suggestion for a location is the Leith Custom House see right). I’ve been in touch with a number of local groups who are keen to have such a museum set up, and I thought it would be a good idea to launch a campaign in support of the proposal. I had planned to do a bit more preliminary work for the campaign (and I also thought it might be best to wait until the elections were over) but there’s been some interest in media who’d heard we were thinking of starting such a campaign. So we’ve launched our campaign – if you support us, sign the on-line petition!
John Arthur and his Persevere Portal has been really keen to promote the campaign, and with all his contacts, I am sure the message will get round soon enough! We want to get as many signatures as possible, to show that this is something the people of Leith – and friends of Leith, and Leithers and ex-Leithers worldwide – really want to happen. for more click here
Sign the petition
May 28, 2007
Map of Flanders in the 12th century
Map of Landers at the time of Charles the Good. for more click here