News
Published 3rd May 2023
Designed to Delight: the policies of Inveraray Castle
A brand-new exhibition featuring the Inveraray Castle policies has been created and installed for the 2023 season. ‘Designed to Delight’ is intended to take visitors on a journey around the estate, showing them the various architectural gems and beauty spots that together make up one of Scotland’s most significant designed landscapes.
Special use has been made of the Argyll Papers in the form of maps and plans, architectural drawings, correspondence and other estate records – all of which help to bring the exhibition to life. Further interest comes from first-hand accounts of visitors to Inveraray over the past 300 years including James Maxwell, self-styled ‘Poet in Paisley’, who respectfully dedicated his Descriptive Poem on the castle and grounds to the 5th Duke of Argyll in 1777.
His description of Cherry Park, home of the Argyll Papers, gives an idea of the quality of his work:
The Offices I also had forgot,
Although a Building of surprizing note.
A stately Building too; four square it stands,
Which from my pen abundant praise demands.
Four spacious Torrets here are on high are rais’d,
And fine Venetian window to be prais’d:
And in the midst a large capacious Court,
Fit for the Platform of some warlike Fort.
And hence (about two hundred yards) proceeds
A charming walk, which to the Palace leads.
‘Designed to Delight’ can be seen now at Inveraray Castle, Thursday – Monday until 31 October 2023. Exhibition included in Castle admission.
Published 4thApril 2023
20th April 2023 @ 19:30 (UK time)
Society of Highland & Island Historical Research
Comann Rannsachaidh Eachdraidh na Gaidhealtachd
www.highlandhistoricalresearch.com
The Sea League, c. 1933-1939: a thoroughly modern cause and the ‘literature of Highland protest’
By Prof.Hugh Cheape
If you wish to attend this seminar, please reserve your place by emailing lectures@highlandhistoricalresearch.com.
Published 24th March 2023
Fri 21st Apr 2023 10.00 BST
Donald Meek & Dr. John Holliday
(3) A Tiree shipwreck: McLaurin and the ‘Duke of York’
Published 24th February 2023
Fri 24 Mar 2023 14:30pm GMT
Julia Bracewell
The Double Duchess – the life of Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess of Hamilton and Duchess of Argyle.
Published 14th February 2023
Donald Meek and Dr John Holliday
MALCOLM McLAURIN (1765-1834)
Talk 2: Restructuring Tiree
Fri 24 February @ 19:30 UK time
The Friends of the Argyll Papers are delighted to announce the next in our 2022/3 series of online
seminars informed by research undertaken in the archive. This seminar will take place on Zoom.
In the first seminar on Malcolm McLaurin, Donald Meek and Dr Holliday looked at the early years and
influences which created this man. His many skills and interests seemed, at least in terms of his
qualifications, to fit him perfectly for the role of Chamberlain of Tiree. Yet, although the future may
have seemed rosy, it did not turn out particularly well for McLaurin on Tiree, as Donald Meek and Dr
Holliday will explain in this seminar.
Seminars are free for members of the Friends. Non-members are welcome to attend and are invited
to make a donation of £5 per seminar at https://friendsoftheargyllpapers.enthuse.com/#!/.
Book your place and receive joining instructions by emailing: friendsoftheargyllpapers@gmail.com
Published 12th February 2023
Society of Highland & Island Historical Research
Comann Rannsachaidh Eachdraidh na Gaidhealtachd
www.highlandhistoricalresearch.com
16th February 2023 @ 19:30 (UK time)
The Medieval Diocese of Sodor: Evidence from Furness Abbey
by Prof. Fiona Edmonds
This talk will take place on Thursday 16th February 2023. It will begin at 7:30pm (UK time) and last up to one hour, followed by questions. It will be held online, via Zoom.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to copyright reasons, this lecture will NOT be recorded for future viewing.
Please book your place by responding to this e-mail
(lectures@highlandhistoricalresearch.com). You will then be sent a link to allow you to join the talk via your web browser or the Zoom app. If you don’t seem to have received it within a couple of days, please check your ‘Junk’ folder.
Participation via Zoom is free to members of SHIHR and to students. Non-members other than students are politely requested to make a donation of £5 to society funds. To do so via PayPal please go to the lecture page on our website and click the ‘Add to cart’ button, then proceed to the checkout. For alternative payment methods please e-mail our treasurer on treasurer@highlandhistoricalresearch.com
PLEASE NOTE: Even if you have made a donation, you still need to register for the lecture by e-mailing us in order to receive the Zoom link.
To see full listings of all our online lectures, please check our website.
About the lecture
This talk derives from recent research by Professor Fiona Edmonds and Dr Sarah Thomas. The talk focuses on a document produced by the monks of Furness Abbey, a Savigniac and subsequently Cistercian abbey in the historic county of Lancashire (modern administrative county of Cumbria). The document is a dossier of texts pertaining to the right of the Furness community to elect the bishops of the Isles (Sodor) during the medieval period. It includes copies of important early charters issued by kings of Man and the Isles. While those charter texts have long been known to scholars, the dossier has never been considered as a whole. In this paper, Professor Edmonds seeks to identify the historical context in which the monks of Furness compiled evidence for the connection between their abbey and the bishops of the Isles.
Fiona Edmonds is Professor in Regional History and Director of the Regional Heritage Centre at Lancaster University. She is an historian of medieval Britain and Ireland, with interests ranging from the sixth century to the thirteenth. Her monograph Gaelic Influence in the Northumbrian Kingdom: The Golden Age and the Viking Age was published by Boydell and Brewer in 2019. The book won the Frank Watson book prize 2021, and it was also shortlisted in Scotland’s National Book Awards.
Published 23rd January 2023
Please see information about the Scottish Records Association conference 2023, which is focussing on Scottish palaeography. If you are interested in attending this in-person event, please book your place using the eventbrite link included in below.
Annual Conference 2023 – On the Write Track: making sense of older handwriting
The annual conference of the Scottish Records Association will take place on Friday 24 February 2023 and will be held in conjunction with the National Records of Scotland.
The venue is New Register House in Edinburgh. In the morning session, a series of talks will discuss advances in online palaeography tuition and how Artificial Intelligence can help transcribe handwritten sources. The chair will be Duncan MacNiven (formerly the Registrar General for Scotland) and speakers will include Alison Diamond (Inveraray Estate Archives), Andrew Mackillop (University of Glasgow) and Alison Rosie (National Records of Scotland).
During the afternoon there will be an open event where researchers can bring documents they are having problems reading or understanding, to get advice from experienced palaeographers. Also present will be societies who publish transcriptions of original sources of Scottish history, showing how their publications can help researchers understand similar records. There will be a small display of original records related to these record publications.
The conference will mark the launch of the new edition of ‘Scottish Handwriting 1500-1700: a self-help pack’, published jointly by the Scottish Records Association and the National Records of Scotland.
The event is free of charge but places at both the morning and afternoon sessions are limited. For more details and to reserve a place at the morning talks and the afternoon open event, please go to the Eventbrite page at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-the-write-track-tickets-511589617317.
Robert Urquhart
Membership Secretary
Scottish Records Association (registered charity SC008896)
Published 13th January 2023
Donald Meek and Dr John Holliday
‘The Young McLaurin’, the first of a three part reassessment of
Dr Malcolm McLaurin (1765-1834),
Chamberlain of Tiree from 1801 to 1811
Fri 20 January @ 10:00 UK time
The Friends of the Argyll Papers are delighted to announce the next in our 2022/3 series of online
seminars informed by research undertaken in the archive. This seminar will take place on Zoom.
In this seminar, Donald Meek and Dr John Holliday will discuss ‘The Young McLaurin’: his background
in Ardchattan, his training as a doctor and his role as physician to the Campbells of Barcaldine, his
move away from Ardchattan, and into factoring for Argyll Estates. This is the first of a three part reassessment of Dr Malcolm McLaurin (1765-1834), who was Chamberlain of Tiree from 1801 to 1811.
Seminars are free for members of the Friends. Non-members are welcome to attend and are invited
to make a donation of £5 per seminar at https://friendsoftheargyllpapers.enthuse.com/
Book your place and receive joining instructions by emailing: friendsoftheargyllpapers@gmail.com
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Published 4th January 2023
Society of Highland & Island Historical Research
Comann Rannsachaidh Eachdraidh na Gaidhealtachd
www.highlandhistoricalresearch.com
12th January 2023 @ 19:30 (UK time)
Gaelic sovereignty in the later middle ages
by Dr. Martin MacGregor
This talk will take place on Thursday 12th January 2023. It will begin at 7:30pm (UK time) and last up to one hour, followed by questions. It will be held online, via Zoom.
Please book your place by responding to this e-mail
(lectures@highlandhistoricalresearch.com). You will then be sent a link to allow you to join the talk via your web browser or the Zoom app. If you don’t seem to have received it within a couple of days, please check your ‘Junk’ folder.
Participation via Zoom is free to members of SHIHR and to students. Non-members other than students are politely requested to make a donation of £5 to society funds. To do so via PayPal please go to the lecture page on our website and click the ‘Add to cart’ button, then proceed to the checkout. For alternative payment methods please e-mail our treasurer on treasurer@highlandhistoricalresearch.com
PLEASE NOTE: Even if you have made a donation, you still need to register for the lecture by e-mailing us in order to receive the Zoom link.
To see full listings of all our online lectures, please check our website.
About the lecture
This talk will ask whether a pan-Gaelic sovereignty existed in the later middle ages. Three relevant concepts are identified and discussed: taigh is leth Albann or a ‘house and a half of Scotland’; airdcheannas Eireann or ‘the high kingship of Ireland’; Ceannas Gaoidheal (later Ceannas nan Gàidheal) or ‘the headship of the Gaels’. The root they share is not Dalriada, in modern eyes often seen as the sine qua non of Gaelic communion across the North Channel, but the MacDonalds or Clann Dòmhnaill of Scotland and their progenitor Colla Uais, one of the fabled three Collas. In the case of Ceannas Gaoidheal the Campbells also feature.
Dunollie Castle, by Ronnie Leask.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Dr Martin MacGregor is a senior lecturer in Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, specialising in the history of the Highlands or Gaelic-speaking Scotland between 1300 and 1900.
Published 28th December 2022
Attribution: by the Castle in-house drone photographer, Marcus.
(From an Inveraray Castle Facebook Post)
For those of you who were unable to access the STV news story on our castle and archives from 16 December, we now have the link to the article below.
Published 20th December 2022
Please note that the archive will be closed between Christmas and New Year and we will get back to you once we are back in January 2023.
Let us know if you are working to a particular deadline.
The archive continues to be open for research whilst the Castle is closed, but please note that advance booking is essential as space is limited.
Published 16th December 2022
Tonight, at 6:00pm GMT, our castle and archives will be featured on STV news!! Please tune in to watch!
Published 15th December 2022
Scottish Television on site…
Delighted to welcome Lindsays and Susan Ripoll, STV, to the archives today to talk about our Adopt a Charter project. The charters featured are the three adopted by Lindsays: the creation of Inveraray as a Burgh of Barony in 1474; the resignation by Mariota Nic Iain to her cousin the 4th Earl of her lands including Islay and Jura in 1538; a charter by the 5th Earl to his brother (later 6th Earl) of lands in Tarbert-shire, 1568.
Published 13th December 2022
Lucky for Some! Festive Cheer at The George Hotel
Published 6th December 2022
A New Start
We are delighted to welcome Darren Morgan to the Argyll Papers. Darren is digitising volumes and documents relating to Tiree as part of the Mental Health & Well-being project, Tiree Transcribes. The project has established two transcription groups on Tiree which meet weekly to transcribe documents as a collective activity under the care of Kirsteen Connor. The groups enjoy blether, coffee and chocolate biscuits as well as learning new skills and developing their knowledge of Tiree. Images of the newly digitised records will be provided to An Iodhlann and will be additional material for transcription.
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Published 1st December 2022
We’re delighted that the ‘Tìr Ìseal nan Òran’ (Tiree, low land of song) project has been selected to feature in the National Archives UK ‘A Year in Archives 2022’. Use the link below to see our entry.
The Argyll Papers at Inveraray Castle The ‘Tìr Ìseal nan Òran’ project is a project celebrated Tiree’s stories, heritage, culture and Gaelic language. The project featured seven stories from the island’s history and traditions to inspire new creative work. Local artists, young people, the community and international audiences have taken part in exploring and re-telling […]
Scotland and Isle Of Man – Archives sector (nationalarchives.gov.uk)
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Published 1st December 2022
Society of Highland & Island Historical Research
Comann Rannsachaidh Eachdraidh na Gaidhealtachd
www.highlandhistoricalresearch.com
8th December 2022 @ 13:00 (UK time)
The succession to titles and coats of arms: is there a case for law reform?
by Prof. Gillian Black
The talk will be held jointly with the Royal Celtic Society, and will take place on Thursday 8th December 2022. It will begin at 13.00pm (UK time) and last up to one hour, followed by questions. It will take place at the Royal Scots Club in Abercromby Place, Edinburgh, and will be live-streamed (via Zoom). You may attend either in person, or via Zoom in the usual way. If you attend in person, please note that tickets cost £5 on the door (or £2 for members, students and senior citizens). If attending via Zoom, please book your place by responding to this e-mail Participation via Zoom is free to members of SHIHR and to students. Non-members other than students are politely requested to make a donation of £5 to society funds. To do so via PayPal please go to the lecture page on our website and click the ‘Add to cart’ button, then proceed to the checkout. For alternative payment methods please e-mail our treasurer Tòmas MacAilpein on treasurer@highlandhistoricalresearch.com PLEASE NOTE: Even if you have made a donation, you still need to register for the lecture by e-mailing us in order to receive the Zoom link. To see full listings of all our online lectures, please check our website. |
| About the lecture In Scotland, titles and coats of arms vest in the successor according to the bloodline (the jure sanguinis) and, with the advent of DNA testing, it is now very easy to establish whether the heir is indeed the true genetic heir to a title or honour. Moreover, DNA testing can also lead to the re-opening of a succession which happened in past generations, unsettling an established family succession of decades or even centuries. However, this fixation on genetics is at odds with the approach in family law over the last 20 years, and indeed with the historical position, when genetic descent typically could not be established with such scientific certainty. What role should the jus sanguinis play in Scots law in the future? How should we deal with questions of succession to titles and coats of arms in this age of DNA? |
| Black is Professor of Scots Private Law at Edinburgh University, specialising in family law and contract law. Her work in family law brings together her interests in the legal regulation of families with her long-standing interest in heraldry. She is a trustee of the Lord Lyon Society, a member of the Heraldry Society of Scotland, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. In 2021 she was appointed as Linlithgow Pursuivant Extraordinary by the Lord Lyon. She also enjoys exploring graveyards and runs a Twitter account Scottish Graveyard Heraldry: @SHeraldry! |
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Published 25th November 2022
How time flies!
Today saw the end of Rosanna Barraclough’s internship with the Argyll Papers – the month has flashed past, with Rosanna working through a huge number of manuscripts and plans and the team enjoying a field trip to Rosneath. The finale was a presentation by Rosanna to an invited audience. Rosanna introduced her previous research into Joseph Bonomi and his work for the 5th and 6th dukes building Rosneath House, and the additional information she has added to her knowledge from her internship, the result of reading through correspondence and accounts and a close and detailed examination of the 190-odd plans which Bonomi made for the build and which are preserved in the Argyll Papers. It was a fascinating talk – the archive (and the archivist) gains so much from the knowledge which researchers bring with them as well as (hopefully) assisting the researcher. Rosanna will also be presenting the next seminar in the Friends series – on Fri 16 December @ 19:30 – and her work will provide the basis for an online exhibition – watch this space!
We followed Rosanna’s talk with a sandwich lunch (and cake naturally) and then Donald MacDougall led our visitors on a tour of the archive stores. This has been a lovely way to round off Rosanna’s internship and we look forward to staying in touch with her.
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Published 19th November 2022
Dear friends…
Published 19th November 2022
Friends Newsletter out today
The most recent edition of the Friends of the Argyll Papers newsletter, brilliantly collated and edited by Duncan Beaton, was emailed out to Friends today. If you have recently joined, the back catalogue of newsletters is available on request. Please email Alison at archives@inveraray-castle.com
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Published 17th November 2022
New Guidelines for Seals
New guidelines for describing seals are being developed with archivists, librarians, conservators and volunteers across the UK. The archivist attended an (online) focus group on 17 November which brought professionals together to review the draft guidelines. This is really exciting for the Argyll Papers, as we have an extensive collection of seals which are currently not described in detail. The archivist is developing ideas for a new volunteer project which will involve imaging seals in the collection, re-packaging them, and creating new descriptions in accordance with the guidelines. Imaging and re-packaging requires volunteers to be in Cherry Park, but it may also be possible to create descriptions from high resolution images. This project won’t start until 2023 as the guidelines won’t be published until the end of the year at the earliest and there’s quite a bit of planning to be done but, if it sounds like something that you’d be interested in supporting or participating in, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
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9th November 2022
Field Trip to Rosneath
It was a wet and stormy day (not at all like the BBC weather forecast) for our field trip to Rosneath on 9thNovember.
We arrived before the café opened, but we very quickly found the sites of Bonomi’s grand castle and the earlier pre-Campbell castle. The former site could only be identified by a row of yew trees surviving from the formal gardens, the latter by the remains of a wall on the embankment.
We were met by Richard Reeve, resident in the area for the past 30 plus years and a very knowledgeable guide. He took us to the Home Farm, the ruined Bathwell grotto and, a pleasant surprise, introduced us to the new owner of the Ferry Inn, designed for Princess Louise in the Arts & Crafts style by the famous architect Edwin Lutyens in 1896. This was a highlight of the day trip. The day was completed with visits to the 19th century parish church of St Modan’s and the remains of its ancient predecessor in the graveyard behind.
Exploring the site of old Rosneath Castle – nothing there either!
Old Rosneath Castle, originally in the possession of the earls of Lennox, it was granted to the Campbells of Argyll in the late 15th century and modified several times in the 17th century. It was destroyed by fire in 1802, after which the Marquis encouraged his aged father to sanction the use of Joseph Bonomi to design the new castle.
Designed by Alexander Nasmyth for the 5th Duke of Argyll around the time of the fire at the old castle, this feature is described as “a 30 metre high square ashlar tower with blind elongated arches, bartizans and a trefoil balustrade ….” (“The Buildings of Scotland: Argyll and Bute”, by Frank Arneil Walker).
Additional features on the buildings at Rosneath Home Farm.
Pointed gothic-style arches also feature in Nasmyth’s design.
A throwback to an earlier age, a quern upper handstone, for grinding corn.
Stained glass window in St Modans Church, commemorating Lorne Campbell of Peaton, who died of TB in 1913.
Graffiti on a pew in St Modans Church; was it really put there by the 9th Duke of Argyll? Were the sermons really that boring?
The old Kirk of Rosneath and its graveyard
An earlier view of the old kirk and graveyard.
The family of sea captain John McLeod Campbell commemorated here includes his son Peter, who was buried at sea. Peter McGregor Campbell was born on the 21st April 1857 at “Craigellan”, Rosneath. He played for Glasgow Rangers FC until 1879, helping them win their first Scottish Cup finals of 1877 and 1879. He also represented Scotland, playing twice in internationals against Wales (scoring two goals in a 9-0 victory at Hampden on the 23rd March 1878, and once in a 3-0 win away at Acton Park, Wrexham, on the 7th April 1879). After his career at Rangers he played briefly for English club Blackburn Rovers in the 1879-80 season before retiring from football to become a merchant seaman. Unfortunately, this was to cause his demise: he drowned after his ship St Columba, sank in the Bay of Biscay in January 1883.
The wonderful Ferry Inn, designed for Princess Louise by Edwin Lutyens when he was at the start of his career. Now out of the rain and lunch is served !
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New Team Member November 2022
Rosanna Barraclough is undertaking an internship with the Argyll Papers during November 2022 as part of the Argyll Aspires project. Rosannas’ post is part of the Argyll Aspires project, managed by Culture Heritage and Arts Argyll and the Isles (CHARTs) and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
To read more about Rosanna please click on the above image
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New Team Member – September 2022
Donald MacDougall started work with the Argyll Papers as Archives Assistant Trainee on 20 September 2022 and will be with us for 14 months, completing a PG Cert in Archival Studies with the University of Dundee whilst gaining practical experience in the archives. Donald’s post is part of the Argyll Aspires project, managed by Culture Heritage and Arts Argyll and the Isles (CHARTs) and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
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