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jaydeemedia · 6 days

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[ad_1] Soho & The West End are two of London’s most exciting neighbourhoods. This historic part of the capital has drawn aristocrats, gangsters and musicians thanks to its reputation for debauchery. Today, it’s still a lively place to stay in London. By: Paul Healy | Published: 22 Apr 2024 span box-shadow: none !important; filter: brightness(1) !important; ]]> The West End is an informally defined area north of the Thames between Oxford Circus and Holborn. As the home of mainstream professional theatre in the country, it’s one of the liveliest areas in London. Soho is a smaller area within the West End roughly defined by the triangle between Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and Tottenham Court Road tube stations. This is one of the most exciting areas in London and somewhere we love to hang out when we’re not travelling. It has a buzzing atmosphere 24/7 with excellent live music and small lane ways packed with bars, cafes, restaurants and pubs. You could easily spend days strolling around Soho, popping into interesting shops and still not even scratch the surface. It’s a great base for your London stay if you are looking for somewhere with plenty of great nightlife while still retaining a village feel. It’s one of our favourite areas of London. WHY STAY IN SOHO & THE WEST END? The West End is one of the busiest nightlife areas in London so if you stay here, you’ll have everything on your doorstep. You can enjoy a great night out, trying Soho’s small wine bars, live music venues, boutiques and excellent restaurants and easily walk back to your hotel. If you’ve come to London to do some shopping, Oxford Street and Regent Street, both in Soho, are a great place to start. Soho is also very central and walkable to many attractions. Some of London’s best art galleries are very close as are the popular tourist centres of Leicester Square, Covent Garden and Chinatown. The thing we love about Soho the most is that, while very popular with tourists, it still manages to hold on to a local feel. SOHO MAIN ATTRACTIONS IN SOHO & THE WEST END London’s LGBT Scene: The area around Old Compton Street is the heart of London’s LGBT scene where you’ll find plenty of great bars (they are open to everyone). Soho’s Laneways: Soho has a collection of small streets packed with cafes, boutiques, bars and restaurants. Some of the best streets are Dean Street, Firth Street, and Beak Street. Chinatown / Leicester Square: As the centre of touristy London, Chinatown and Leicester Square are good to explore, but probably in small doses. Galleries: The National Portrait Gallery (our favourite gallery in London) and the National Gallery are in the West End. Covent Garden: We love Covent Garden even though it’s very busy and touristy. It’s a beautiful square, the shopping is excellent and there are some very good restaurants. French House: The French house is a historic pub in Soho with no music, TV or phones. They famously sell half-pints only except on 1st April every year when you can get a full pint for charity. Berwick Street Market: Whenever we’re in Soho we make a beeline for the Berwick Street Market for some of the best street food in London. Our pick is Jerusalem Falafel. TUBE STATIONS IN THE WEST END Embankment | Charing Cross | Piccadilly Circus | Leicester Square | Covent Garden | Temple | Holborn | Chancery Lane NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY REGENT STREET WHERE TO STAY? Z HOTEL STRAND (£) It’s not easy to find decent-value hotels near the West End, but Z Hotels have a few, and the one on the Strand is probably the pick. It’s in an excellent location and the rooms are clean and tidy, although very small. 10 minute walk – Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Ronnie Scotts, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Embankment | 20 minute walk – Oxford Circus, Googe Street, Buckingham Palace, Southwark. Z HOTEL SOHO (£) The Z Soho is trendy and hip with all the right de

sign quirks. Rooms are small but practical with comfortable bedding and open bathrooms. There are no wardrobes, just a bit of hanging space, so you need to be prepared to travel light. However, it’s a great value stay in central Soho. 10 minute walk – Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly, Charing Cross | 20 minute walk – Green Park, The Wallace Collection, Bond Street, Westminster Abbey, Chancery Lane. HAZLITT’S (££) In the heart of Soho, I’ve walked past this hotel many times and never known it was there. It oozes old-world charm across four Georgian townhouses with a wood-panelled library, leather-bound books, and antique furniture. 10 minute walk – Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly, Charing Cross, Oxford Circus, Savile Row | 20 minute walk – Green Park, The Wallace Collection, Bond Street, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Chancery Lane. L’OSCAR (£££) On the north-eastern corner of Covent Garden, this exquisitely designed boutique hotel is opulently decorated somewhere between 1920s glam and Studio 54. The friendly staff, excellent cocktails and above-average breakfast make this a great stay in Soho. 10 minute walk – Chancery Lane, Russel Square, Bloomsbury Square, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Tottenham Court Road, Covent Garden | 20 minute walk – King’s Cross, Euston Square, Oxford Circus, BFI Imax, St Pauls, Smithfield Market. HAM YARD HOTEL (£££) Ham Yard Hotel is a cool urban village with a tree-filled courtyard, shops and a bowling alley. The rooms are beautifully designed with chic British sensitivities. The roof terrace has an edible garden and lovely London views. 10 minute walk – Piccadilly Circus, Liberty, Tottenham Court Road, Covent Garden, Fortnum & Mason, The Mall, Charing Cross | 20 minute walk – Great Portland Street, Russel Square, Southbank, Green Park, Buckingham Palace, Bond Street, Hyde Park Corner. HAZLITT’S SOHO MORE LONDON ACCOMMODATION GUIDES ANYWHERE WE ROAM ISREADER-SUPPORTED When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. You can also shout us a coffee. Thanks for your support – Paul & Mark. INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK [ad_2] Source link

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damanbeatty · 12 years

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Former Port Elgin Regional Memorial Junior High School

Original Post Date December 24, 2011

We paid a visit to my old junior high (formerly a high school) in Port Elgin, NB. The school has been closed for years now but I attended grades 7 and 8 there in 1987-89. It is now owned by Atlantic Windows and used as a warehouse, I believe.

Check out this historical excerpt from Tantramar Heritage Trust article “It Was A School Like No Other:” Port Elgin’s Regional Memorial High School:

On the evening of Sept. 7, 1948 all roads led to Port Elgin. The occasion was the official opening of the Regional Memorial School by the Lieutenant Governor Hon. D. L. MacLaren. It had been suggested that the new facility might be named in honour of Magee; but he rejected the idea. Instead he suggested that the school “be dedicated in memory of the fallen in two world wars.” Estimates of crowds are often unreliable; however, there is agreement that on this occasion, the auditorium was “filled to overflowing;” as upwards of 1,000 people were in attendance. Magee was in the chair and confessed “with pride” that he felt like ”Joe Louis after winning a championship boxing match.” Dr. Fletcher Peacock was also present and reminisced about his long career in education.

If anybody has information about the rickety, condemned-looking old ‘Orange House’ pictured below which is situated across the road from the old school, please let me know. There must be a good story there.

1 COMMENT:

JOHN R. MERRIAM

APRIL 24, 2014 (1) The building across the road from the school I knew as Reid’s Diner (Roy Reid). We would often go there at lunch for fries and a pop. He also had a couple of pin ball machines. He moved away sometime before I graduated and the store then closed.

I am currently 71 years old living in Berwick NS. I attended RMS from grade 7 to 12 when my family lived in Port Elgin. I graduated in 1962 or 63, then joined the RCMP.

(2) The Magee house across from the school is now a nursing home, but was once the residence of Fred Magee. Beside it were his offices where he operated a cannery for lobster and vegetables. It was located where Atlantic Windows now has a factory. The offices is now the town administration. Behind the Magee residence was a garage which partly hung over the river. Inside was a grey 1952 Packard which Magee owned. It was like new. At that time, the car would have been about 10 years old. Magee died in 1952, so he may have bought the car in the fall of 1951. There was an elderly lady living there in the early 60’s, may have been a sister or sister-in-law.

John Merriam

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weavingthetapestry · 3 years

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19th March 1286: “A Strong Wind Will Be Heard in Scotland”

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

On 19th March 1286, a body was discovered on a Fife beach, not far from the royal burgh of Kinghorn. The corpse was that of a 44-year-old man, and the cause of death was later diversely reported as either a broken neck or some other severe injury consistent with a fall from a horse at some point during the previous night. It is not known exactly when this body was found, nor do we know who discovered it. But we do know that the dead man was soon identified, with much dismay, as the King of Scots himself, Alexander III.

The late king had no surviving children, only a young widow who was not yet known to be pregnant, and an infant granddaughter in the kingdom of Norway. Despite this, Alexander III’s untimely death did not cause any immediate civil strife, although it did set in motion a chain of events which eventually led to the Scottish Wars of Independence. This conflict would forever alter the relationship between the kingdoms of Scotland and England, as well as the wider course of European history.

Although Alexander III was a moderately successful monarch, he had been unfortunate over the last ten years. His first wife, Margaret of England, had died in 1275 and Alexander initially showed no immediate interest in remarriage. At first the succession seemed secure: Margaret had left behind two sons and a daughter. However the death of the couple’s younger son David c.1281, may have prompted the king’s decision to arrange the marriages of his two surviving children over the next few years. In the summer of 1281, the twenty-year-old Princess Margaret set sail for Bergen, where she was to marry King Eirik II of Norway. Her brother Alexander, the eighteen-year-old heir to the throne, married the Count of Flanders’ daughter in November 1282. Neither marriage lasted long. The queen of Norway died in spring 1283, possibly during childbirth, while her younger brother succumbed to illness in January 1284. Within a few years, a series of unforeseen tragedies had destroyed Alexander III’s family and hopes, and the outlook for the kingdom seemed equally bleak...

All was not lost however. The king was in good health and believed he could count on the support of the realm’s leading men. Steps were swiftly taken to ensure their compliance with his plans for the succession. On 5th February 1284, a few weeks after Prince Alexander’s death, an impressive number of Scottish nobles* set their seals to an agreement at Scone. In the event of the king of Scotland’s death without any surviving legitimate children, they obliged themselves and their heirs to accept as monarch the heir at law. This was currently a baby named Margaret, the only surviving child of Alexander III’s daughter the queen of Norway.

(Drawing based on a seal belonging to Yolande of Dreux, Alexander III’s second queen. She later became Countess of Montfort and, by marriage, Duchess of Brittany. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Although the bishops of Scotland were to censure anyone who broke this oath, the prospect of the crown being inherited by an infant girl on the other side of the North Sea was obviously not ideal. Her grandfather struck an optimistic note in a letter to his brother-in-law Edward I of England, writing that in spite of his recent “intolerable” trials, “the child of his dearest daughter” still lived and hoping that “much good may yet be in store”. But the king would not leave everything up to chance and in October 1285, at the age of 43, he married the French noblewoman Yolande of Dreux. As the year drew to a close, Alexander might have hoped that his misfortunes were behind him. He still had his kingdom and his health, and now, with a new queen, there was every chance that he could father another son.

In fact, the king had less than six months to live. The exact circumstances of Alexander’s death are shrouded in mystery, although most sources agree on the fundamental details. Only the Chronicle of Lanercost gives a detailed account, although much cannot be corroborated, and its author had a habit of providing moral explanations for historical events. He was convinced that the calamities which befell the Scottish royal house in the 1280s were punishment for Alexander III’s personal sins. The chronicler never explicitly names these sins, but he does hint at a conflict between the king and the monks of Durham (allowing Alexander’s death to be attributed to a vengeful St Cuthbert). The chronicler also included salacious stories of Alexander’s private life, claiming:

“he used never to forbear on account of season or storm, nor for perils of flood or rocky cliffs, but would visit, not too creditably, matrons and nuns, virgins and widows, by day or by night as the fancy seized him, sometimes in disguise, often accompanied by a single follower.”

Although this does seem to back up the king’s habit of making reckless journeys, alone and in bad weather, the chronicle’s biases are nonetheless fairly obvious. On the other hand, the man who probably compiled the chronicle up to the year 1297 does appear to have had many contacts in Scotland. These included the confessors of the late Queen Margaret and her son Prince Alexander, as well as the latter’s tutor, the clergy of Haddington and Berwick, and the earl of Dunbar. It is unclear how he acquired information about Alexander III’s death, but the chronicle’s narrative is at least plausible and correct in its essentials. Although some of the anecdotes are a little too detailed and didactic to be entirely truthful, the narrative provides some interesting insights into contemporary behaviour, such as the way medieval Scots felt entitled to address their kings. In the absence of alternative narratives, and without necessarily subscribing to the chronicler’s moral views, it is therefore perhaps worth following Lanercost to begin with, supplementing this with additional information where possible.

(The northern half of a map of Britain, drawn by the thirteenth century English chronicler Matthew Paris. Matthew Paris was based in the south of England and was not overly familiar with Scottish geography, but his depiction of Scotland as split over two islands and joined only at the bridge of Stirling, is nonetheless enlightening. The map is now in the public domain and has been made available by the British Libary (x))

On the evening of 18th March 1286, Alexander III is reported to have been in good spirits. This was in spite of the weather, which the author of the Chronicle of Lanercost described as being so foul, “that to me and most men, it seemed disagreeable to expose one’s face to the north wind, rain and snow”. The king of Scots was then dining at Edinburgh, attended by many of his nobles, who were preparing a response to the king of England’s ambassadors regarding the aged prisoner Thomas of Galloway. However when the court had finished dinner King Alexander was not at all anxious to retire early. Instead, not in the least deterred by the wind and rain lashing the windows, he announced his intention of spending the night with his new wife. Since Queen Yolande was then staying at Kinghorn in Fife, travelling there from Edinburgh would not only involve riding over twenty miles in the dark, but would also mean crossing the choppy waters of the Firth of Forth. Unsurprisingly, the king’s councillors tried to dissuade him. However Alexander was determined, and eventually he set off with only a few attendants, leaving his courtiers wringing their hands behind him.

The first part of the journey passed without incident and soon the king and his companions arrived at the Queen’s Ferry, by the shores of the Forth. This popular crossing point was named after Alexander’s famous ancestress St Margaret, who had established accommodation and transport for pilgrims there two hundred years earlier. But when the king himself sought passage, the ferryman pointed out that it would be very dangerous to attempt the crossing in such conditions. Alexander, undeterred, asked him if he was scared, to which the ferryman is said to have stoutly replied, “By no means, it would be a great honour to share the fate of your father’s son.” So the king and his attendants boarded the ferry and, notwithstanding the storm, the boat soon reached the shores of Fife in safety. As the king and his squires rode away from the ferry port, intending to complete the last eleven or so miles of their journey that night, they passed through the royal burgh of Inverkeithing. There, despite the evening gloom, the king’s voice was recognised by the manager of his saltpans, who was also one of the baillies of the town.** The burgess called out to the king and reprimanded him for his habit of riding abroad at night, inviting Alexander to stay with him until morning. But, laughing, Alexander dismissed his concerns and, asking only for some local serfs to act as guides, he rode off into the night.

(South Queensferry, as drawn by the eighteenth century artist John Clerk and made available for public use by the National Galleries of Scotland. Obviously the Queen’s Ferry changed a lot between the 1280s and the 1700s, but at least during this period the ferry was still the main mode of transportation across the Forth.)

By now darkness had set in and, despite the local knowledge of their guides, it was not long before every member of the king’s party became completely lost. Although they had become separated, the king’s squires eventually found the road again. However at some point they must have realised that they had a new problem: the king was nowhere to be found.

In the early fifteenth century, local tradition held that Alexander was at least heading in the right direction when he became separated from his companions. Although he too had lost sight of the main road, the king followed the shoreline, his horse carrying him swiftly over the sands towards Kinghorn. It was there, only a couple of miles from his destination, that the king’s luck finally ran out. Since there were no known witnesses to Alexander III’s death, it is unlikely that we will ever know for certain what happened that night. However most sources agree that the king’s horse probably stumbled and threw its rider. Alexander tumbled to the ground and snapped his neck and, at a stroke, the dynasty which had ruled Scotland for over two hundred years came to an end.

It is not known precisely how long the king’s body lay on the beach, alone under the moon while the waves crashed on the shore and confusion reigned among his squires and guides. However his corpse was discovered the next day and was swiftly conveyed to nearby Dunfermline. Ten days later, on 29th March 1286, the kingdom’s ruling elite gathered to see the last King Alexander buried near the high altar of the abbey kirk, in the company of his ancestors. Near the spot where the king’s body was allegedly found, a stone cross was later erected beside the road, which could still be seen by travellers over a hundred years later. The modern belief that Alexander III died when either he or his horse fell from a cliff*** (a tradition which is not supported by any mediaeval sources so far as I am aware) may stem from the position of this old cross, which possibly occupied the same spot as that of the Victorian Alexander III monument. This monument can now be seen at the side of the modern A921 road between Burntisland and Kinghorn, a permanent reminder of the role this seemingly nondescript location once played in the history of Scotland.

(The Alexander III monument near Kinghorn. Source: Wikimedia Commons- the photo was taken by Kim Traynor who has kindly made the image available for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license).

The impact of Alexander’s death on a small mediaeval kingdom like Scotland, conditioned to look to its monarch for leadership, must have been great. Even the Lanercost chronicler admitted that the general populace was observed “bewailing his sudden death as deeply as the desolation of the realm.” However it is important not to exaggerate the scale of the crisis. Popular views of Alexander III’s death are inescapably informed by the accounts of fourteenth and fifteenth century writers, who depicted it as the root of all of Scotland’s later ills.

Writing in the aftermath of a century dominated by war, plague, famine, and climate change, it is perhaps unsurprising that many late mediaeval chroniclers looked back on Alexander III’s reign as comparatively peaceful. As the author of the fourteenth century “Gesta Annalia II” explained, “How worthy of tears and how hurtful his death was to the kingdom of Scotland is plainly shown forth by the evils of after times.” Meanwhile, in his “Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland” completed c.1420, Andrew Wyntoun portrayed Alexander’s reign as a Golden Age of peace and justice (when, just as importantly, oats only cost fourpence a boll). He incorporated an old song into his chronicle, perhaps written in the years following the king’s accident, which neatly encapsulates later views of the event and its impact:

“Quhen Alysandyr oure Kyng wes dede

That Scotland led in luẅe and lé,

Away wes sons off ale and brede,

Off wyne and wax, off gamyn and glé:

Oure gold wes changyd in to lede.

Cryste borne in to Vyrgynyté,

Succoure Scotland and remede,

That stad [is in] perplexyté.”

Wyntoun’s younger contemporary Walter Bower, author of the “Scotichronicon”, also lamented Alexander’s premature death and even rolled out a legend about Scotland’s famous seer, Thomas the Rhymer, to reinforce his point. On 18th March 1286, he claimed, the earl of Dunbar “half-jesting” asked the Rhymer for the next day’s weather forecast. True Thomas answered gloomily:

“Alas for tomorrow, a day of calamity and misery! Because before the stroke of twelve a strong wind will be heard in Scotland, the like of which has not been known since long ago. Indeed its blast will dumbfound the nations and render senseless those who hear it, it will humble what is lofty and raze what is unbending to the ground.”

The next morning came and went without any gales, so the earl decided that Thomas had gone mad- until a messenger arrived at precisely midday with news of the king’s death. Although Bower may have been attempting to bolster Thomas of Erceldoune’s reputation as a prophet (in response to English propagandic use of Merlin’s prophecies), the anecdote reveals the significance he attached to Alexander III’s death. Similarly for John Barbour, author of the fourteenth century romance “The Bruce”, there was no doubt that the story of his hero’s story began, “Quhen Alexander the king was deid / That Scotland haid to steyr and leid.” Following this, Barbour skips ahead to the selection of John Balliol as king, dismissing the six years in between as a time when the country lay “desolate”. In this way later chroniclers created the impression of an Alexandrian ‘Golden Age’ and that Scotland almost immediately descended into chaos after his death. Though understandable, these late mediaeval interpretations have traditionally hampered analysis of Alexander’s reign and the events of the decade following his death, despite the best efforts of modern historians.

(The coronation of the young Alexander III at Scone, as depicted in a manuscript version of the fifteenth century “Scotichronicon”, compiled by the Abbot of Incholm, Walter Bower. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

In reality, while the king’s death was undoubtedly a deep blow, the Scottish political community rallied in the immediate aftermath. In April 1286, parliament assembled at Scone and promised to keep the peace on behalf of the rightful heir to the kingdom. Six ‘Guardians’ were to govern in the meantime- two bishops (William Fraser of St Andrews and Robert Wishart of Glasgow), two earls (Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan and Duncan, earl of Fife), and two barons (John Comyn of Badenoch and James the Steward). Despite the oaths sworn to Margaret of Norway two years earlier, there may have been some doubt as to who the “rightful heir” actually was. Certain sources claim that Alexander III’s widow Yolande of Dreux was pregnant and the political community waited anxiously for several months before the queen gave birth in November 1286. However no male heir materialised**** and by the end of the year it seems to have been generally acknowledged that the three-year-old Maid of Norway was the rightful “Lady of Scotland”. She was destined never to set foot in Scotland, but, despite her age, gender, and absence from the realm, the country did not descend into complete anarchy in the four years when she was the accepted heir to the throne. Undoubtedly there were people who had reservations about her reign: the Bruces, for example, seem to have attempted a short-lived rebellion, though the situation was soon defused by the Guardians. By 1289 the cracks were perhaps beginning to show, with the death of the earl of Buchan and the murder of the earl of Fife removing two Guardians, who were not replaced. Nonetheless, the authority of the Guardians was recognised in the absence of an adult ruler and they generally attempted to govern competently in the four years between Alexander III’s accident and the Maid of Norway’s own death in 1290.

Having received news of this second tragedy, the Guardians again acted cautiously, deciding that rival claims for the kingship should be judged in an official court chaired by a respected and powerful arbitrator. Thus they appealed to Scotland’s formidable neighbour, Edward I of England. Despite later allegations of foul play, the English king’s eventual judgement in favour of John Balliol does appear to have been consistent with the law of primogeniture and due process. It would take years of steady deterioration before war finally broke out in 1296. By then Alexander III had been dead for a decade, and though the crisis may have indirectly grown out of his demise, it was not necessarily the immediate cause of Scotland’s late mediaeval woes. Nonetheless the events of that dark night in March 1286 would leave their mark on the popular imagination for centuries, shaping Scottish history down to the present day.

(An imprint of the Great Seal used by the Guardians of Scotland following Alexander III’s death. Reproduced in the “History of Scottish seals from the eleventh to the seventeenth century”, by Walter de Gray Birch, now out of copyright and available on internet archive)

Additional Notes:

*The assembled magnates included the earls of Buchan, Dunbar, Strathearn, Atholl, Lennox, Carrick, Mar, Angus, Menteith, Ross, Sutherland, and two other earls whose titles are illegible but who may have been Caithness and Fife. The barons included Robert de Brus the elder (father of the earl of Carrick and grandfather of the future Robert I), James Stewart, John Balliol (the future king), John Comyn of Badenoch, William de Soules, Enguerrand de Coucy (Alexander III’s maternal cousin), William Murray, Reginald le Cheyne, William de St Clair, Richard Siward, William of Brechin, Nicholas de Hay, Henry de Graham, Ingelram de Balliol, Alan the son of the earl, Reginald Cheyne the younger, (John?) de Lindsay, Simon Fraser, Alexander MacDougall of Argyll, Angus MacDonald, and Alan MacRuairi, among others.

** The historian G.W.S. Barrow identified this figure as Alexander the saucier the master of the royal sauce kitchen and one of the baillies of Inverkeithing.

*** There are some variations on this local tradition too- in 1794, the minister who wrote the entry for Kinghorn parish in the Old Statistical Account claimed that the ‘King’s Wood-end’ near the site of the current Alexander III monument was where the king liked to hunt and that he fell from his horse while on a hunting trip.

****The Guardians and other nobles may have assembled at Clackmannan for the birth. Several modern historians have accepted Walter Bower’s statement that the queen’s baby was stillborn, despite the Chronicle of Lanercost’s somewhat fantastic tale of a fake pregnancy, with Yolande being caught conspiring to smuggle an actor’s son into Stirling Castle.

Selected Bibliography:

- “The Chronicle of Lanercost”, as translated by Sir Herbert Maxwell

- “Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, Preserved Among the Public Records of England”, Volume 2, ed. Joseph Bain

- Rymer’s “Foedera…”, Volume 1 part 1

- “Documents Illustrative of the History of Scotland”, vol 1., ed. Joseph Stevenson

- “Scottish Annals From English Chroniclers”, ed. A.O. Anderson (especially Annals of Worcester; Thomas Wykes; Chronicles in Annales Monastici)

- “Early Sources of Scottish History”, ed. A.O. Anderson (esp. Chronicle of Holyrood, various continuations of the Chronicle of the Kings of Scotland; John of Evenden; Nicholas Trivet)

- “The Flowers of History… as Collected by Mathew of Westminster”, ed. C.D. Yonge - Gesta Annalia II (formerly attributed to John of Fordun) in “John of Fordun’s Chronicle of the Scottish Nation”, ed. W. F. Skene

- John Barbour’s “The Brus”, ed. A.A.M. Duncan

- “The Orygynale Cronikil of the Scotland”, vol.2., by Andrew Wyntoun, ed. David Laing

- “A History Book for Scots: Selections from the Scotichronicon”, ed. D.E.R. Watt

- “The Authorship of the Lanercost Chronicle”, by A.G. Little in the English Historical Review, vol. 31 no. 122, p. 269-279

- “The Kingship of the Scots”, A.A.M. Duncan

- “Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland”, G.W.S. Barrow

- “The Wars of Scotland, 1230-1371”, Michael Brown

I have extensive notes so if anyone needs a reference for a specific detail please let me know.

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architectnews · 3 years

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Malcolm Fraser Architects Edinburgh Studio

Malcolm Fraser Architect, Scottish Buildings, Project, Architecture Office, Studio News, Design

Malcolm Fraser Architects

Contemporary Architecture Practice Edinburgh: Design Office in Scotland

post updated 8 October 2021

Fraser / Livingstone Architects

Fraser / Livingstone Architects News

Founded by architects Malcolm Fraser and Robin Livingstone, this architecture practice is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

8 Oct 2021 Achmelvich Beach Pavilion, Assynt, north west Scotland image courtesy of architecture practice

FLA won an invited competition and have designed a pair of timber pavilions with screened loggias and overhanging turfed roofs. Achmelvich Beach is one of the glories of Scotland’s far north-west cost, with its white sands, turquoise sea and backdrop of Assynt’s jaggedy, dragon-backed peaks: Achmelvich Beach Pavilion

Malcolm Fraser moves to Halliday Fraser Munro 30 Sep 2015 – Celebrated Edinburgh architect Malcolm Fraser has joined Aberdeen architecture practice Halliday Fraser Munro – more details on the Edinburgh Architecture site’s news page.

Malcolm Fraser Architects News

Scottish Poetry Library, Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland

Save the Scottish Poetry Library Building

Letter of objection from Malcolm Fraser Architect re a planning application to revise this wee gem of a building, readers are welcome to show their support for retaining The Scottish Poetry Library as it is. The application not only doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing but it removes an intriguing public realm. The proposal is a regressive step, comments welcome, Adrian Welch, Editor.

Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation, Lothian, Scotland photo © David Morris The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation – 7 Feb 2014 The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation is a world class interdisciplinary research and teaching facility focused on key climate related challenges facing society. The ECCI will: bring together and direct high-quality research; address the significance of climate change at the science-society interface; inform political decision making; and establish Edinburgh as a leading university in the field.

Speirs Locks Studios, Glasgow, Scotland photo © David Morris Speirs Locks Studios Four, nondescript, 1980s portal frame buildings have been skilfully and economically transformed by Malcolm Fraser into new technical teaching areas, including design studios, teaching rooms, a wardrobe department with paint, timber and stage workshops for the Royal Academy of Music and Drama.

RIBA Awards winner – 19 May 2011

Saltire Awards : Malcolm is the 2011 Annual Chair. 30 Mar 2011

Malcolm Fraser, Architect – Key Projects

Recent Building by Malcolm Fraser Architects (MFA)

Scottish Ballet, Glasgow, Scotland 2009 image : David Morris Scottish Ballet Glasgow – Scottish Design Awards Building of the Year 2010

Major Malcolm Fraser Buildings – featured, alphabetical:

Berwick Townspace, Scotland Date built: 2008 image © Keith Hunter Berwick Townspace The brief required a business establishment, whose creative bustle works well within the traditional grain of a Berwicks close and courtyard pattern, in particular one that links out to surrounding streets, courts and buildings.

Dance Base – National Centre for Dance, Grassmarket, Edinburgh, Scotland Date built: 2001 image © Adrian Welch Dance Base Dance Base – dance space: each of four studios is modelled around a different type of dance. Furthermore the architect is a dancer too and MFA describe the building with genuine passion. The studios are scattered in section and plan up the slope from the historic Grassmarket. Best Building in Scotland winner in 2002 + Stirling Prize Shortlisted

Dance City, Newcastle, England – image © Morley von Sternberg Dance City Newcastle Dance City needed to create an environment in a new building that would allow for creative communication between its diverse users. Their existing building on a nearby site lacked a central unifying focus, and appeared intimidating to first time users. Its location was hidden from view and while a significant proportion of people in Newcastle knew the organisation, many did not know where to find it.

Princess Gate housing, Edinburgh, Scotland Date built: 2007 image from MFA Princess Gate

Scottish Poetry Library, Holyrood, Edinburgh, Scotland Date built: 1999 image © Adrian Welch Scottish Poetry Library

Malcolm Fraser Buildings in Scotland – featured

MFA Designs, alphabetical:

Bank of Scotland Mound Branch Redevelopment, central Edinburgh – Bank of Scotland Headquarters : HBoS HQ This is a major interior project by MFA.

Dovecot Studios – former Infirmary Street Baths, central Edinburgh – Victorian baths to weaving room, gallery, offices and residential for Dovecot Studios. Dovecot Studios A new tapestry studio and two large exhibition areas in the Old Town, a World Heritage Site. Dovecot, Britain’s leading tapestry company, re-inhabits the first public swimming baths opened in 1885 in Infirmary Street – saving a derelict building that was on the Buildings at Risk Register.

Holyrood Abbey Church, east Edinburgh Date built: 2007 Holyrood Abbey Church A fairly plain and humble extension and light touch redevelopment.

Opal Lounge, George St, Edinburgh New Town – Opal Lounge

Park Rangers, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh – Holyrood Park : Won by MFA in competition

Spence House, 22 Spylaw Bank Rd, Spylaw, Colinton Village, Edinburgh – Colinton House

Water of Leith Visitor Centre, Slateford, Edinburgh 2000 Malcolm Fraser building : Water of Leith Visitor Centre

Wightman House, 15 Sciennes Gardens, Sciennes, Edinburgh – Malcolm Fraser house : Sciennes House

More projects by Malcolm Fraser, Architect, online soon

Location: North Bridge Studios, 28 North Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1QG, Scotland

Edinburgh Architects Practice Information

Malcolm Fraser Architect studio based in Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland

Malcolm Fraser Architects Edinburgh : Contact Details

Scottish Architecture

MFA – The Drum Housing, Bo’ness

Scottish Architectural Designs

Contemporary Architecture in Scotland

Scottish Architects

Scottish Architecture Designs – chronological list

Literature House for Scotland, John Knox House, Edinburgh Winning Architects: Witherford Watson Mann ; Groves-Raines Architects Studios ; Studio MB photograph © Daniel Lomholt-Welch Literature House for Scotland

Architecture Studios

Comments / photos for the Malcolm Fraser Architecture – Edinburgh Design Studio page welcome

Website: www.malcolmfraser.co.uk – no longer active for this practice

The post Malcolm Fraser Architects Edinburgh Studio appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

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the-busy-ghost · 3 years

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TSP S02 E07 - Thoughts

Well I don’t have many honestly. The last two episodes were at least bizarre enough to be entertaining but this was really rather dull, notwithstanding the amount of blood. Mostly I was waiting for the Fake-Scottish plot as usual but that was brief and incomprehensible. But here goes.

- Wee James V is adorable but “sassenach”? As if we needed any more proof that the TSP writers got all their knowledge about Scotland from Outlander- and they slept through half of that. I suppose it’s no good pointing out that, in one sense of the word, James V is also a sassenach.

- Oh Angus is ‘that milksop’ now- see this is the problem. In this show Angus is a ‘milksop’, we are supposed to hate him because he’s ‘weak’, not like everyone’s kick-ass heroine Meg. But how are we supposed to understand Margaret’s fear of his influence? It has been shown that he commands no respect and we haven’t seen a single kinsman or retainer of his in ages. We have seen that Andrew Rothney is perfectly capable of acting ‘menace’ so why haven’t they given Angus his fully-fledged Chaotic personality? One example- it’s perhaps worth remembering that while Margaret Tudor’s ‘firing cannons at her husband’ moment sounds impressive, it didn’t actually scare Angus off in itself. The man is very much a Borderer, for all his Perthshire and Angus estates, and I cannot believe he was any less intimidating than your average sixteenth century Scottish nobleman. Henry VIII was also sufficiently convinced of his ability to influence events in Scotland (even if some of his influence was perhaps exaggerated by Angus himself). I can see TSP’s version of Angus kidnapping the young king, but I cannot see him holding him for more than two weeks. Once again TSP’s tendency to water down their male characters to make their female characters look Strong TM (even when Margaret’s historical actions show that she really didn’t need them to do that), has backfired, as this Angus is a shadow of the historical figure, and it is definitely not the actor’s fault.

- In all honesty the scene with Albany was not some of Georgie’s best acting tbh. But I think that’s because they’ve written her to be so one-note that there’s only so many times an actress can break out the Rage and Fury without it looking old-hat.

- No offence to Gordon Kennedy, who is looking good for his age, but the historical rumours about Margaret and Albany’s relationship would be a lot more believable in this show if TSP Albany were closer to his historical age (and portrait) and not just in terms of looks. Gordon Kennedy’s Albany is a fatherly figure- IMO it would take a lot for even the most suspicious Scot to look at his relationship with ‘Meg’ and think ‘Ah yes, clearly they are Secret Lovers’. But I suppose only the pope needs to believe that- oh wait, the pope whose great-niece Catherine de Medici was also Albany’s niece and there were other connections too. Hmm, bit of a stretch methinks.

- Also Margaret was not ‘co-regent’, it’s more complex than that. Also Albany was not basically her little sidekick.

- Why is she in London again? All of this could have been done in a letter, honestly.

- Let’s take a quick break from Scotland at the moment and open the Pandora’s Box that is TSP’s English court. We got a very short Epic Villain Crossover event this week between Katherine and Wolsey, and yet it didn’t really achieve much other than to make poor Thomas Boleyn fidget very nervously. Henry is experimenting with gluing squirrels to his face. Katherine has still not learnt her lesson about assuming her baby’s gender before it is born. She also seems to believe that she can speed up pregnancies whenever she likes. Also it’s always nice to see the whole population of London turn out for public book-burnings and executions- all twenty of them. Lina finally gets to rip Katherine a new one but sadly it is robbed of its effect. Katherine and Stafford do something VERY dangerous and somehow Katherine is not on trial as well. Thomas More keeps bloody torture implements IN HIS HOUSE and doesn’t even close the door to that room (maybe he was just subtly trying to get rid of Maggie? Like he definitely left that lying where she would find it. Weirdest break-up if so). Thomas Boleyn is an echo chamber and yeah, otherwise the rest of the episode if pretty dull and even Olly Rix’s best acting as Stafford is undercut by that.

- If I have to hear the words “Hal Stewart” ONE MORE TIME I will explode. EF this is not England and you are not Shakespeare, you are not pulling this off.

- Margaret breaks into the Tower of London???? And nicks everything and Harry Stewart is turned on by Anti-English Crime (fair) but Margaret’s like I don’t have time for this sorry and then?? They just ride away??? And ok so I see why Henry doesn’t want to do the undignified thing of chasing after her but you could have just sent letters to York and Berwick asking for them to be intercepted? What is going on

- Also this ENTIRE ride to London was COMPLETELY pointless and you could have spent this time actually progressing the Scottish plot because now, if they do it at all, they’re going to have to cram eight years of Scottish political shenanigans into their allotted ten minutes in one episode WHILE they try to finish their English plot. Angus hasn’t even kidnapped James V yet- I told you he wouldn’t be able to hold him for more than two weeks.

- Margaret Douglas is still nowhere to be found.

#Honestly lads I was bored #I suppose though it was technically An Episode #TSP #Margaret Tudor #Meg Tudor

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bunkershotgolf · 3 years

Photo

Scotland, Home of Golf - New Book Exquisitely Showcases Fourteen Top Links Courses

Glorious Photography Highlighted with Historical Moments Text and Illustrations

Scotland, Home of Golf has been published as a stirring visual collection of 14 “must play” seaside links courses on every visitor’s wish list. The authors’ stated intent of the book is “to rekindle happy memories of previous trips or inspire the desire to visit Scotland.”

The 14 featured courses that span some 600 years of history are exquisitely showcased from the air and the ground in captivating photos that illumine the singular topography and inspired architecture of the links form of golf. Meticulously hand-drawn pencil illustrations, coupled with accompanying informative text, celebrate and chronicle the game’s greatest influencers and champions who have graced the ancient fairways of the book’s selected iconic courses. Four modern designs, constructed since 2000, also are included as the most sought after new links golf experiences. The highlighted courses in order of appearance are: Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, The Old Course, Dumbarnie, Muirfield, North Berwick, Turnberry, Prestwick, Royal Troon, Castle Stuart, Royal Dornoch, Cruden Bay, Trump International and Royal Aberdeen.

Scotland, Home of Golf is the collaboration of the accomplished St. Andrews based father and son photography team of Iain and Christopher Lowe, with expert text and wonderful illustrations by noted Scottish golf historian, author, artist and fourth generation St. Andrean David Joy. Joy also is known for his compelling and accurate portrayal of Old Tom Morris in acclaimed performances around the world. Together, the Lowes have four photographic golf book titles to their credit. Iain’s award-winning career of some 50 years includes 25 years shooting Scottish golf courses, and the publication of nine golf books featuring evocative photographic course tours.

In short, Scotland, Home of Golf is a love letter to the world’s golfers whose presence is currently missed on these great links courses. The book is a testament that the story of golf in Scotland is ever evolving for the enjoyment of all.

Scotland, Home of Golf is available for purchase at $45.00 through either Amazon or www.scottishgolflibrary.com.

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mayvinwrites · 4 years

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Stereotypes of witches

The stereotypical look of a witch is reminiscent of 15-17th century Brewsters.

“In the dark ages, brewsters, women who brewed beer, had some rather odd advertising methods. To be noticed in crowded markets, they tended to wear tall, pointed hats. To indicate when a brew was ready, broomsticks would be placed in the doorways of alehouses. Images of frothing cauldrons full of ready product and six-sided stars to indicate the quality of the brew also abounded. Lastly, out of manifest necessity, cats would be kept in the brewhouses to protect the grains from mice.“

“It would also be dangerous to be a woman with extensive knowledge of how herbs and plants could mix well together to provide nourishment and healing to the drinker when the inquisitions were at their height across Europe. As the production of beer would require these very skills, it wouldn’t be difficult to confuse the local alewife with a witch without malice.”

“Many of the women and men tried as witches in Europe during the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance practiced midwifery or medicine. Doctors were scarce, and for members of Europe’s lower classes, local healers were often the only option. When medicine started to be regulated around 1200, women were barred from formal medical training at universities, and those that continued as physicians or midwives were sometimes labeled witches. A few were even tried for illegally practicing medicine.”

[Source] [Source]

Familiars

“The concept of magical spirit creatures has resonated throughout history in creation myths, tribal traditions, and religions, but it’s only relatively recently that magical animals and familiars became re-imagined as evil or dangerous companions. Historically, familiars or spirits were often seen as a type of guardian angel rather than an evil demon.”

“Most people conjure up thoughts of the witch with a cat or toad when speaking of familiars. In the days of widespread persecution of witches in Europe and North America during the Medieval and Early Modern periods, women accused of magic use and witchcraft were assumed to have a familiar, most often in the form of cats, dogs, owls, mice, newts, or toads. These servants to witches were considered low-ranking demons, or even fairies.”

“Because of the assumed dangerous nature of the familiars, many animals were massacred, especially cats . These killings resulted in a tragic situation. In the middle of the 14th century the Black Death was ravaging Europe. Some scholars suggest the huge reduction in cat numbers allowed rat and rodent populations to boom, in turn increasing the number of plague-carrying fleas, and ultimately leading to the near-decimation of the human population.”

[Source]

Spells, charms, etc

Witches bottle:

“A witch or folk healer would prepare the witch's bottle. Historically, the witch's bottle contained the victim's (the person who believed they had a spell put on them, for example) urine, hair or nail clippings, or red thread from sprite traps.

“Folk magic contends that witch bottles protect against evil spirits and magical attack, and counteract spells cast by witches; they are counter-magical devices, the purpose of which is to draw in and trap harmful intentions directed at their owners.”

[Source]

They also filled them with herbs, nails, blades, (sharp or broken things stuff)

If a witch thought they were already cursed they sometimes threw the bottles into fire so that it would explode.

You can get other information on witch bottles here

Talisman [art]

Amulets, Charms and Talismans [2]

Incantation

A brief history

“Want to get rid of an unwanted husband? Coat yourself in honey, roll naked in grain and cook him up some deadly bread with flour milled from this mixture. Want to increase the amount of supplies in your barn? Leave out child-sized shoes and bows-and-arrows for the satyrs and goblins to play with. If you’re lucky, they might steal some of your neighbour’s goods for you in return. These unusual charms and medical tips, which featured in medieval books, sound suspiciously like magic.”

[Source]

This is a post about witchcraft which includes talk of the trails, and how witches were executed, so please only click the read more if you are okay with reading that.

Myths and facts

Witches were burned at the stake. “Not in English-speaking countries. Witchcraft was a felony in both England and its American colonies, and therefore witches were hanged, not burned. However, witches’ bodies were burned in Scotland, though they were strangled to death first.”

“The common image of a witch’s execution shows a large group of hysteric people surrounding the guilty person on a burning pyre—but immolation was not the primary means of execution used for those accused of witchcraft. During the Salem Witch Trials, no one was burned to death; all of the accused that pled their cases and were found guilty during the Trials in 1692 were hanged. In fact, no one found guilty of witchcraft was ever executed by burning in the American colonies—immolation wasn't permissible by English law. But one person was pressed to death by large stones: Giles Corey, a man who refused to plead guilty or not guilty for charges of witchcraft during the Trials. The court found Corey guilty despite staying mute by using the French legal precedent of “peine forte et dure.” Corey is the only person in US history to be pressed to death by court order.“

Nine million witches died in the years of the witch persecutions. “About 30,000–60,000 people were executed in the whole of the main era of witchcraft persecutions, from the 1427–36 witch-hunts in Savoy (in the western Alps) to the execution of Anna Goldi in the Swiss canton of Glarus in 1782. These figures include estimates for cases where no records exist.”

Once accused, a witch had no chance of proving her innocence. “Only 25 per cent of those tried across the period in England were found guilty and executed.”

Millions of innocent people were rounded up on suspicion of witchcraft. “The total number of people tried for witchcraft in England throughout the period of persecution was no more than 2,000. Most judges and many jurymen were highly sceptical about the existence of magical powers, seeing the whole thing as a huge con trick by fraudsters. Many others knew that old women could be persecuted by their neighbours for no reason other than that they weren’t very attractive.”

But...

“ During the Salem Witch Trials, most of the legally-recognized evidence used against those accused of witchcraft amounted to spectral evidence, or “witness testimony that the accused person's spirit or spectral shape appeared to him/her witness in a dream at the time the accused person's physical body was at another location,” which was accepted “on the basis that the devil and his minions were powerful enough to send their spirits, or specters, to pure, religious people in order to lead them astray.” Other evidence used against them were so-called “Witch’s Marks” on their skin that allegedly proved they had made pacts with the devil. Contemporary research suggests these marks were possibly small ordinary lesions or supernumerary nipples.”

The Spanish Inquisition and the Catholic Church instigated the witch trials. “All four of the major western Christian denominations (the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist and Anglican churches) persecuted witches to some degree. Eastern Christian, or Orthodox, churches carried out almost no witch-hunting. In England, Scotland, Scandinavia and Geneva, witch trials were carried out by Protestant states. The Spanish Inquisition executed only two witches in total.”

King James I was terrified of witches and was responsible for their hunting and execution. “More accused witches were executed in the last decade of Elizabeth I’s reign (1558–1603) than under her successor, James I (1603–25).

The first Witchcraft Act was passed under Henry VIII, in 1542, and made all pact witchcraft (in which a deal is made with the Devil) or summoning of spirits a capital crime. The 1604 Witchcraft Act under James could be described as a reversion to that status quo rather than an innovation.

In Scotland, where he had ruled as James VI since 1587, James had personally intervened in the 1590 trial of the North Berwick witches, who were accused of attempting to kill him. He wrote the treatise Daemonologie, published in 1597. However, when King of England, James spent some time exposing fraudulent cases of demonic possession, rather than finding and prosecuting witches.”

Witch-hunting was really women-hunting, since most witches were women. “In England the majority of those accused were women. In other countries, including some of the Scandinavian countries, men were in a slight majority. Even in England, the idea of a male witch was perfectly feasible. Across Europe, in the years of witch persecution around 6,000 men – 10 to 15 per cent of the total – were executed for witchcraft.

In England, most of the accusers and those making written complaints against witches were women.”

“Historically-rooted misogyny led many to believe that women were somehow more susceptible to the dark arts or temptation by the Devil, and therefore more likely to be witches. For instance, the Laws of Alfred, written by King of Wessex Alfred the Great in AD 893, specified witchcraft as an expressly female activity. But men practiced, too, and were called many different names, including a wizard, a warlock, or a sorcerer. Countless women and men were indiscriminately persecuted for witchcraft throughout history. During the Trier Witch Trials in Germany, which lasted from 1581 to 1593, a total of 368 people were executed—and many of the victims were leading male figures of the cities and surrounding villages, including judges, councilors, priests, and deans of colleges. In the Würzburg Witch Trial, which stretched from 1626 to 1631, 157 men, women, and children were burned at the stake for such random reasons as allegedly humming songs with the Devil to being a vagrant unable to give an explanation as to why they were passing through the town of Würzburg.”

Witches were really goddess-worshipping herbalist midwives. “Nobody was goddess-worshipping during the period of the witch-hunts, or if they were, they have left no trace in the historical records. Despite the beliefs of lawyers, historians and politicians (such as Karl Ernst Jarcke, Franz-Josef Mone, Jules Michelet, Margaret Murray and Heinrich Himmler among others), there was no ‘real’ pagan witchcraft. There was some residual paganism in a very few trials.

The idea that those accused of witchcraft were midwives or herbalists, and especially that they were midwives possessed of feminine expertise that threatened male authority, is a myth. Midwives were rarely accused. Instead, they were more likely to work side by side with the accusers to help them to identify witch marks. These were marks on the body believed to indicate that an individual was a witch (not to be confused with the marks scratched or carved on buildings to ward off witches).”

All witches were bad. “Even though we’ve got that common image of an evil witch—a warty old woman dressed all in black, riding a broomstick, with a pointy hat—anybody familiar with The Wizard of Oz knows that there can be good witches too! Glinda the good witch was a representation of the benevolent half of witchcraft, known as white magic. Historically, practitioners of white magic were known as white witches, and they were more folk healers than devious people out for double, double toil and trouble. However, writer C.S. Lewis reversed the notion for The Chronicles of Narnia saga, making one of the main antagonists the icy and evil White Witch.”

We don’t know where the word "witch" came from. All the etymology geeks out there may or may not be surprised to know that the word “witch” is of indeterminate origin. The closest and most obvious possible origin is the Old English word wicce, which means “female sorceress,” and is the basic linguistic root for the modern day pagan religion, Wicca. Another more specific possibility is a split meaning coming from the Old English wigle, meaning “divination” and wih, meaning “idol,” both coming from the Proto-Germanic word wikkjaz, which means “necromancer,” or “one who wakes the dead.”

People wrote entire books dedicated to witch hunting. “In the 15th century, witchcraft was of grave concern to a lot of people, and major pieces of literature were written about witches. The most famous was the Malleus Maleficarum, a legal and theological document that became the de facto handbook on how to deal with witches and witchcraft, and spurred the nascent hysteria caused by witch-hunting in Europe that would last well into the 18th century. The book was written by two clergyman of the Dominican Order—Jakob Sprenger, the dean of the University of Cologne, and Heinrich Kramer, a theology professor at the University of Salzburg—and used Exodus 22:18, “You shall not permit a sorceress to live,” as its basis to detect and persecute any and all witches.

Even people as important as kings got in on the action. James I of England’s 1597 book, Daemonologie, was a treatise that threw his support behind the importance of the practice of witch hunting. James himself even presided over the 1590 North Berwick Witch Trials when he believed a devious Earl plotted to overthrow the then-King of Scotland with the help of a coven.”

A Pope Once Confirmed that Witches Exist. “The Catholic Church saw witchcraft as a threat to all of its followers. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull titled “Summis desiderantes affectibus” (“Desiring with supreme ardor”) that recognized the existence of witches, saying, “many persons of both sexes, heedless of their own salvation and forsaking the Catholic faith, give themselves over to devils male and female,” and that they “afflict and torture with dire pains and anguish, both internal and external, these men, women, cattle, flocks, herds, and animals, and hinder men from begetting and women from conceiving, and prevent all consummation of marriage; that, moreover, they deny with sacrilegious lips the faith they received in holy baptism; and that, at the instigation of the enemy of mankind, they do not fear to commit and perpetrate many other abominable offences and crimes, at the risk of their own souls, to the insult of the divine majesty and to the pernicious example and scandal of multitudes.” The papal bull effectively gave Kramer and Sprenger—the writers of the Malleus Maleficarum—the God-given authority to begin their Inquisition.”

Laws About Witchcraft were in place in the mid-20th Century. Technically, England’s Witchcraft Act of 1735 was still official and on the books until 1951, when it was replaced with the Fraudulent Mediums Act. The language of the original Act wasn’t about persecuting witches per se, but rather made it illegal for people to claim that others were witches. Yet being legally convicted meant that you purported to have the powers of a witch—and in fact, a woman named Jane Rebecca Yorke was found guilty in 1944 under the law, though she was convicted mostly because she was defrauding people with bogus séances.

Witches really did "fly" on broomsticks, in a way. “The origins of the broom as a witch's preferred mode of transportation is ... pretty weird. People who practiced witchcraft experimented with herbs and potions in rituals that may have used the mandrake plant. Mandrake contains scopolamine and atropine, two alkaloids that cause feelings of euphoria in low doses and hallucinations in higher doses.The rituals—performed in the nude—called for the participants to rub an herbal ointment containing the mandrake on their foreheads, wrists, hands, and feet as well as on a staff that they would “ride.” The friction of the ointment-coated staff on the witches', uh, lady parts would absorb the ointment into their system and cause a floating sensation—and their description of that feeling is what perpetuated the symbol of the witch flying on a broomstick.”

[Source] [Source]

I honestly didn’t believe the last one so I decided to do a quick look around before adding it to the list and it turns out it is true, there’s more on it: Here

But this wasn’t the only use they found for herbs as I bet you have already guessed. A lot of today's medicine is thanks to people who were believed to be witches.

“From nightshade, 19th-century chemists isolated atropine—a muscle relaxant that was later used to calm patients during surgery before the administration of anesthesia.”

“Atropine also remains the go-to antidote for nerve gas poisoning.”

“Tropane alkaloids continued to prove useful as chemical backbones in 20th-century drug design, most notably producing the anti-psychotic drug haloperidol.”

Willow bark would have been used to treat inflammation, because we now know it contains salicin, a compound that eventually gave rise to salicylic acid and later aspirin.”

“Garlic was used to treat a variety of maladies from snakebites to ulcers, and today some garlic compounds have been marketed as blood clotting inhibitors.

“Foxglove plants were also in the mix. Seventeenth century herbalist Nicolas Culpepper recommended it for epilepsy. But it’s a Scottish doctor named William Withering who is credited with pioneering the use of the plants’ extracts for heart problems. In 1775, a patient with “dropsy”—a term for swelling probably caused by heart disease—came to Withering’s Birmingham practice. No treatment seemed to work, so the patient sought a second opinion from a local Gypsy woman. She prescribed a potion containing an estimated 20 different plant ingredients, and he was cured.

“Keen to learn its properties, Withering tracked down the healer and figured out that the active ingredient in her potion was purple foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). He then performed a clinical trial of sorts, testing different doses and formulations on 163 patients. Withering ultimately determined that drying and grinding up the leaves produced the best results in small doses. Digitalis plants gave us the modern heart failure drugs digoxin and digitoxin.

“Plenty of traditional remedies have produced the staple drugs of today. Traditional Chinese medicine gave the world ephedrine for asthma. The Quechua people of Peru gave western medicine quinine for malaria.”

“As is evident from trial records from the late fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth centuries, and folklore sources and court cases in the modern era, the diagnosis and cure of witchcraft were an important element of the popular understanding and experience of medicine.” [Opens article]

[Source]

Witchcraft in different region/communities

Africa [wiki page]

Americas

Asia

Catalan

Europe

Oceania

Russia

Salem

Deities

1) Abonde (also known as Perchta), 2) Aradia, 3) Nicneven, 4) Leonard, 5) Cernunnos, 6) Oya, 7) Cerridwen, 8) Circe, 9) Diana, 10) Hekate

Links to tumblr post that might be helpful

Salem witch trails and again Hexs

(And thats it :D I hope this helps some of you)

#long post #witches #writing resources #resources #writblr #writeblr #my stuff #salem #witchcraft #history #links #writing #writers #writers on tumblr #daytime post #will reblog later #witch #witchblr #???

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scotianostra · 10 months

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July 13th 1900 saw the birth of Elizabeth “Bessie” Watson in Edinburgh.

Born just off the Grassmarket, at 11 The Vennel to Agnes Newton and Horatio Watson, Bessie did not take long to make her mark in the world, at the tender age of 9 she combined her two greatest loves: bagpiping and woman’s suffrage, the latter makes her arguably the youngest in Scotland, if not the world.

When she turned seven, Bessie’s aunt Margaret contracted tuberculosis – an incident which would change the youngster’s life forever. Margaret lived with the family, and Bessie’s parents, worried that she might fall ill to the contagious disease, encouraged her to take up the bagpipes in a bid to strengthen her weak lungs. Her first set of pipes was specially-produced according to her diminutive stature as she was too small to properly inflate an adult-sized bag. The half-sized set of pipes was purchased from Robertson’s pipe makers at 58 Grove Street. “I hurried home from school and carried it, in a brown paper parcel down to my (music) teacher”, Bessie recalled. As one of the very few female bagpipe players in the world at that time – not to mention one of the youngest – Bessie took to her new instrument with great enthusiasm.

Bessie had more than her bag pipe playing to make her worthy of a post here, while walking with her mother through the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland, Bessie stopped to look at the window of the Women’s Social and Political Union office. Bessie became excited about the idea of women receiving the right to vote, even though she wouldn’t be able to vote for many years.

Bessie realized that her talents could help promote votes for women. She would run from school each day to play her bagpipes outside of the Calton Jail in Edinburgh for fellow suffragettes in prison.

At the first suffrage pageant she performed at, she wore a sash with the words “Votes for Women” as she performed with her bagpipes. At the height of the suffragette movement, Bessie was playing at major demonstrations and parades for the Women’s Social and Political Union, including the famous procession through Edinburgh on 9th October 1909. On that day a large crowd watched as hundreds of banner-laden ladies, wearing the suffragist colours of purple, white and green, marched down Princes Street before congregating at Waverley Market for a rally led by Emmeline Pankhurst. Watson rode on a float beside a woman dressed as Isabella Duff, Countess of Buchan in her cage! Isabella is famed for crowning Robert the Bruce at Scone when he seized the Scottish crown, she was later captured with the Bruce family and held prisoner in a cage in the open air at Berwick for four years.

Back to oor Bessie, who just a ten year-old she travelled to London to play her bagpipes in a women’s march on June 17th, 1911. J ust a few weeks later, for George’s state visit to Edinburgh, Bessie, leading the 2nd Edinburgh Company of the Girl Guides, received recognition from the king himself as she raised her salute. Having secured regal acknowledgement in time for her 11th birthday, Scotland’s youngest female piper continued in her quest to support women’s rights, accompanying inmates bound for Holloway Prison to Waverley Station and playing the pipes as their trains departed.

For the part she played in Edinburgh’s historic women’s rights pageant of 1909, young Bessie received a special gift from one very prominent individual. Christabel Pankhurst (daughter of Emmeline) came to Edinburgh to address a meeting at the King’s Theatre and Bessie was invited to attend. During the evening she was presented with a brooch representing Queen Boadicea (Boudica) in her chariot, as a token of gratitude for her help in the pageant.

During WWI, Bessie was just a teenager and used her talents to make a difference in other ways. She began helping the Scots Guard to recruit army volunteers by playing her bagpipes

In 1926 Bessie moved with her parents to a new house on Clark Road, Trinity where she would remain for the rest of her days. Following her marriage to electrical contractor John Somerville at the end of the Second World War, Bessie devoted her life to teaching music and foreign languages. Former neighbours recall that, even into her late eighties, Bessie continued to play her bagpipes at 11am every morning. It was something she had always done.

Bessie died in 1992, two and a half weeks short of her 92nd birthday. Over the course of her long life she had experienced almost a century of social progression and upheaval, and had played her part in changing the world for the better.

#scotland #scottish #Edinburgh #strong woman #women's suffrage #sufferagette #musician #bagpiper #history

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emma-leprost · 4 years

Text

In April I begin my spring tour of Scotland, focusing on historical sites. I’m starting in Edinburgh and Glasgow before driving to Kilmartin to see the Achnabreck rock art. From there, stopping in Oban before passing through Glencoe and staying a few days in Fort William.

After that, I’ll visit the Isle of Skye for a week to hike and take in the views. Then sailing on the ferry to Lewis and Harris to see the Callanish stones. Sailing back to the mainland through Ullapool, then driving down to Edinburgh to honour the old gods at the Beltane Fire Festival.

Then I’ll tour the historical sites of the Lowlands, starting at North Berwick. From there go to St. Boswells and see the four major abbeys. Then drive down the coast until Newcastle Upon Tyne (yes it’s not Scotland, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to walk Hadrian’s wall).

From there driving through Dumfries and circling the coast up to Ayr. There’s a great deal of historical places along that drive that are often overlooked. Then up to Falkirk, Stirling, Strathyre, Killin, Perth, Dundee, and St. Andrews.

Stopping in the Cairngorms forest for a few days to hike. I’ve always wanted to hike out to the ‘Scottish Pyramids’. Then a week in the Aberdeen area to view the many stone circles and to take a drive along the coast to Elgin.

Inverness is next, which includes a extra day at Loch Ness and a hike around Loch Affric. Then travelling north all the way up to John O’ Groats. Sailing to Orkney and spending a week exploring the wonderful islands. After that, sailing back to the mainland and finishing up the NC500 with stops at Smoo cave and Drumbeg.

Finally, driving back down to Edinburgh and heading home.

This should take me around two and a half months. It could be done much quicker, but the long list of historical places I’ll be visiting greatly adds to the travel time.

It’s not my first adventure like this, as previously I spent a year living in my van while touring New Zealand. On this Scotland adventure, I plan on staying at accommodations so as to have a hot shower and a warm bed every night.

Note: If you intend to travel to a country that is not your own, try to support local establishments as much as possible. Shop local, eat local, stay local.

#personal #scotland #travel #adventure #road trip #scotland travel #history #dark academia

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histoireettralala · 4 years

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Battle of Almansa

During the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), fought by several European powers after the King of Spain Charles II died childless (and with him, the Habsburgs of Spain), France, with Castile & Leon, the Duchy of Mantoue, and the Electorates of Bavaria and Cologne opposed the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Savoie, the United Provinces, Portugal, Aragon, and the Camisards.

Louis XIV fought his last great war to put his grandson, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, on the throne of Spain (Spain’s succession rules do not exclude women, and Philippe was a grandson of Infanta Maria Teresa) and to break the centuries old encircling of France by the Habsburg powers.

In 1707, on April 25, in Almansa, a Franco-Spanish army led by the Duke of Berwick (Jacques I Fitz James, illegitimate son of James II Stuart, born in France) beats Dutch, Portuguese and British troops of Archduke Charles led by Henri de Massue and Antonio Luis de Sousa.

It has been said that Almansa was “probably the only battle in History where British troops were led by a Frenchman, and French troops by a British.”

The victory of Almansa was not the end of the war, but allowed Philippe V to recover his throne.

Its memory is persisting in Spain. On Youtube or Tumblr you can find videos of historical reenactments.

#xviii #war of spanish succession #battle of almansa

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letitiapleiades · 4 years

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Glasgow based artist, composer/producer, movement practitioner, performer, activist, DJ and teacher.

Working collaboratively currently, and historically, with Bitter, Radical Bodywork Network, Glasgow Open Dance School (G.O.D.S), Herbal Unity, Letitia Beatriz and Asparagus Piss Raindrop.

EDUCATION

2017 BTEC Sound Production Level 3 Distinction, Academy of Music & Sound, Glasgow

2011 BA First Class Honours Degree, Environmental Art, Glasgow School of Art

2007 BTEC Art Foundation Level 3 Distinction, Manchester Metropolitan University

2004 BA Second Class Honours Degree, Communication Studies w/ Drama & Theatre, Chester University College

UPCOMING:

- Counterflows performance, April 2021

SELECTED PAST:

EXHIBITIONS

- Sonic Seance: The Gathering, Exhibition and events programme - White Fragility reading group, CCA, Glasgow, 2019

PERFORMANCES

- Out on the track my ears on my back, SSW is 40!, Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden, 2019

- Sonic Seance, VD/A, Take Me Somewhere, Tramway, Glasgow, 2019

- Phase 2 & 3 of R&R Rat Race at The Witch Hazel School, Lunarnova Campout, Jupiter Artland & Radiophrenia, CCA, 2017.

- Positions of Power, Machine Room, Collective, Edinburgh, 2016

- It’s Called Discharge?, Roller Stop, Glasgow International Festival, 2016

-Solo performance, Tectonics, City Halls, Glasgow 2016

- Trans Poncho in Posse, Tectonics, The Harpa, Reykjavik, 2015

- From the Charmed Circle to The Outer Limits, Google Useless Radio, Subcity, Glasgow, 2016

- Club, Spelling Space, The Pipe Factory, Glasgow, 2014

- Sonidos hacia el fin del patriarcado / Sounds towards the end of the patriarchy, Venimos Del Future / We Come From The Future: broadcasting from after the end of the patriarchy in the year 2114 , Beta Local, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2014

- Posiciones de Poder / Positions of Power, Beta Local, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2014

- On Performance, Never Come Ashore, Glasgow, 2013

- Select and Dispossess, WUK FM, Vienna, 2013

RESIDENCIES

- One month residency, Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden, 2019

- Two week choreographic residency, The Work Room, Glasgow, 2016

- One month Infestation residency, Transmission, Glasgow, 2015.

- Two week women’s artists gathering, WE (Not I), Raven Row, Flat Time House & South London Gallery, London, 2015

- Five week residency, Beta Local, Puerto Rico, 2014

- Two week choreographic residency, The Work Room, Glasgow 2014

- One month summer residency, Hospitalfields, Arbroath, 2014

- Select and Dispossess Three month long residency with Cinenova, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, 2013

WORKSHOPS & TEACHING

- Practices to sustain, self-care workshops, various, 2018-2020

- Vocal and movement improvisation workshop, MA, Culture Lab, Newcastle University, 2018

- Rough music workshop with Kim O'Neill & Fritz Welch, Summerhall, Edinburgh, 2018

- DJ workshops for people with experience of the immigration system, various locations, 2016-2017

- DJ workshops, Grassroots Glasgow who aim to improve representation across music venues and organisations in Glasgow by supporting Female, POC and LGBTQ+ people in the electronic music scene, The Art School, 2017

- Performance tutor, First Year Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art, 2017

- We Touch Talking The Hum, vocal workshop with Cara Tolmie, The Grounds We Tread, The Pump House Gallery, London, 2016

PUBLICATIONS & TEXTS

- Sink! A poem for embodied reading, commissioned by The Common Guild as a response to Sink / Routine for 24 Women by Janice Kernel, 2018

- Retrospective Asparagus Piss Raindrop scores book, Good Press and Publication Studio, CCA, 2017

- Positions of Power, Flat Time House, London, 2015

- Physical Embodiments of Control, MUSEUMS Press at Grafixx, Antwerp, 2015

- Sometimes the struggle is situated on the dancefloor, 5 outdoor stickers, self published, 2014

- Spelling Space, book initiated by Emily Illet, 2014

- eccys text commissioned by Transmission to accompany The---Family, When we lied on difference, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, 2014

- Letitia Beatriz untitled text and images, SALT feminist journal, 2012

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS & ROLES

Glasgow Open Dance School (G.O.D.S)

Co-founder & organiser, with Ashanti Harris and Romany Dear

2011 - ongoing

- Upcoming Exhibition Glasgow International 2020

- Take a Score + Make a Score, Humber Street Gallery, Hull, 2019 & The Hunterian, 2014.

- Consent for young adults movement workshop, Ignite, Glasgow, 2018

- GODS Weekend, Glasgow International Festival, The Yoga Barn, Pollok Park, Glasgow, 2018

- In Praise of the Dancing Body, after Silvia Federici, Workshop, World is Sudden: Summer School, Newcastle, 2018

- Facilitated collective experience, Lunarnova Campout, Jupiter Artland, 2017

- B:reach: a radical black feminist retelling of Woman at the edge of time by Marge Peircy, with Gallery of the Streets, Arika Episode 8: Refuse Powers Grasp, Tramway, Glasgow, 2017

- Two week choreographic residency with G.O.D.S community, The Work Room, Glasgow, 2017

- Your body is a temple, bookable Sunday studio, Resource Room and workshops, Dance International Glasgow (D.I.G), Tramway, Glasgow, 2015

- Resource Room and workshops, Romany Dear, Dancing in a circle is a reminder we are part of a whole, CCA, Glasgow, 2015

- Black History Month Project: Four weeks of workshops and film screenings, CCA and KPC, Glasgow, 2014

- Miss Prissy, Queen of Krump collaboration Arika Episode 6: Make A Way Out Of No Way. Tramway, Glasgow, 2014

- Lecturing, Forum for Critical Inquiry at GSA, 2014

- Six week programme of movement workshops, bookable dance studio and the G.O.D.S Resource Room, Market Gallery, Glasgow, 2014

Radical Bodywork Network

Organiser

2018 - ongoing

- Currently developing a website for online resources and practitioners at the intersection of bodywork and social justice

- Developed a practice with Ubuntu women’s shelter and created a handbook, making practices available to other groups who wish to use bodywork in their organising, Transmission, Glasgow, 2018-2019

- Organised a workshop on consent in bodywork settings, The Work Room, 2018

Letitia Pleiades

DJ, producer, percussionist, vocalist

2013-ongoing

- DJ and live music performances: Glasgow International Festival, Doune Festival, Supernormal Festival, Counterflows Festival

- LIve performance practice with turntablist Mariam Rezaei, 2018 - ongoing

- Sonic Seance: Displays performances with Mele Broomes at Romanti Clash, Jupiter Artland & Beyond, The Work Room 10 year celebration, The Art School, 2018

- DJ for Beats Per Minute Show Down, an immersive audio visual experience, Raw Materials, George Square, The Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, 2018

- Composer, Take the Credits!, Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, Berwick, 2017

- Solo performance, Tectonics, Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, 2015

- The only ones still there are men and women, Radiophrenia, CCA, Glasgow, 2015

- Guest DJ mixes for Rinse FM, Fuego FM and OH141

OTHER NOTABLE COLLABORATIONS

Bitter

co-organiser, quarterly club night for women, trans and non-binary people The Savings Bank, Glasgow

2019 and ongoing

Letitia Beatriz

collaborative artistic practice of myself and Emilix Beatriz, exploring intersectional struggles of womxns* health and or care

2011-2016

Asparagus Piss Raindrop

performance group

2014-2017

Trio with Liene Rozite and Lucy Duncombe

improvisation group

2013

BANDS

Thoth, multi instrumentalist, several UK tours, inc. Cafe Oto, London

2009 - 2017

Fem Bitch Nation, producer and vocalist, toured U.K, self released several EP’s and calendars and tracks on Huntley & Palmers Clyde Built Compilation

2011 - 2016

Palms, drummer and vocalist, vinyl releases on Watts of Goodwill and Some Songs

2012 - 2015

OTHER

Organiser with Herbal Unity, community herbal medicine group 2016 - 2019

Vocalist Androgynous Egg by Georgina Starr, Frieze Projects, Frieze, Regents Park, London, 2017

Zine photocopy parties and library, No Right Way to Cum, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, 2016

Six weeks studying West African Drum and Dance, Tafi Atome, Ghana, 2016

Dancer for Romany Dear, various works and performances, 2014-2017

Two weeks studying dance at P.A.R.T.S Summer School, Brussels, 2015

Organiser, 3 day DIY music festival, multiple locations, Glasgow, 2014

Judge for Scottish Album of the Year Graduate Award, across Scotland, 2014

Ladyfest Glasgow, organiser, 2014

Movement reading group, fortnightly group, held at home, Glasgow, 2014

Who Takes The Rap? screenings and self publication of booklet in English, French and Arabic with Unity Sisters, various venues, Glasgow and London, 2014

Organiser and member of women’s self defence group, Glasgow, 2014

Dialectic of Sex reading group, Arbroath, Cove Park, Glasgow kitchens, 2014

Design & maintenance of research catalogue for Cinenova: Womenʼs Film & Video Distributor, 2013 - 2015

Women’s and queer health zine library, 2013 - ongoing

Participant in Jean-Luc Guionnet Investigation Project and Propositions for an Inhabited Architecture of Listening, Never Come Ashore, Arika and Glasgow University Music Department, 2012

Glasgow Open School, self organised learning collective, 2010 - 2012

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officialjessicajewett · 4 years

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Short story (although I beg you to read the entire blog): I’m selling a drawing of the Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain house and donating the profits to preservation and restoration efforts.

BUY THE CHAMBERLAIN HOUSE ORIGINAL ART HERE. BUY THE CHAMBERLAIN HOUSE ART PRINTS HERE.

Now, let’s have the whole story. The links will be at the end of the blog again too. I don’t know if my efforts will be successful but my hope is you’ll feel my passion by the end of this blog.

We’re here to talk about something very near and dear to my heart – the Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain house in Brunswick, Maine. The porches that Chamberlain himself built on his home of over fifty years are in structural danger. Together, you and I are going to help. Buildings like this one belong to all of us.

Briefly, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a Union general in the American Civil War who rose to that rank without formal military training (he was a professor before the war). He volunteered for service, and then later became a four-term governor of Maine, followed by president of Bowdoin College.

His wife, Fanny, was a rare example of an independent woman, having a career of her own as a music teacher and an artist before she decided to get married. The two of them were quite liberal in a lot of ways; believing women should be admitted to college wherever they chose, believing in the right to contraception and family planning, believing in racial equality, and so forth.

For a bit of context into the time and place the Chamberlain family lived, they knew Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and attended church with her for years. Stowe sometimes held gatherings of Bowdoin College students in her home where she read chapters of Uncle Tom’s Cabin aloud. Chamberlain took Fanny to some of these readings while they were “dating” (dating wasn’t the term in those days).

National history largely forgot Chamberlain until Ken Burns heavily featured him throughout his documentary series, The Civil War. Then in the early 90s, Jeff Daniels actually played Chamberlain (seen in character on the left) in the film, Gettysburg, followed ten years later by playing him again in Gods and Generals.

His impact reaches far beyond Maine. Even I live in Atlanta and I’m just three miles from both Chamberlain Street and Oakland Cemetery where one of his best friends, General John B. Gordon, is buried.

You’re beginning to see why this family and this house matter to American history. We could sit here discussing Chamberlain’s fascinating life and undeniable affect on Maine history until we write a book. In fact, there are a lot of books about him, his military commands, and his family.

Not only did the family live in this house for over fifty years, but Henry Wadsworth Longfellow rented rooms in the same house before they bought it. Longfellow’s presence in the house is still felt today in the upstairs parlor where a portion of the wallpaper he put up is still there.

This is the house today. Originally, it was only one-and-a-half floors. Chamberlain had the entire structure moved to the corner of Potter and Maine, and then lifted about eleven feet off the ground to build an entirely new first floor addition. He designed most of the first floor himself, including a beautiful curved staircase that greeted guests upon walking through the ruby red foyer. It’s is one of the most architecturally important houses in the state of Maine due to the odd mixture of building and decorating styles blended together from different popular aesthetics in the nineteenth century – Cape Cod, Gothic Revival, and some Art Nouveau influences. Chamberlain wasn’t even a trained architect or interior designer.

The Pejepscot History Center (PHC) rescued the house from demolition in 1983 after decades of being rented out to Bowdoin College students. It had been chopped up into seven apartments and the interior was painted psychedelic colors when they acquired it. Almost 37 years under the careful stewardship of historians and volunteers has seen great strides toward preserving and restoring the home to the way it stood when Chamberlain lived there, but only partially so.

As of my last visit, renters still live in the upper portions of the house in, I believe, three apartments because renting brings in money for upkeep. Many of the unoccupied rooms upstairs haven’t yet been restored either, including all of the Chamberlain family bedrooms. The downstairs bathroom with original fittings and the master bedroom upstairs were being used for storage instead of teaching and tourism. It takes a lot of money to preserve and restore historical buildings. Brunswick is a small town and Maine is a small town state.

Why does the decay of an old house matter to me?

My family name is Jewett. That was, once upon a time, an influential name up in Maine, so much so that if you take a drive over to South Berwick, you can tour my ancestors’ home. I’m related to Sarah Orne Jewett and she left her home to Historic New England when she died. If you click on her name, it’ll take you to the website for that house. There, you’ll see the potential when important places have the resources for full, meticulous restoration and preservation. I have a vision for the Chamberlain home being just as preserved, studied, and restored as the Jewett house.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting the Chamberlain house twice. Tour guides were wonderful and well-informed, the gift shop was better than most battlefield gift shops, and there was a beautiful wheelchair ramp built onto the back porch – a rarity for historical landmarks. In the above photo, you’re looking at my first trip to the house twelve years ago when I was quite sick and underweight compared to now. Sick or not, historical preservation is my passion. So I went to Maine.

I’d like to show you more photos from my trips to the Chamberlain house. I quickly grabbed some from my collection so you can see how special this place is to many of us in the American history, women’s history, and Civil War fields.

In 2018 and 2019, the PHC raised $48,000 for serious restoration work on the exterior of the house. They even got the wheelchair ramp rebuilt on the back porch as a bonus. It was a really spectacular job and it all looks like it belonged on the house from the beginning, although General Chamberlain never had a ramp back there.

The old ramp and porch.

The new ramp and porch.

I’m showing you this because I want you to see what’s possible through the help of donations, foundations, and grants to not only restore historical landmarks but also to make them accessible to more people in the future. Places like this really depend on tourism for cash flow in addition to the few grants that are available. Tourism matters economically to small towns. It pays to have interesting landmarks, speaking in practical terms. We’re American. We understand that money talks.

Take a look at this photo of the house from the 1870s. Do you see the glass porch on the first floor, and then the open air porch above it? Pay attention to those.

I’m letting the Pejepscot History Center explain what happened. This is from their fundraiser page. I’m not sure if the fundraiser page is still open, but if it is, I’ll update this blog with a link.

Thanks to $48,000 raised from foundations and individuals over 2018-2019, we were able to undertake extensive exterior restoration work on the Joshua L. Chamberlain Museum starting in the spring of 2019.

Four faces of the building have now been lovingly restored, but in the process, considerable rot due to deferred maintenance in the past was found and corrected.

This led to fewer funds available for addressing the final part of this Phase I restoration effort: the two historic porches on the southeast corner of the building, which have some of the most interesting architecture on the building, and provide considerable structural support.

Unfortunately, they too have more deterioration than originally anticipated, necessitating additional funds to repair and rebuild the porches correctly.

Chamberlain raised the house 11 feet in the air in 1871 to add the lower story, thereby adding the first floor porch himself. He especially loved these porches. Over the years, he and the family enjoyed sitting on them and raising plants in the ample southern sunshine.

So I decided to make donations interesting. Individually, none of us can afford the $20,000 the PHC needs to raise to save Chamberlain’s porches from decaying and deteriorating. I know I can’t.

But what I can do is use my skills as an artist to draw attention to the house and make it worth your effort to help rescue the house. I’m a portrait artist most of the time, selling commissions of ordinary people as well as portraits set in highly researched historical scenes. To me, the Chamberlain house like all other historical houses are like living things with souls and sets of memories all their own.

The idea occurred to me that if people were willing to buy my portraits of people, perhaps they would be willing to buy a “portrait” of a house. I had already done a Christmas-themed piece of art showcasing the Chamberlain family’s church, First Parish, and I was interested in doing another piece anyway. If I could use my artistic drive to raise awareness for historical preservation, all the better.

So I got to work. Watch the video below to see me in action.

Yes, the manner in which I do my art is a bit different. We’ll go ahead and address the elephant in the room since many of you might be new to my website and my art. If you didn’t guess from my other photos, I’m physically disabled. I was born with a condition called Arthrogryposis and the nature of it means I need to do everything with the tools in my mouth, whether it’s writing, typing, chopping vegetables, sewing, or creating art. I’ve had about nineteen surgeries to date with a high probability of two more surgeries in 2020. Selling art is how I make extra money.

This time, however, I’m not making money from the art. I’ve decided to sell both the original and various sized prints made from the Chamberlain house piece for the benefit of the restoration project. When I sell this piece, I will make a donation from 80% of the profits (I need 20% for shipping, materials, etc.) to the Pejepscot History Center and I will make public all of the pertinent documents. That way everything is crystal clear and there are no questions.

This is the completed piece of art.

It took me about three weeks to complete it. I used a combination of Pentel mechanical pencils with .5 mm lead and Prismacolor Ebony pencils on 11×14-inch mixed media paper. Each detail of the house was researched and replicated to the best of my ability down to the placement of the trees, the curtains from the 1870s photographs, the wrought iron fence design, and the woodwork. If you look up top, you’ll see the famous chimney Chamberlain added after the war with the Maltese cross. He was a Fifth Corps officer and the Maltese cross was their insignia, a symbol found throughout the house.

You’ll be able to purchase this piece of art in my shop.

BUY THE CHAMBERLAIN HOUSE ORIGINAL ART HERE. BUY THE CHAMBERLAIN HOUSE ART PRINTS HERE.

The original, as in the actual piece of art I worked on, is 11×14 inches and costs $385.00 USD. Prints (5×7, 8×10, or 11×17) range in price from $12.00 USD to $24.00 USD and are made on high quality cardstock with a glossy finish.

Orders larger than 8×10 inches are shipped in a tube with the art rolled inside to protect it from rough postal workers. Orders 8×10 and smaller are shipped in flat bubble mailers reinforced with cardboard. All customers are given a tracking number so they can keep an eye on their packages with the postal service as well. Every order within the United States includes free shipping. Shipping for international orders will be calculated at the time of purchase.

Please consider purchasing this piece. It’s such a worthy cause. I realize there is a lot happening in the world, and I’m doing my part for those causes too, but we should care about American history too. We need to be thinking about what kind of tangible legacy we’re going to leave our children and grandchildren. Wouldn’t you want to teach your descendants to celebrate and honor a man who believed in the qualities of a better world that we’re still fighting to create? What better way to honor him and his family than to help preserve the place they loved and called home for over half a century?

If you’re not interested in buying my art, that’s quite all right. There are choices.

One option is to let me collect the donations at PayPal.me/ArtByJessicaJewett and I’ll get it to the Pejepscot History Center for you. Please specify that you are donating to the Chamberlain house in the notes. I’ll send donations on the 15th of every month (when there are any) and I will give you copies of the receipts.

Or you can make a donation directly to the Pejepscot History Center, but please make sure you specify that your donation is for the Chamberlain house. They don’t have digital donations aside from the annual membership drives. The new 2020 membership drive hasn’t been created yet since they are closed until February 4.

To donate by mail:

Pejepscot History Center 159 Park Row Brunswick, ME 04011

By phone: Call (207) 729-6606 to provide a credit card number. They take all major cards.

In person: Drop by their offices at 159 Park Row during open hours.

The Pejepscot History Center is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Your gift is tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

I’m not affiliated with the Pejepscot History Center in any way, nor do I work for them. My fundraising efforts are as a private citizen.

Donation

Please consider making a donation to help me keep up with the cost of art supplies, living expenses, equipment related to my disability, and so forth. The minimum is set at $10.00. Thank you for your generosity.

$10.00

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Buy a piece of art to help with restoration projects on the Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain house. Find out why it's important. Short story (although I beg you to read the entire blog): I'm selling a drawing of the Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain house and donating the profits to preservation and restoration efforts.

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