National Portrait Gallery Re-opening

Was very interested to note from today’s ‘Scotsman’ that the National Portrait Gallery in

Queen Street

will be reopening after extensive refurbishment on the 1^st. of December next. The refurbishment work has been extensive and many portraits not previously in the public domain will now be on show.

Members will of course recall our guided tour of the gallery shortly before it shut  - it hardly seems three years ago now and a return visit must now be very high on the agenda.

According to the ‘Scotsman’ article the oldest item in the gallery is a portrait of Lord Darnley of 1755 by Hans Ewart.

Also on show is of course is what is known as ‘The Sheffield Portrait’ of Mary (above) probably by Rowland Lockey. The portrait was previously thought to have been based on  one currently in Hardwick Hall painted during Mary’s lifetime and this may or may not be the case. The date 1578 appears  and as Helen Smailes puts it in her book “The Queen’s Image” “the significance of the date is not clear but may represent an aspect of James’ policy of rehabilitating his mother’s reputation”.

Also in the exhibition is a rare woodcut which is believed to be the only image made of John Knox during his lifetime.

I think I am also correct in saying that on the façade of the building, remains a range of statues including the only one in Scotland of Mary. As a Society we presently have in hand a project for the erection of a full size statue to Mary, we hope very much at or in the precinct of Holyrood House.

Ronald

Forthcoming Events

Just received the latest edition of the Historic Scotland Magazine and notice two events which might be of interest.

On Sunday 11^th. December at Stirling Castle from 12.30 to 3.30 pm. there is an event entitled;

“Stewart Christmas”

Historic Scotland Members and others are invited to come along and enjoy a very light-hearted and slightly irreverent return to the period of Mary, Queen of Scots and find out what Christmas would have been like in the Stewart Royal Court of the 16^th. century.

Further information telephone 0131 668 8885.

Earlier on Sunday 27^th November there is an event at Craigmillar Castle entitled;

"Darnley must Die"

This is led by historian Allan Burnett and as advertised “he recreates the atmosphere of intrigue and skullduggery leading up to the Craigmillar Bond, a pact to dispose of Mary’s husband Henry Stuart –judge for yourself whether or not Mary was in on the plot”

This seems to be being repeated at 12 noon, 1 p.m. 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The above image is used in the Magazine to promote the event.

Why is Darnley dressed up as Harry Lauder and what is Mary proposing with her tickling stick?

Ronald

Bolton Castle

Just back from a week-end break in North Yorkshire. A revisit to Bolton Castle was very much on the agenda but as rather feared closed for the winter until 11th. February next year.

Bolton Castle absolutely dominates the landscape in this part of Wensleydale and above photograph of the Castle  This was taken at approximately 3.30 on a foggy November afternoon and already darkness is beginning to fall and the arc lights which illuminate the Castle so brilliantly and probably light sensitive are on.

Mary was of course a prisoner at Bolton Castle from 16^th. July  1568  until 26^th of January of the following year.

Mary arrived at Bolton with little but the attire in which she had escaped from Scotland and Bolton Castle was ill fitted and ill furnished to house a regal visitor.

All sorts of furnishings were apparently hurriedly borrowed from neighbouring gentry and Elizabeth  would seem to have ordered provision to be made ‘for pewter vessels, brasspots and pans, racks and spits and a copper kettle  for the boiling of beef as well as garden sauces and other necessities incident to dinners” It is also recorded that Sir George Bowes sent her tapestries and turkey rugs to make her stay more comfortable and that the Earl of Northumberland sent venison

Possibly Mary would be more pleased to receive five cart loads of her personal luggage which the castle owner Lord Scrope had persuaded the Earl of Moray to send from Scotland. These included the Cloth of State which Mary set up in the Great Hall.

With Mary at Bolton were Leslie, Herries, the Livingstons, the Flemings, Gavin Hamilton, John Beaton, Bastian Pages and his wife, Mary Seton and Willy Douglas as well as a corps of loyal supporters.

Initially Mary would seem to have been granted a certain degree of freedom and certainly visited Nappa Hall about five miles away the home of the Metcalfes. A few years back we had the hapchance of spending a night at Nappa Hall which at that time did bed and breakfast – not sure if it now does.

It was perhaps at Bolton that Mary’s religious conviction may just have wavered although she later denied it vehemently. Her gaoler Sir Francis Knollys who was the husband of Elizabeth’s first husband Catherine Gray tried hard to convert Mary to Protestantism and boasted of some success claiming that “Mary was growing to a liking of English Common prayer”. If there was indeed any such waiver on Mary’s part it may of course not been not religiously driven but was rather an attempt by Mary to seek the better to ingratiate herself to Elizabeth’s eyes.

Mary was an accomplished horsewomen and there was one report that when out riding she galloped so far ahead of the party as to raise fears of an escape attempt. There was also a report of a suggested escape organized (as at Lochleven) by Willy Douglas whereby Mary was lowered from a window but the attempt was discovered it might appear by Lord Scrope himself.

Whatever. whether because of the above escape attempts Bolton was judged just too close to the Scottish Borders and the following January in the depth of winter Mary and her train were forcibly moved to Tutbury. It would appear that at the time of the journey both Mary and Lady Livingston were ill and had to be placed on a litter for the journey.

We enjoy breaks in North Yorkshire and hopefully can visit again next year.

Ronald

Threat to Hermitage

I was very disturbed to read a press report of proposals for the building of yet more wind turbines, this time in close proximity to Hermitage Castle. We already have far to many of these in the Borders. The proposal is for 20 turbines on a farm near the Castle each over 400 feet high no less (approximately twice the height of the Scott Monument).

Hermitage Castle in Mary’s time was of course in the ownership of Lord Bothwell and it was here that he got involved in an affray with Little Jock Elliot of the Side coming off very much second best, being badly wounded even having to bargain for readmittance to his own Castle.The event of course remembered in the well know Border Ballad "Little Jock Elliot"

"I have vanquished the Queen’s Lieutenant

And garred her trooper’s flee

My name is Little Jock Elliot

O wha daur meddle wi’ me?

Fully a week later Mary, set out from Jedburgh where she was dispensing justice accompanied by among others, Murray Huntly and Maitland. She returned the same day and it has been calculated that at most she could have spent maybe two hours at Hermitage. So much for Buchanan’s assertion;-

　

"being impatient of delay and not able to forbear, notwithstanding the severity of the season, the difficulty of the way, and the danger of robbers she hastened her journey accompanied by such such a company of men as no honest man even of a mean condition would have adventured his life and his goods"

It was of course on her return from Hermitage that Mary became gravely ill and nearly died.

Hermitage Castle has a stark striking beauty on a bleak landscape made beautiful by the very forcefulness of its impact and the splendour of its isolation .

So little has changed since this grim edifice was built in the thirteenth century by William de Soulis whose descendant suffered death by being rolled up in sheet of lead and placed in a boiling pot and many have shivered on entering its portals or even viewing from a far. There can be few castles anywhere more imposing or forbidding.

All of this could be lost if these proposals are to go through - shibboleths to cheap energy, monstrous obtrusions on the landscape, highly subsidised, forcing on all of us increased fuel bills and of course grossly inefficient, not operating when the winds fails to blow, usually the coldest days of the year or even when the wind blows too strongly.

Historic Scotland has said "Hermitage is of national importance, one of the great mediaeval fortresses of Scotland and the building of the turbines would have a significant impact on its setting".

Clan Armstrong Trut is urging members and supporters to lodge their objections and I personally will be doing so. I hope others will do likewise. See- . Http://www.armstrongclan.org.uk/pdfs/letter.pdf

Ronald Morrison

 

Visit to Scone Place

Scone Palace

 Earlier this week visited Scone Palace - I think my first ever visit to the Palace itself.

A veritable treasure trove of fine furnishings, porcelain, ivories and objects d'art and as ever on visiting these fine houses with their wonderful collections came away feeling I had viewed but a small part and appreciated even less.

Of the furnishings perhaps the finest piece is a writing desk used by Marie Antoinette.

Mary never visited which is understandable granted that the original palace had been destroyed or at least badly damaged by the mob in 1559 and in any event was owned by the Ruthvens in many ways arch-enemies of the Queen.

However in the last room visited there are bed hangings and a tapestry said to have been worked by Mary during her time as a prisoner in Lochleven No indication of provenance was given. Mary seems to have spent a lot of time weaving even for a prisoner.

Below some images of the hangings.

During the tour it was mentioned that the last Protestant coronation indeed last coronation to be held in Scotland that of Charles 11 in 1651 was at Scone. Had an interesting discussion as to how it might have compared with that of James V1.

Ronald Morrison

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Scottish Branch of the Society will be on Monday 24th. October in the Quaker Meeting House Victoria Terrace Edinburgh - aim to be there for 7.00 p.m.

For full details of the Quaker Meeting House and how to get there see their website

On the evening we are very pleased to welcome Dr. Michael Turnbull who will speak on

"The Beatification of Mary"

The meeting is open to all - no charge.

Earlier a number of members will be meeting to enjoy a bite to eat in the The Royal McGregor 154 High Street.

In the aftrenoon at 2.30 p.m. some members will be meeting to view the Singing the Reformation exhibition in the University Library on George Square.If we can justify sufficient numbers we are hoping to be given a specialized guided tour. Quoting from the University's website re. the exhibition;

• Step into the world of Reformation Scotland to see and hear how singing touched everyone.
• Listen to the early music that was sung and played in early modern Scotland whilst viewing the original musical manuscripts and musical instruments.
• Investigate how music was found within church and chamber and was part of life in ordinary households as well as in the royal court.
• See how contemporary visual images of the natural world found in wall panels and paintings, minatures and needlework complement the songs and all ‘sing’ together with a 'chereful voyce'.
• Examine the most important surviving source for Scotland’s early music found within Thomas Wode’s partbooks.
• View all eight Partbooks brought together from across the world for the very first time.
• Follow the careers of Thomas Wode, the man who preserved the music and of his patron Lord James Stewart, Regent Moray.
• With the help of contemporary books, manuscripts, paintings and maps enter into the soundscape surrounding a Scot during the reign of King James VI.
• Understand the role of psalm singing before and after the Protestant Reformation and how it continues to this day.

All enquiries contact Ronald Morrison -RM114414@aol.com.

Looks like a most interesting day in prospect,

Mary,Queen of Scots got her Head Chopped off

Mary, Queen of Scots got her Head Chopped Off.

Have just learned that Liz Lockhead's highly acclaimed but historically very inaccurate play "Mary, Queen of Scots got her Head chopped off "will be running at the The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh until 15th. October.

So far as I can see the production would seem to be receiving very favourable reviews.

For full details of of cast, performance times and admission charges see

Ronald