AND PUPILS SCOOP NATIONAL FILMMAKING AWARDS

A dancing duo from Dundee and an was made by Sen and Lucy as they acrostic ensemble from Glasgow are danced their way around Tayside the winning films in the Library’s ‘One providing an insight into their view of Minute Film’ competition. . The 13-19 age category was won by St Thomas Aquinas Acrostic As 2018 was the Year of Young People, the Account where a group of pupils shared Library joined forces with the Scottish their thoughts about what Scotland Youth Film Festival to invite young people means to them, using individual pieces to enter a competition with films entitled to camera. ‘Whit Scotland Means tae Me’. Shortlisted films will be added to the The winning film in the 12 years and Library’s collections and preserved in under category From Dancing Dundee, perpetuity.

Above: North of Scotland Archaeology Society map scanning volunteers in action

Estates Ltd for permission to display their maps online, and to the North of Scotland Archaeology Society and its volunteers for helping with Winners of the over 13s category from St Thomas the scanning. Actor Kevin Guthrie with the winners of the under 12s Aquinas School in Glasgow pictured with Kevin category Sen Demajo and Lucy Lin from Dundee Guthrie and Scottish Bafta Winner Tim Courtney  An initial set of five maps by Peter May (1724/33-1795), and 64 maps by George Brown (1747-1816), are available on our Estate Maps page under Inverness-shire: maps.nls.uk/estates/#inverness-shire

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 7 NEWS MAJOR RETROSPECTIVE ON THE 1980s

This year will see the 40th anniversaries themes: international relations; UK politics; of Margaret Thatcher’s first General economics and employment; science and Election victory, the Iranian Revolution, technology; social change; and culture the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and and entertainment. the 30th anniversaries of the fall of the As well as essays written by Library Berlin Wall, the massacre in Tiananmen staff, guest writers such as Kate Adie and Square, and the invention of the World Sandy Gall who were prominent in the 80s Wide Web. will also join the mix. The essays will be Between May and December 2019, the published on a bespoke microsite of our Library will be producing a programme of website, which is due to go live in May. New online content, public events and displays content will be added throughout the year. under the title of Back to the Future: A retro games event will take place 1979-1989. The programme will invite at Kelvin Hall in July, and in August a people to question how well they know Treasures display will open at George IV the period and will seek to engender Bridge and will run until the autumn. This conversation and understanding will feature just a handful of the 2.5 million between people of different backgrounds, publications the Library holds from that generations and worldviews. decade alone. A video installation will The 1980s was a time of considerable also run at our George IV Bridge building national and global change, and our during August as part of the programme will be structured on six Festival Fringe.

Why are these recordings of the items already digitised at risk? It doesn’t necessarily cover varied subjects from UNLOCKING OUR mean they are really old. In the visit of Pope John Paul II, fact many of our recordings the announcement of war SOUND HERITAGE have been made on magnetic or the sinking of the Titanic, tape since the 1970s, but to more intimate portraits this type of media is subject of Scots and Scotland: to severe degradation if carding parties in Shetland, not optimally maintained. recounting the Whaligoe However, it is the rapidly Steps in Caithnessian dialect, changing technologies that and poems in lowland Scots. put the material most at risk. Over the next three years An initial analysis of we aim to digitise more than the sound collections and 5,000 items to produce around archives in 2016 showed 15,000 individual recordings. that if they weren’t digitised We also want to make as in the next 10 years, the many of the recordings as technology to playback possible available online starting next year. Conor Walker, our Audio Preservation the recordings would be Engineer, digitises an open reel tape prohibitively expensive for any public sector organisation  As the project unfolds we to purchase. hope to share news and some Building on the work of 10 regional and national Technical challenges aside, of the stories we uncover. Scotland’s Sounds, Unlocking hubs. The National Library the collections earmarked Meanwhile, keep up with Our Sound Heritage is a of Scotland’s hub will work for digitisation are rare or our work via the Scotland’s National Lottery Heritage with 16 other organisations unique and cover a wide Sounds website Funded project, led by the the length and breadth of the range of subjects from oral www.scotlandssounds.org British Library, encompassing country, to save unique and history and traditional music and follow us on Twitter the whole of the UK through at-risk audio recordings. to wildlife recordings. Some @ScotlandsSounds.

8 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 MY LIBRARY 

FOND FAREWELL: Sally is pictured outside the Library with her dog, Beano

My Library life Sally Harrower, Modern Literary Manuscripts Curator, has worked at the Library for 37 years and has had “a fascinating and completely unexpected career”. Here, she shares her memories with us ahead of her retiral this year

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 9 MY LIBRARY

Now I’m on the point of retiring. How I have loved this job – I really believe it’s the best one in the Library

first crossed the threshold of the an informal and friendly interview I was National Library of Scotland in 1966. duly given a short-term contract under My mother – swept away with the the Manpower Services Job Creation romantic story of their finding by a Scheme. My job was to work through stone-chucking Bedouin shepherd a backlog of uncatalogued pamphlets Iboy – was determined to see the Dead and create, on an Imperial typewriter, Sea Scrolls, then being exhibited here. ‘input forms’ to get these items into the She was not alone. We joined the queue catalogue (then on hi-tech microfiche). on George IV Bridge and eventually This was leavened by working through progressed through the Library door from another backlog: theatre programmes. where we could see (aw, no …) the queue I made some lifelong friends during going through the front hall and up the that first year, one of whom is still a main staircase to the landing beneath the Library colleague (another Job Creation huge window. It then disappeared up the success story!). And getting friendly with left-hand stair to reappear at the foot of backlogs has been another feature of my the right, shuffling back down to the front Library life. hall and into the exhibition. After some The temporary contract became hours I was finally standing in front of a permanent in 1984. At that time, it display case containing some brownish seemed the Library was run by a team bits of illegible manuscript, thinking ‘Is of redoubtable women who, according to this all there is ...?’. Yes, one of the major legend, had Risen From the Typing Pool; disappointments of my young life – I Miss Hope and Miss Deas first among was only 9 – involved manuscripts at the them. Miss Hope led the cataloguing team National Library. and Miss Deas was Superintendent of The next time I visited was in 1982, the Reading Rooms. Senior management having been sent by the Job Centre. After were nearly all men, of course – remote figures who had little obvious effect on our working lives. All curators/assistants Sitting on the actual, original Mastermind worked occasional evening duties and chair. The Magnus Saturday mornings in the Issue Hall, and Magnusson archive is held in Library’s the week-long induction was generally collections viewed as a scary prospect, such was Miss Deas’ fearsome reputation. However, come my training week, I really cataloguing and making available these liked it. And Miss Deas must have seen amazing collections. One of the few parts something she liked in me as, two years of the Library that we didn’t have much to later, I transferred from Cataloguing to do with was Manuscripts. They ran their Reference Services. I was later told by own reading room and were a world apart, someone – and it might be true – that with a faint aura of Dead Sea Scroll about Miss Deas had growled ‘I’ll take her …’ them. But the romance of manuscripts when my name came up among the that had so appealed to my mother was possibilities. It was like joining the Brodie beginning to resonate with me, and when Set – we thought ourselves something the opportunity came up to apply for a special, delivering the Library’s transfer to the Manuscripts Division in public service. 1998, I successfully applied. And this is Reference Services was the place to probably where my memoir should really really get to know how the Library worked. begin … The very first collection I handled Though we were the ‘front line’, you made me cry. I knew Benjamin Britten soon understood that there would be was going to die, but when you read Peter no service to deliver without all the Pear’s letter breaking the news to Ronald other divisions acquiring, processing, Stevenson, you’re feeling it for real. I was

10 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 

MEMORIES: The cataloguing team in 1985. Sally is pictured in the centre, holding onto Bobby Knight, on the day of his retiral. The Library’s first computer terminals can also be seen in the photograph

where I wanted to be for the rest of my Library career. And now it was a career, not just a job. In 2006 I was promoted to Assistant Curator of Modern Literary Manuscripts, and within a year or so dropped the Assistant bit. And now I’m on the point of retiring. How I have loved this job – I really believe it’s the best one in the Library. After that 1966 disappointment, manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland have more than made up for it. The collections are so rewarding and endlessly fascinating, just like the wonderful people – alive and dead – that I’ve come to know through working Sally on a day-trip on the with them. Waverley in 2009 Heck, I’d even take another look at the Dead Sea Scrolls.

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 11 MY LIBRARY RESEARCH IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK How archives helped build a replica waggon from Scotland’s first railway

hen Ed Buthane, unearthed the history of this once Cockenzie Waggonway. My research Chairman of the 1722 pioneering railway line. Here, Ed gives rolled along quite comfortably for another Waggonway Heritage us a first-hand account. year or two, and then the aforementioned Group, visited the opportunity presented itself. Library in 2017 and SCOTLAND’S FIRST RAILWAY A collection of interested locals had Wtold us of his plans to build a replica of My interest in railways is in the blood; organised a shoreline history walk, led a waggon – as detailed on a plan in our my railway-obsessed family made sure by archaeologist Alan Braby, architect Stevenson Collection – our interest of that. Until recently that part of me Gareth Jones and artist Andrew Crummy. was piqued. He explained how, in the had lain dormant, waiting for the right The conversation inevitably turned early 18th century, there was a need to opportunity, and I found it in Cockenzie. to the waggonway and, in what has transport coal from Tranent to Cockenzie In 2013, I moved to the town and become a bit of habit, I contributed to Harbour. This was achieved by building decided to research the history of the the discussion with some of my newly Scotland’s first railway. local area. Curiously, it appeared that little acquired knowledge. A few days later, This inaugural railway was built on a had been done to preserve the memory of I met the gentlemen at the local pub to slope down to Cockenzie Harbour. Gravity Scotland’s first railway, the 1722 Tranent– discuss what should be done to bring the allowed the speed of a loaded waggon waggonway to the fore. With this, the 1722 controlled by a brakeman. The laden My interest in Waggonway Heritage Group was formed. waggon was followed by a horse tasked When embarking on a research project, with pulling the waggon back to Tranent railways is in the many possibilities await. The chance on its return journey. The Cockenzie to further the available knowledge and end of the waggonway fell into disuse in blood; my railway- interpretation of your chosen subject 1875, but other parts were still in use by obsessed family is, of course, always the driving force. National British Rail as late as 1962. Normally, this comes to fruition in the The 1722 Waggonway Heritage Group made sure of that collation of a series of new facts, possibly

12 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 

supplemented by images. It was with a piece of the curved rail which received this expectation that I visited the the front waggon wheel. National Library as part of my research. I began this narrative by describing At this time, my investigations the normal expectations which one had reached an impasse – new might expect to achieve in a research information was hard to come by. project, so it exceeded our wildest The group was keen to investigate dreams to find pieces of a unique any documents produced by Robert apparatus only previously seen in these Stevenson, the engineer who designed plans. It is a great example of what can Cockenzie Harbour. A community be achieved using collection material I discovered the National Library archaeology event from the National Library of Scotland. unearthed the remains held several plans by Stevenson, one of a loading bay The 1722 Waggonway Heritage of which was listed as Waggon and Group has been established for nearly Tilting Apparatus used at Cockenzie. two years, with the objective of I arranged to view the document skills get involved, and the result is the interpreting, preserving and celebrating and it surpassed expectations. Here prototype waggon we have now. Scotland’s first railway and its associated was a beautiful drawing of the type of We were also gearing up for our industries and environments. We have waggon used on the waggonway we community archaeology event The 10 committee members and more than were studying, with a tilting mechanism Waggonway Big Dig as part of East 60 subscribing members. Members used for unloading coal. I ordered copies, Lothian Archaeology Fortnight. The include Alan Braby, who expertly guides which were used with contemporary newly constructed waggon was part of us during our archaeological digs; and photographs from the 1850s to produce the living history on offer. Gareth Jones, who led the group in a detailed schematic for a replica The Big Dig focused on two areas: the building a replica salt pan - the industry waggon, a first version of which has 17th- and 18th-century salt pan houses the waggonway served with coal. now been created by volunteers at the and an area of quayside at Cockenzie We are once again producing fine sea Waggonway Project. Harbour. Some of the finds we unearthed salt in Cockenzie as an ongoing living Our first waggon was constructed with included a quayside turntable cavity, history project. Plans are under way to a purpose: to be a prop in the 2018 Battle iron runner and the remains of a loading create a more robust waggon, which of Prestonpans re-enactment organised bay. Would we be able to establish how will go on permanent public display at by the Scottish Battlefields Trust. In salt and coal were transferred from the Cockenzie Harbour. 1745, Sir John Cope reportedly positioned waggons to the ships, given what little We led two community archaeological several cannons during the Battle of evidence remained? digs over the past two years, discovering Prestonpans to make tactical use of the We figured out how the ships were portions of the waggonway and salt Cockenzie-Tranent railway line. loaded. The area on the seaward side of pan houses at Cockenzie Harbour. The The re-enactment was scheduled for the turntable proved to be a backfilled investigations will continue and we’d September 2018, so there was a time limit 2.4metre-deep loading bay alongside a encourage anyone interested in helping to of five months for our team of volunteers cavity in which the tilting apparatus had get in touch. All are welcome. to construct a working, rolling waggon. been located. The waggons were spun on The plans and photographs revealed the turntable and rolled onto the tilting  All the items from the recent the waggons were fairly simple: a flat device before unleashing their contents archaeological investigations at timber chassis with buffers, four timber into the loading bay. Cockenzie can be viewed at the sides, wheels rotating on a fixed axle and How did we come to this conclusion? Waggonway Museum, West Harbour a timber brake. Construction elements Among the finds from the trench were Road, Cockenzie. Images of the replica such as getting the axle and wheels right pieces of the tilting mechanism shown waggon, archaeology finds and dig sites were tricky. The beauty of a community in Stevenson’s plans: a bracket for fixing are courtesy of 1722 Waggonway Heritage project is wonderful people with dormant the device to the quayside and, excitingly, Group. www.1722waggonway.co.uk

Plans by Robert Stevenson Photographs showed the from the 1850s type of waggon helped the used on the project to build a waggonway replica waggon

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 13 MY LIBRARY

Ireland’s medieval manuscripts and modern tattoos inspired a winning design

WINNER Brian McLysaght’s triumphant design FASHION FIRSTS

ast autumn, the Library held a competition for students and recent graduates of design courses (such as fashion or textile design) in Scotland. Called Re-Fashioned, Lthe competition invited entrants to produce a creative response to 100 years of social, political and cultural change since the Armistice, tying in with the Library’s major exhibition – A Better World? Scotland after the First World War. A total of nine submissions went on display at the Library’s George IV Bridge building in January. Judges, drawn mostly from the fashion industry, were unanimous in selecting the winner – Brian McLysaght, who is studying Fashion at the . Rosie Baird, who is studying Fashion at Edinburgh College of Art, was the winner of the People’s Choice Award.

BRIAN McLYSAGHT, WINNER I initially began thinking about the homogenisation of fashion worldwide. Regardless of where on earth, dailywear has become virtually identical: jeans and t-shirts being the world’s casual uniform. Business suits are worn by virtually every world leader, irrespective of nationality. Distinctions in dress appear to be disappearing due to the spread of Western fashion. This observation led me to consider Ireland – my home country – and its lack of native dress. Due largely to colonisation, Ireland’s indigenous dress has been erased.

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Judges – drawn mostly from the fashion industry – were unanimous in selecting the winner

From there, I moved to researching attitudes towards tattooing in the past two different looks. The first, a regular decolonisation movements and fashion century. I decided, for my garments, parka and trousers, which in turn can be trends. After the First, but especially the to print hand-drawn patterns in black unbuttoned to create the second: a coat Second world wars, the dismantlement (similar to tattoos) on varying shades and trousers with excessive pockets of of colonial empires commenced. This of nude to reference and embrace the varying sizes across the body. was helped by the formation of the diversity of 21st-century Ireland. My hope is that people will invest in United Nations in 1945, when the right Brian received a career development key pieces they will treasure for a long to self-determination was written into award of £750 and saw his winning time, helping to reduce consumption international law. creation brought to life at the Library and combating the idea of clothes being More than 100 states were formed with a professional photo shoot at our disposable. I want to produce pieces as part of the decolonisation process Reading Rooms. that have a life of their own and offer and clothing became incredibly a lot to the wearer – from useful pockets important to these new nations, proving ROSIE BAIRD, PEOPLE’S and exciting detail, to recreating strategic in the re-establishment of the CHOICE WINNER the feeling of buying something new countries’ pasts. Since the First World War there has when the garment is transformed. I chose to explore the concept of been an extreme rise in excessive I found that, since the First World ‘decolonising the body’. I wanted to consumption. Rapid globalisation has War, people are more active and reliant regenerate the indigenous visual culture made way for the fashion industry to on a larger volume of ‘stuff’ that they of pre-colonial Ireland. I studied Celtic boom. While this has allowed carry about daily. Through my design, I revival and reconstruction movements people of all economic wanted to look at how we can disperse in Ireland and Scotland from the backgrounds the ability to accessories across the body to allow beginning of the 20th century access and harness fashion the wearer to be hands-free. This through to the 1930s. as their own, it has had relates back to my research on disaster By hand, I drew zoomorphs (and continues to have) preparation from the increase in natural (illustrations having the form of a devastating effect on disasters due to climate change. I wanted an animal) and abstract imagery our planet. Sustainability to create a piece that allowed a wearer to inspired by Ireland’s medieval is arguably the fashion be ‘survival ready’ in minutes. manuscripts. The manuscripts industry’s most relevant In a world that is becoming more were produced by painting issue today. unpredictable, we need to be prepared. ink on calf skin, and this, My design tackled this Follow Rosie’s work on Instagram at in turn, prompted me to by looking at adaptable rkb.fashion consider the changing silhouettes – giving All entrants will get the chance to one garment attend a creative industry workshop at the ability to the Library, exploring how our collections transform into can help support the development of brand and business as well as providing visual design inspiration.

 Want to start or develop your business? Check out our extensive business resources at nls.uk/business

PEOPLE’S CHOICE Rosie Baird’s creation

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 15 MY LIBRARY Localising Library collections Touring displays take material from our extensive collections to locations across the country to help tell the story of the local area

e have great homes in both Edinburgh and Glasgow, but we’re committed to reaching people as far as Wpossible throughout Scotland. In 2017, we started to produce touring displays, and so far we have reached more than 20 locations from Elgin to Dumfries and Galloway. The project has helped us to build partnerships with other organisations including public libraries, university libraries, museums and heritage centres. We’re delighted that many of the hosts have used the displays to tell the story of their local area. One such display, Lifting the Lid, tells the story of the development of the Scottish diet over the past 400 years. Based on the 2015 major exhibition, A bespoke exhibition in New Lanark Lifting the Lid: 400 years of food and drink in Scotland, the display introduced viewers to the Library’s resources by to highlight materials from collections ‘Scotland’s Fruit Basket’ – and reflected using images and descriptions of the across Lanarkshire. The Lanark Library on the everyday diet and cooking material in our collections. and the Lanark Museum provided practices of millworkers from the 18th Evelyn Whitelaw, now Head of Public a wealth of photographic and to the 20th centuries. The exhibition Programmes for the National Library, material collections such drew parallels with the Library’s display, recounts how she used the Library’s as early images documenting providing a resonance across the themes. colourful panels and archive the beginning of the co- “The display was an excellent footage as the starting point to operative movement to the opportunity for New Lanark to explore create a unique display when she rise of high street café culture its own heritage and collections.” was working at New Lanark World in the 1920s. Heritage Site. “We developed a bespoke  Lifting the Lid continues its tour. “When we hosted Lifting the exhibition for our local You can find it at: Elgin Library, Moray, Lid, it provided an impetus for us audience. It showcased until 23 March. East Renfrewshire to develop partnerships the history of food Libraries, 15 April–7 July with the local museum production in the Clyde Find out more at and library network Evelyn Whitelaw Valley – once known as nls.uk/exhibitions/touring-displays

16 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 

Showcasing the history of food production in the Clyde Valley Localising Library collections

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 17 MY LIBRARY FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR’S LIBRARY JOURNEY Greg Baldi shares the findings of his time spent at the Library as the J. William Fulbright Scholar during the autumn of 2018

t was my great pleasure to spend autumn 2018 as the J. William IFulbright Scholar at the National Library of Scotland researching the history of the Scottish National The Moving Image Party (SNP). The Fulbright programme Archive at Kelvin Hall is an American initiative founded by Senator J. William Fulbright after the Second World War to foster international collection of audio and visual materials pamphlets from the era. The discussion dialogue and cooperation. dealing with Scottish politics – which was digitally recorded and will be made Its scholarship programme sponsors I hope to examine further on a future available to researchers through the the exchange of researchers and return trip – as I learned at a tour of its Library’s catalogue. practitioners in areas from the natural Moving Image Archive at Kelvin Hall I also had the opportunity to hold a sciences and the arts to business in Glasgow. public lecture on the topic of German- and government who are placed in The Library is more than just a American relations (a previous area of universities, research institutions and collection of printed material, and I was research) that considered how this very government bodies. fortunate during my time as Fulbright important relationship has changed This year, Fulbright UK is marking Scholar to experience the Library as a since the end of the Cold War and the the 70th anniversary of the first UK-US site for learning, exchange, and dialogue challenges it faces in the future. programme. Some 35 scholars study for all who are interested in Scotland. As anyone who has spent time at the in the UK each year and I am the third In November, I helped organise and Library can attest, it is a public resource Fulbright scholar to be placed at the moderate a roundtable discussion on of the first order. National Library of Scotland. the SNP in the 1960s and 1970s that In an era in which information My time at the National Library was included several current and former is produced and consumed in ever spent largely in the Special Collections party leaders. As part of our discussion, shrinking snippets, the Library reminds Reading Room (where readers can enjoy we circulated materials from the us of the enduring value of a deep one of the best views in Edinburgh), Library’s collections, including election engagement with a nation’s documented reviewing primary documents. For flyers, policy documents, and political history and culture. decades, the SNP and its leaders have donated papers to the Library, and the collections on the Party and Scottish The Library also has a growing collection politics more broadly at the Library is unrivaled in the UK. During my time in of audio and visual materials dealing with Edinburgh, I benefitted greatly from the Scottish politics – which I hope to examine skill, insight, and helpfulness of Library staff. The Library also has a growing further on a future return trip.

18 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS

WORDS: Stewart McRobert Writer

There’s som ething about

As Mary Queen of Scots is released in cinemas across the globe, we take a look at some of the Mary-related treasures in our archives

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 19 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS

Saoirse Ronan stars as Mary Stuart and Jack Lowden as Lord Darnley (middle) in the feature film MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS Credit: Liam Daniel / Focus Features

MARY’S TIMELINE Marries the 14-year-old François II, Dauphin of Born at Linlithgow France; Elizabeth Palace. Her father Tudor becomes James V, died Sent to France Queen of England

1542 1543 1548 1554 1558

Crowned Mary’s mother, Mary Queen of Scots of Guise is named Regent in Scotland

20 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 ew historical figures inspire as much interest, passion, debate and fascination as Mary, Queen of Scots. This year, the latest feature focusing on her life was released (Mary Queen of Scots), and a special two-day event at the Library in February attracted over 1100 visitors. Anette Hagan, Rare Books Curator and Ulrike Hogg, Manuscripts Curator, both curated February’s pop-up event. They recently gave their views on Mary, her legacy and the time in which she lived. Speculating on the hold Mary continues to have over the public imagination, Anette observed: “She is seen as a wronged, tragic heroine who was beautiful and intelligent. Her execution served to enhance her reputation. People view her as a martyr who died for a cause and someone who suffered at the hand of others. She was imprisoned for almost 20 years by Elizabeth I, a blood relative. And Mary’s image stands in contrast to Elizabeth who, while recognised as strong and clever, is also seen as cold and unfeeling.” Ulrike believes that Mary’s reputation is advanced because we have a great deal of information about her, from the time she was a baby, through her childhood in France and her rule in Scotland. She also had the dubious advantage of living through turbulent times. The Reformation was in full flow in Scotland and the fact she was Catholic did not help her cause. She was a woman up against many powerful men – Protestant lords who were keen to seize power from her.

François and Mary EXTENSIVE MATERIAL are crowned King and Returns to The Library is fortunate to have an Queen of France Scotland extensive amount of material on Mary, in particular more than 300 printed items that form part of the Rosebery Collection, as well as a large collection of manuscripts. “What we have is very interesting,” said Ulrike. “Though we don’t have a lot 1559 1560 1561 relating to government affairs, we do have some of her correspondence dating from her Scottish reign and her captivity. There is also a great deal of material that shows her close ties with her French Mary of Guise passes relatives. This begins with letters from away, as does Mary’s her childhood and continues to the very husband, François Continues overleaf>

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 21 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS

From previous page> idolised and vilified in her own time could. Indeed, her final letter asking to and beyond. And the further we get put her affairs in order was written to end of her life. They clearly show her beyond her death the more idolised Henri III of France, who happened to be strong attachment to the French side of she becomes.” the brother of her first husband. her family.” Ulrike added: “Documents we have “She was probably quite a lonely, and Highlights of the Rosebery reveal that Mary left a warm, close perhaps impulsive woman,” said Anette. Collection include: environment in France. Ultimately, she “That might account for her disastrous  a beautiful elegy by Pierre de Ronsard, had to return to Scotland following her second and third marriages.” a distinguished French court poet, on mother’s and then her husband's deaths. However, there is no doubt she was her departure from France after the capable too. In Scotland, Mary came to death of her husband François II be seen as someone who was astute and  a paraphrase of the Latin Psalms by She was hard to get the better of. She was skilled her tutor which he instrumentalised, at pulling the wool over people’s eyes, if it dedicated to Mary, before later turning was needed. against her... idolised and vilified There are those who see Mary as  ….copies of the infamous ‘casket something more than the innocent she letters’ published by Buchanan and in her own time is sometimes painted. It’s likely she was used to denigrate Mary scheming during her time in prison and in  A document advancing Mary’s claim and beyond. And some ways it was a miracle she survived to the English throne produced by the the further we get as long as she did. Her skill at deception Bishop of Ross, John Lesley in 1571 was discovered at her execution when it  A proclamation issued in December beyond her death turned out her red hair was, in fact, a wig. 1586 by Elizabeth protesting her By that time she had gone grey and her reluctance to have Mary executed the more idolised hair grew only in tufts.  The first drama based on Mary’s she becomes. life by French writer Antoine de CRUCIAL Montchrestien ANETTE HAGAN In an eventful life there are always turning  A German broadside from 1587, the points. For Mary there were numerous year of her execution, which as a major “That must have been something of occasions when things could have taken piece of propaganda, puts forward her a shock because there were very few a different tack. Anette believes the death status as a Catholic martyr. people in the country she was close of Mary’s first husband was crucial. “If he Plus, there are lots of testimonies from to. She was seen as someone who hadn’t died when he did things would have the centuries after Mary’s death. was slightly alien and she perhaps felt turned out very differently. They were Anette believes the material suggests alien too.” only married for two months when he Mary was a figure who was everything to That sense of alienation led her to keep contracted a fatal ear infection.” everybody. “She was instrumentalised, strong links with France, as best she Later, her marriage to Darnley was

MARY’S TIMELINE (CONTINUED)

Marries her Lord Darnley is murdered; Mary marries James Hepburn, the 19-year-old cousin, Earl of Bothwell; she is later imprisoned at Lochleven Castle Held captive in various Lord Darnley and her one-year-old son becomes James VI of Scotland English prisons

1565 1566 1567 1568 1568 -1587

Secretary, David Rizzio, Escapes from is murdered; Mary’s Lochleven Castle and only child is born flees to England

22 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 a catastrophe. One reason she was attracted to him was his height. He was one of the few men around at the time who was taller than her. He was also a Stuart and a Catholic. However, those qualities were not enough and the Anette (left) and Ulrike delved into our archives relationship turned sour. to find some treasures More positively, two of the most important people in her life were her mother, Mary of Guise, and her MY FAVOURITE ITEMS Ulrike Hogg grandmother, Antoinette de Bourbon. There is a letter written to Mary when Both were in France as Mary grew up and Anette Hagan she was five years-old by her half- was developing as a queen. They shaped I love the German broadside. It has a brother in France, François III duc de her personality and influenced the way portrait of Mary that shows her ‘warts Longueville. He was the only son from she dealt with others and carried herself and all’. She was 44 when she died, had her mother’s first marriage. After the in public. As well as being physically been in captivity for 18 years and lived battle of Pinkie in 1547, which ended beautiful and dressing well, she had a a traumatic life. badly for the Scots, Mary wrote to him fine French education and displayed The broadside is a good example – he was then 12. François writes back, impeccable manners, all of which helped of her being instrumentalised by the thanking her for her letter and assures burnish her image. Holy Roman Empire. It was printed her he is now in military training and will “Notably, Mary has been admired for in Cologne, a Catholic stronghold, come to rescue her as soon as he can. He her courage and the dignity she showed and its portrayal of her life highlights will always be at her disposal. It’s a loving to the end,” said Ulrike. “There was no the perfect Catholic gentleman Lord letter and just one of many that show a breakdown and to the last moment she Darnley but completely omits her very warm-hearted close family. was completely composed. third husband, Bothwell, presumably The document you can’t top is the last “Most people would think of her because he was Protestant. letter Mary wrote. That goes straight to as someone to be proud of. Although I also love some hand-coloured the heart. It’s very dignified. She asks she wasn’t without flaws she was a lithographs commemorating a masked the King of France, Henri III to look after distinguished monarch.” ball held in Paris in the 1820s (see cover her servants and keep an eye on her By the end of her life everyone shunned image). The theme was Mary Stuart son, James VI – at that point contact her – the nobles in Scotland, Queen and everyone had to come dressed as had been lost between Mary and Elizabeth her cousin and those in France one of the characters from her life. The James. Intriguingly, she includes some who she thought she could rely on. prints have stunningly beautiful detail gemstones that are thought to have Ironically, over 400 years later, people of and show how she was being idolised healing powers and declares herself a all shades are extremely keen to embrace even 250 years after her death. martyr for the Catholic faith. Mary as one of their own. Most of our collection items about Mary can be found in our online catalogue. Alternatively, please contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]

Executed in Earl of Fotheringhay Castle, Bothwell dies Northamptonshire

1578 1586 1587 1603

Queen Elizabeth I dies: Mary’s only child, becomes Tried for conspiring to James VI of Scotland and I of England. He is the first kill Elizabeth King of both Scotland and England. He moves his mother’s body to Westminster Abbey.

SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 23 BEHIND THE SCENES

WORDS: Dr Jill Turnbull SEE CLEARLY: Glass Historian The window overlooking the main staircase

OUR HISTORY THROUGH THE

Stories of witchcraft and philanthropy are hidden in the painstakingly designed sections of glass

hose of us who regularly use after 1950 by Conlon. Helen Monro (later wheel to create areas of the design. the National Library of Scotland Helen Monro Turner) was commissioned As is so often the case, the designers’ cannot fail to be familiar with to create the designs on three-foot names are not obvious on the window. the window dominating the square sheets of Pilkington glass. Monro Monro decided that they should all be, main staircase, but we are established the glass department at however discreetly, included. On the Tunlikely to be aware of its history – and Edinburgh College of Art in 1940 to centre panel, flanking the arms of the its little secret. The building was designed teach engraving, and by the mid-1950s Faculty of Advocates, her name and the in the mid 1930s by Edinburgh architect was highly regarded as a teacher and a date ’55 appear on the right, while J.L. & Reginald Fairlie (1883–1952), and building glass artist. C.C. adj. is engraved on the left. They are began in 1937. By the outbreak of the Creating the designs we see today only visible through a magnifying lens Second World War only the steel frame required not just skill but also physical from the upstairs balcony. They are not had been built, construction work stopped strength, so Monro enrolled two of her the only addition to the original design. in September 1939, not to be resumed male students, John Laurie and Charles Conlon’s decoration is, in fact, very until 1951. A year later, Fairlie died and William Coventry (known as Bill), to assist relevant to the history and existence of Alexander Ritchie Conlon, who had her. They did not care much for Conlon’s the Library. Having established that the become a partner in Fairlie’s firm, was formal – and to them old-fashioned project is entirely Scottish with engravings appointed to supervise completion of the – design and tried to convince those of thistles and the Scottish crown, the project. The Library was officially opened in charge to adopt their own idea of a main features pay tribute to two men and in 1956 by H.M. the Queen. modern, colourful window instead, but to the institution without whom it would not Although the size and shape of the no avail. They were, however, involved in have been built. staircase window would have been the creation of the window we see today Flanked by the arms of two major part of the original plan, decoration of – their main task being to hold the heavy the individual sections was designed window panes against a revolving grinding Continues overleaf>

24 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 SPRING 2019 | DISCOVER | 25 of Charles II against Mis-Representation made in several Scandalous Pamphlets. The founding of the Library in 1689 appears to have been one of Mackenzie’s final acts as Lord Advocate before he retired and moved to England. He died at Westminster in 1691 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, where his mausoleum, bearing his arms, still stands. In the right-hand window are the arms of Sir Alexander Grant of Forres (1864– 1937), whose father was a guard on the Highland Railway. After studying at Forres Academy and quitting his subsequent training in a legal office, Grant was apprenticed to a local baker, eventually moving to Edinburgh and becoming an assistant at McVitie and Price bakers on Queensferry Street in 1888. There, in 1892, he developed the recipe for McVitie’s digestive biscuit, which remains a secret and is still in production. The company expanded and Grant rose up the ranks to become general manager. In 1910, after McVitie’s death, he bought a From previous page> controlling interest in the company. Grant became a wealthy man and a generous patrons, are those of the Faculty of benefactor to a variety of causes, in Advocates, which was established in particular the Advocates Library. He Edinburgh in 1532. The Faculty’s library donated a major contribution to the cost of was formally inaugurated in 1689 in building the National Library. Parliament House and collected works of In 1923, Grant was given the freedom of general – not just legal – interest. In 1709 the City of Edinburgh and a year later was it was granted the legal right to a copy created a Baronet for his public service. In of every book published in Britain and 1924, his arms were matriculated by the Ireland. In 1925 the decision was made to Lyon Office and he bought the Logie Estate donate the library’s non-legal material, on the River Findhorn, where his arms are comprising 750,000 books, pamphlets, featured above the door of Logie House. He maps and sheet music, to the nation, an died in Edinburgh in 1937 and was buried act which led to the construction of the in Forres. National Library of Scotland. The dominant arms, for obvious The two men commemorated on the reasons, are those of the Faculty of side panels are from very different periods Advocates. Not in the least flamboyant, the and backgrounds. Sir George Mackenzie central panel bears the weighing scales of Rosehaugh (1636–1691) was a lawyer, and a sword representing justice. The belt DETAILS elected to the Faculty of Advocates in 1659 with its ornate buckle does not, however, Top: Tributes are paid to the Faculty of Advocates, and acting justice depute from 1661–63, appear on the Faculty’s coat of arms today, without which the Library would not have been during which time he was involved in it actually matches the original design for built, and generous patrons in the window’s intricate engravings defending several women accused of the arms granted in 1856. witchcraft. He was critical of the legal The complexity of that more ornate Above: Bill Coventry’s mouse. If you look closely processes used in such trials, particularly design gave students John Laurie and you can see the head looking forwards and the tail reaching skywards confessions obtained under torture and Bill Coventry the opportunity to make the legal processes themselves. their mark and have a bit of fun after all In 1669 Mackenzie was knighted and their hard work. So, at the very bottom of became a member of the Parliament of the buckle they created a small cartoon Scotland, and in 1677 was appointed Lord mouse, with a big head looking forwards, Advocate and member of the Privy Council its tail reaching skywards. It is very of Scotland. A controversial figure, he discreet, but once you know where it is, Creating the was later known as ‘Bloody Mackenzie’ it’s quite clear. They told no-one and it due to his prosecution and treatment of appears to have been kept a secret all designs we see the . He was a considerable these years. Until now. Thank you, Bill. today required not scholar who wrote legal, political and I am most grateful to Sally Harrower, antiquarian books, ranging from The manuscripts curator for the National just skill but also Science of Heraldry, treated as part of the Library, for taking me to meet Bill, who Civil Law of Nations to A Vindication of the regaled us with stories about the window. physical strength Government in Scotland during the Reign He died shortly afterwards.

26 | DISCOVER | SPRING 2019 The largest collection of rare books in Scotland, plus music scores, plays, early newspapers, maps, posters and photography. www.nls.uk/collections/rare-books Visit us in person at George IV Bridge, Edinburgh and Kelvin Hall, Glasgow

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