Issue No. 32 April 2012 The City’s old coat of arms Contents: Page Chairman’s notes and Archive news 2 City Status; the Archive’s vital role 5 Dean of Guild plans; who designed them? 7 A Journey round the Northern Lighthouses 12 The Common Good; a historical sketch 19 An Archaological Dig—in the Archive? 22 Notes from our Chairman "The Perth & Kinross Council Archive is probably the best local authority archive in the whole of Scotland and archivists Steve Connelly and Jan Merchant deserve national recognition for their efforts." (Paul Philippou, quoted in the Perthshire Adver- tiser (9 March 2012) during an interview about his newly launched book, Perth: Street by Street.) "Perth also possesses one of the richest and most user-friendly local authority ar- chives in Scotland." (Professor Chris Whatley, quoted approvingly by the Historiographer Royal of Scotland in his introduction to Perth: a Place in History. ) Although these comments come as no surprise to those of us who know the Archive and its devoted staff, it is nevertheless most gratifying to see such views publicly expressed. I often think how very fortunate residents of Perth and Kinross are to have an Archive like this on our doorstep, so to speak. As Friends we have a supportive role to play. Whether we are readers, volunteers, committee members or simply attend Friends' talks and read the newsletter, we can all give our friends and acquaintances positive information about the Ar- chive and our experiences of it. The Friends' AGM approaches all too quickly and long- standing Friends will be aware that many of us on the Com- mittee have been serving for some years. Can I ask everyone reading this to give some con- sideration to serving as a Committee member or office-bearer? The Committee usually meets for about an hour about five times a year. Individual Committee members also become in- volved - on a strictly voluntary basis! - with attending (and sometimes organizing) various ar- chive-related events. The work is enjoyable and not too time-consuming, but members of the present Committee feel strongly that we need "new blood". If you feel at all moved to supply some, do please have a word with me or other members of the Committee or with the Archive professional staff. As I write, the announcement from Buckingham Palace about Perth's City Status is still news and has given me, for one, a feeling of euphoria. What I haven't worked out is whether or how the restoration of official recognition of Perth as a city will affect the Archive or us, the Friends. But the news seems to me a good start to the Queen's Jubilee celebrations in the year of the London Olympic Games! With my best wishes, Margaret Borland Stroyan 2 Archive News The start of 2012 saw the Archive’s online catalogue go live – for the first time you can search our catalogues from the comfort of your own home. It’s been a long, occasionally frustrating time, getting the catalogue online, and the work is far from complete. But it has been well worth it – users can now more easily identify records that they’d like to see before they come to the searchroom, and from the feedback we’ve had so far, users are also finding records they’d no idea existed. It’s a wonderful addition to the Friends’ data- bases online; users can now choose to search through broad descriptions of the collec- tions or they can focus on particular topics, as well as get more detailed information about the records, find- ing people and places that don’t always appear in the catalogue. Working together, volunteers and staff are well on the way to providing comprehensive access to the collections. On page 4 you’ll find a useful listing of all the ways you can now access us, including flickr, twitter and face- book. As fast as we’ve been populating the online catalogue, new accessions have been coming in. Perthshire Photo- graphic Society have deposited prints from exhibitions at Perth Concert Hall, Birnam Arts Centre, Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Aschaffenburg, while Abernyte Heritage Group have deposited the recordings, transcripts and other pa- pers relating to their book Abernyte- The Quiet Revolution. To help us keep pace, volunteers have been working hard at creating lists of the collec- tions: Graham has just completed listing MS212 Blairgowrie Barony Council papers and has begun listing additional papers to MS115, the Stuart of Annat collection. Meanwhile Jackie has been sorting through and listing MS308, the Kenneth Young Collection, which is extremely complex. As always, our thanks go to the sterling work of all our volunteers. The final piece of major news is of course, Perth’s City Status award, and Steve’s article tells you about the role the Archive played in the campaign. You might notice the illumi- nated letter on the sasine – those of you who follow us on twitter and Facebook will recog- nise it as the Archive’s avatar. Jan Merchant 3 The Archive online: The catalogue is linked from the Archive’s home page, but you can also go straight to it at: http://archivecatalogue.pkc.gov.uk/ Images are on our P&KC Archive Flickr page at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkcarchive You can Follow P&KC Archive on twitter at: www.twitter.com/pkcarchive We post to the Library & Archive page on Facebook as Archive Peek at: www.facebook.com/pages/Perth-Kinross-Libraries-and-Archives/104977659534223 Calling for volunteers! The Archive has a few collections that require the help of knowledgeable volun- teers to list them. We’re looking for short-term placements, one volunteer who knows the Pitlochry area, and someone who attended Perth Academy. The Perth Academy job is to collate and cross-reference the school’s photographs, identifying as many pupils and staff as possible that appear in them. Someone who knows the Pitlochry area is required to help identify and list a large collection of photographs and a box of glass plate negatives. While these are discrete tasks, it’s difficult to say how long each will take; a lot de- pends on how frequently a volunteer can come in to the Archive to finish the job. We can pay reasonable travel expenses, and as a Friend, you can also get a free beverage from the Library café. And of course, you get to work with history! If you would like to discuss either of these placements, just give me a call on 01738 477012 Jan Merchant Friends of PKC Archive, AK Bell Library, York Place, PERTH PH2 8EP Scottish Charity No. SCO31537 Tel:(01738) 477012 Email: [email protected] Hon. Presidents; The Provost : Sir William Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie : Mr Donald Abbott Editor: David Wilson 4 This contemporary translation of the ‘Golden Charter’ of 1600 clearly states that James VI’s ancient predecessors had made Perth a free city and a regal and royal burgh—a fact that has long since been recognised by the city’s archivists and citizens generally, and was in no sense ‘discovered’ by journalists. Once More The Fair City by Steve Connelly, The City’s Archivist 14 March 2012 proved a busy day in the Council Archive as the media sought interviews from the archivist about the background to Perth’s successful bid to have HM the Queen restore its historical status as a city. The King James VI Golden Charter to Perth of 1600, which makes reference to the place as a “free city and regal and royal burgh”, was the main star. Despite media reports to the contrary, its various custodians over the last 400 years have been well aware of the charter’s existence and it hasn’t just been “discovered”. However, it certainly came under closer scrutiny as Perth & Kinross Council questioned why it wasn’t entitled to describe Perth as a city, especially as the grant of this status to Stirling and In- verness set the precedent of a city existing within a larger administrative unit. A meeting of the council in 2005 called by Provost Bob Scott and held in the old City Chambers re- asserted its belief that Perth was still a city and the 1600 charter and various other per- suasive items from the Council Archive were displayed for the elected members and in- 5 vited media. These included various Acts of Parliament referring to the City of Perth, the ma- triculated coat of arms of the City and Royal Burgh of Perth and, of course, extracts from Sir Walter Scott’s Fair Maid of Perth (Edinburgh, 1828) in which he makes numerous refer- ences to Perth as the Fair City. The campaign was taken up by Provost John Hulbert, who recognised that the only way to settle the issue was to receive the consent of the Queen. The Diamond Jubilee presented the ideal opportunity to have Perth’s city status restored, although reports that only one place in the UK would be honoured did come as a setback. Provost Hulbert used the occasion of the Perth800 Conference in 2010 - Perth: a Place in History - to urge a more than willing audi- ence to get behind the campaign. The outcome has been that along with Chelmsford in Eng- land and St Asaphs in Wales, Perth has been named as a city in honour of the Diamond Jubi- lee. The support the council received from the Lord Lieutenant, the parliamentary represen- tatives, the local press, and Perth’s movers and shakers has been crucial in the successful outcome of the campaign.