Alasdair

It says a lot about where we're going that the BBC is now running stories in which they ask lifeboat crews whether they will apologise for using their boats to save lives

#OtD 14 Jul 1789 the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, a notorious prison and a symbol of power and the old order. This markeda key early victory in the French revolution. Learn more in this book: shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/the...

Seal of a rabbit or hare attached to a grant of land in Bradford-on-Avon in 1436. LFC Ch II 13.

Arts sector’s use of unpaid interns for some roles could be illegal, experts say Concerns also raised that practice prevents young working-class people from finding paid work in creative industries

Unpaid exploitative internships are still rife in arts and heritage. Last year a mentee of mine from a challenging & economically unprivileged background won a competitive internship with a London auction house, only to be told they needed to pay £1000s in fees..

www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

A man (me) in a room with historic furniture wearing a full white hasmat suit, blue rubber gloves and a protective mask, giving a thumbs up.

Collections care: hazardous edition

#museums

From the minute book of the Canongate Wobsters (Weavers). The notary made a warp and weft pattern for the signature!

Keeping a camel at Holyrood Palace James VI of Scotland, like other renaissance monarchs, kept unusual or exotic pets. We know a lot about his lion from the complaint made by its keeper, Wilhelm Froelich, who had brought the animal …

Keeping a camel at Holyrood Palace: James VI of Scotland, like other renaissance monarchs, kept unusual or exotic pets, vanishedcomforts.org/2019/11/03/k...

Hey #medievalsky, the Dictionary of Old Norse Prose is now on Bluesky! Follow @onpdict.bsky.social for word of the day, solution to the previous day’s wordle, and occasional updates from our team of editors.

Quoted here is today’s word of the day: eirketill ‘copper kettle’

#lexicography

What to do with Historic Churches A Big Scary Projects workshop from MHH, looking at the challenges and opportunities of caring for historic churches.

Are you wondering 'What to do with Historic Churches?' ⛪️

Find out how to preserve and repurpose historic churches at Museums and Heritage Highland's workshop!

When? Tuesday 21st January at 9.30am.

Book now: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-to-do...

Will add, for purposes of immersion, only certain people had phones for safety and the odd sly photo. Otherwise the only photos have been taken on cameras of the period, we are still waiting for film to be developed!

The photos of us all together were taken just after the event ended.

#history 📚

That being said, if anyone asks me to do that again in January, the answer is a resounding no!

All in all, it was an incredibly worthwhile experience. It really put into perspective the respect we should hold for those who had to deal with conditions like this for real.

It also sheds light on how certain bits of kit are absolutely essential and how to keep clean in such conditions.

When in camp, we still dealt with the challenges of the extreme cold, but at least we had a hut between us and the sky. We took part in drills, lectures a church parade and finally a pay parade before our 2½ days in 1915 were up!

I was the corporal in charge of number 1 section. It was a test of endurance through our 26 hour trench phase. I had to make sure that our duties were carried out (sandbagging and sentry duties) and that the welfare of my section was looked after. I slept for less than 2 hours in this phase.

Temperatures were well below freezing for the majority of the event, adding to the drain on energy that the motions of army life already have on individuals.

We were recreating conditions faced by the 2nd West Riding Regiment (Duke of Wellingtons) 110 years ago.

Last weekend I took part in an emersive WW1 event at the Great War Huts, set in very early 1915.

It was an experience made up of 3 phases, 2 in camp, 1 in the trenches. It was one of the most brutal and tiring experiences I have ever taken part in in the Living History hobby.

It was particularly well received.

We were given the honour of taking the Spanish surrender at the end of the event as well (extra photos because it is a fantastic colour)!

(2/2) ...carried by the Scots-Dutch Brigade (brought to my attention by @profmurdoch.bsky.social back in the bird app days!)

What a weekend it was!
#livinghistory

✨ share your favourite photo of yourself from 2024 ✨

Thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.

This is me at De Slag om Grolle in the Netherlands, wearing clothing I'd made myself (grey doublet and breeches), the *most* flamboyantly lined Dutch Coat and carrying a reproduction of the colour... (1/2)

Bereft of all Human Help: Scottish Widows during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) This article traces the plight of the widows of Scottish soldiers who participated in the Thirty Years' War. Contrasting a number of strategies the women used in two main contrasting legal systems...

If you are interested in women immigrants simply go to the "Simple search" & type FEMALE

This should bring up over 400 records. Of these there are about 100 robust bios.

Read about some here: www.academia.edu/44219200/Ber...
🗃
@womenknowhistory.bsky.social
@emwjournal.bsky.social

If you ever do decaf, the young or old pretender!

The Material Culture of Wills: England 1540-1790 | Zooniverse - People-powered research Help us transcribe wills from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and reveal how ownership of, and attitudes towards, objects changed in a period of economic transformation

Interested in historic documents?📜

Want to improve your reading of old handwriting (palaeography?)✍️

Enjoy bite-sized puzzles like Wordle? Looking for a new challenge over Christmas?🎄🎅

Help us transcribe 25,000 Tudor, Stuart and Georgian wills on Zooniverse: www.zooniverse.org/projects/hjs...
1/

My photo shows a set of twenty-four Iron Age glass gaming pieces. There are six each of white, yellow, blue, and translucent green glass. Each piece is decorated with five inset spiral motifs in contrasting colour. Nearly all pieces are uniform in shape, domed with a slightly pointed apex and a flattened base.

From the British Iron Age some 2,000 years ago, a unique set of 24 coloured glass gaming pieces with spiral motif 🌀

Discovered in 1965 when gas works disturbed a richly-furnished late Iron Age cremation burial in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. British Museum. 📷 by me

#FindsFriday
#Archaeology

'Absolute unit' meme on show in Bradford museum first The meme is the first

hello we're in the news

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Exploring new funding models for the cultural sector - Museums Association Fran Sanderson on how impact investing can support social outcomes and local regeneration

Opinion | Exploring new funding models for the cultural sector 📈

Fran Sanderson on how impact investing can support social outcomes and local regeneration.

An image showing the front cover of the notebook. It is bound in brown leather and is well worn due to its age and use. In dark, hard to read writing are the years 1745 to 1749. Damage to the cover has obscured whether further years were written.

The notebook displayed open on the pages showing the notes from June to November 1745. The pages are yellowed and brown around the edges and corners. The notes for each month are separated by a line.

Interesting one for you today!

This is a notebook used by the Minister of Greyfriars between 1745 and 1760. In it he kept notes on sermons, marriages, and sacraments in the kirk.

There is a particularly interesting page which reacts to the Jacobites taking over the city.

(1/3)

Only been here a wee while and I already on 100 followers.

Thats crazy!

This article, co-authored with @lexythugcat.bsky.social, finally maps a Scottish community we've both studied for some 30 years.

It has identified 3x main quarters for the merchant, maritime and military residents in Old Stockholm. Their wealth & prestige is evident from the surviving buildings 📚 🗃

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Googly eyes have been added to the cover artwork

Reader, I googlied him

Four Seasons in Faith: Worship in Edinburgh Throughout the Year Join us at the Museum of Edinburgh for Four Seasons in Faith, an exhibition that celebrates the rich diversity of faiths across our city.

The exhibition is open until the 21st of April 2025, more information about the exhibition is available here:

www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/fou...

(3/3)