Dr Valentina Bold

Dead honoured on Candlemas Day: ‘make cake of yellow clay taken from churchyard,stick 12 bits of candle in it,recite prayers,kneeling round and lights have burned down.Name given to each light,first that goes out means death to person before year is out.’ #Folklore

Congratulations to Scotland’s women cricketers on qualifying for the World T20 later this year with a convincing victory over the USA. Stoneywood-Dyce’s Ailsa Lister offered another good knock and there is plenty of talent in the ranks. And, unlike their male counterparts, they qualified on merit!

We need to shout our LGBTQ+ history from the rooftops! "Diversities in humankind have always been here," writes historian Norena Shopland, "and will always be here until the end of time."

The @bigissue.com asked why I thought #LGBTQ History Month should be celebrated. Here's my reply www.bigissue.com/opinion/lgbt...

#StainedGlassSunday The Presentation in the Temple. By Mary Isobel Wood in Fowlis Wester Kirk, near Crieff, Perthshire.

The new Miscellany of the Scottish History Society XVII is out! I am grateful to the editors for this opportunity to write about the fat goods of Mary, Queen of Scots

Thank you, amazing to see these beautiful, lovingly made Psalters

of course now, desparately, want to see one of the little books (please)!

Address to the Unco Guid or the Rigidly Righteous. Robert Burns (1759-96) is best known for his poems and songs that reflect Scotland's cultural heritage. He was born in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland, the first of seven children belonging to William Bur...

Holograph manuscript of “Address to the Unco Guid” with headnote to John Leslie, dated June 1789 – this appears to be the only known ms. of the poem in the poet’s hand. Part of the G. Ross Roy Collection @sc.edu via the Library of Congress
#BurnsNight #C18
www.loc.gov/item/2021667...

Lovely event at Glasgow School of Art today, partnering with Scottish Women's Institutes. Celebrating creativity through special Archival items from the Needlework Development Scheme run by J.P. Coates in the '30s to '60s. Linked to our current Heritage Lottery Fund-ed project:

If we lose our languages, do we lose ourselves? | Online An exploration of how languages shift with identity across Scotland

21 Feb, free online

Investigating how languages travel with people through migration, conflict, economic pressures, & chance; reflecting on the love & connection languages bring; & the losses that can come with changing languages or disappearance
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/if-we-lose...

It's that time of year again: one issue out, next in progress! Please, if you have an ethnological / folkloric / cultural article which might sit well in 'Review of Scottish Culture', submit using our online portal. We're already filling up but there is definitely still room!
journals.ed.ac.uk/rosc

Join us tomorrow for another CSCS seminar! This week we are joined by Dr Luciana Cordo Russo (University of Bristol) with her paper:

The Legend of Charlemagne in Medieval Wales

We will be online, and in person in the Boyd Orr building (RM 412) FROM 5.30pm.

Book your ticket through Eventbrite!

Sign up to The Blether to get a monthly dose of all things Scottish Literature in your inbox!

In celebration of Burns night, I’ve written a piece about the connection between Robert Burns and Mary, Queen of Scots.

More exciting pieces to come this week!

Ways of Listening - Cities & Memory | Field recordings, sound map, sound art

We’re proud to launch Ways of Listening, a new partnership with @evelynglenniefd.bsky.social that is open to everyone. This unique global project asks you to share your answer to one simple question - “What does listening mean to you?”
@dameevelynglennie.bsky.social
citiesandmemory.com/listening

At last: sunshine on The Hill again!
#Stirling

a white piece of paper with a purple letter m on it ALT: a white piece of paper with a purple letter m on it

Approved!

Resistance and resilience: Digging into Edinburgh's history of tenant activism NEW research has highlighted the resistance and resilience among tenants in council housing in Edinburgh

A little preview of my forthcoming journal article on council tenants' resistance and resilience today in @scotnational.bsky.social. Massive thanks to @charlielynch.bsky.social for reaching out and giving my work a write-up.

www.thenational.scot/politics/257...

soppy wan

Pier end, all calm now.

To me, the dead are as much a part of the parish as the living...

The purrfect image for #Caturday night! 😻

Isn't that Dorian Gray? Too young and beautiful to be the Picture itself!

✨ Agnes Owens Centenary ✨
2026 marks Agnes Owens’ centenary, with AGA’s first satellite archive and Birlinn reissuing all her books with new introductions. New editions publish May & Sept 2026. Follow @aowensarchive.bsky.social to find out more!

Twelfth Night, Stirling light

Stirling New Year Plant Hunt team, holding much needed coffees and standing in front of a large sign saying 'Stirling' - conclusive evidence that we had indeed found the right place.

An idiot lying on frosty frozen mud, examining Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) flowers to check if they were countable (they were!). Bramble the dog lies down in solidarity next to me. Thanks to Tracy Rich for the photo.

The team surrounding a Holly (Ilex aquifolium) tree on Stirling Back Walk, determined to find an open flower - eventually we managed it, just! This pathway under the old town walls is a sun trap and always good for flowering plants in the winter. Thanks to Tracy Rich for the photo.

Finally, Smooth Sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus) in flower. One Hunter gets caught up in the moment of triumph for the camera!

Our Stirling #NewYearPlantHunt returned a whopping 53 species in flower! Way beyond expectations given ice, snow & sub-zero temps. Stopping clock for coffee essential

Highlights included Selfheal, Small Toadflax, 3 Snowdrop species & Hare's-foot Clover, & the enthusiasm of so many fellow botanists!

And to you Penny; here's to a great '26!

Great memories of these days and the freeflowing parties that followed across town. Unticketed, unregulated and unforgettable. Sorry to realise it ended like this.

that seems fair (and well thought through, as expected from The Committee) #HopefullyInDevelopment 😺

Always thought that book would make a wonderful movie. Is there anything to the rumour Spielberg was spotted in Dunbar this summer? 🎬 🎥🍿 🐈‍⬛

Gloamin, #Stirling