Major exhibition to explore the Romantic fascination with the Scottish Highlands

A major exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh this summer – from today to 10 November – tells the fascinating story of how tartan, bagpipes and rugged, wild landscapes became established as enduring, internationally recognised symbols of Scottish identity and how Scotland became established in the popular imagination as a land of …

Jacobites and Redcoats revive old quarrels at Newhailes

An exciting re-enactment takes place at the National Trust for Scotland’s Newhailes House and Gardens in Musselburgh on 25 & 26 May. The two-day living history event is based on the conflict between Jacobites and Redcoats, and imagines that it is 1745 and the Jacobites have captured Edinburgh. Now the Highlanders are marching out of the …

The history of penmaking around Britain

Colin Waters explores Britain’s penmaking industry, particularly associate with Birmingham. Vast fortunes were once made from manufacturing the humble pen nib. For example, Josiah Mason and Joseph Gilliot, from Sheffield, came from poor uneducated backgrounds but went on to make their fortunes in the trade. Mason used his fortune for philanthropic purposes, including founding Birmingham …

Data: Shetland newspaper notices

New release from Findmypast: Scotland, Shetland Newspaper Marriage & Anniversary Notices 1872-2018 Search over 47,000 marriage and anniversary notices printed in the Shetland Times between 1872 and 2018. Newspapers can an incredible resource when tracing your family tree, they reveal the daily lives of our ancestors, allowing you to further understand an ancestor’s place within …

Dark tourism, darker history: exploring museums of crime

If you want to know more about your criminal ancestors, there are an increasing number of museums catering to your needs, as Nell Darby explores. Dark tourism is the act of travelling to sites that are associated with death, tragedy or crime. As such, dark tourism has been increasingly analysed by academics, drawing parallels between …