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March Stone 27 ("the Ringing Stone")
3209 This stone is located adjacent to Brodiach Burn. Parallel between Brotherfield Farm and Easter Ord Croft. Access is best achieved from Brotherfield Farm. The stone is marked "27 ABD".
The 1929 Blue Book explains that the Ringing Stone, which is mentioned in all the old descriptions, was sited near this location, but has since disappeared. The book also includes a photograph of the scene, showing the nearby foot bridge.
Origins of this intriguing name are unknown. There are 2 miles, in a northward direction, to the next stone, being the longest distance between stones. The Brodiach Burn was taken to provide a sufficient marker for the line of the marches.
A slide of this image was kindly lent to Aberdeen City Libraries by Colin Johnston so that we could create a digital copy for public use.
The image was taken in the early 1980s when Colin worked as a teacher at Bridge of Don Academy. He led several current and former pupils, and staff members in an investigation into the location, physical condition and public knowledge of Aberdeen's historic boundary markers. March Stone 27 ("the Ringing Stone") (colour)
3292 The Ringing Stone is located adjacent to Brodiach Burn. Access from Brotherfield Farm. It is marked "27 ABD".
Origins of this intriguing name are unknown. There are 2 miles to the next stone, being the longest distance between stones; the Brodiach burn was taken to provide a sufficient marker.
A slide of this image was kindly lent to Aberdeen City Libraries by Colin Johnston so that we could create a digital copy for public use.
The image was taken in the early 1980s when Colin worked as a teacher at Bridge of Don Academy. He led several current and former pupils, and staff members in an investigation into the location, physical condition and public knowledge of Aberdeen's historic boundary markers. Street entertainer
3346 We believe this photograph shows a man historically known as Fool Friday entertaining a group of children and adults outside a house in Aberdeen. Fool Friday was a street vendor who sold ice cream in summer and hot chestnuts in winter. He may have also played a barrel piano as shown here.
Fool Friday was an often seen, distinctive character on the streets of Aberdeen. References to him in recorded oral history and newspapers suggest he sold his goods around the town centre, including at the Castlegate. He appears to have been around in the earlier years of the 20th century, between the two world wars. Little seems to be known, or recorded, about the life of this intriguing figure.
He is mentioned in an article of reminiscences by Arthur Bruce from the Leopard magazine of December 1986/January 1987. Bruce writes "I am reminded of another worthy who lived round the corner in Harriet Street, an Ice Cream Mannie, with a home and family. Of Italian origins he was known as 'Fool Friday' - nothing to do with being stupid, I may add, simply the local dialect for foul or dirty. Legend had it that the nickname was well deserved, but as a child I was never aware of his less than hygienic approach to the business of selling ice cream from a 'cairtie'. I have never solved the mystery of the 'Friday' part, although I should be delighted to hear from anyone who knows the answer."
It is possible that this photograph shows not Fool Friday, but someone else entirely. A letter in the Evening Express of 30th October 1979, looking back to this earlier time, describes a man known as Can-Tam who played a barrel organ in the streets. The letter writer suggests that Can-Tam's organ was smashed by a tram and subsequently replaced by the council.
A suggestion received through social media and subsequent further research indicates that this image may show Guiseppe, or Joseph, Bordone (1872-1957). He was an eating house keeper and an ice-cream and chestnuts vendor. A brief mention in the Evening Express newspaper of 15th March 1994, page 8, suggests that Bordone may have been known as Fool Friday, but this is uncertain.
This photograph was printed as a postcard and these were perhaps sold to the families visited by the entertainer. This postcard was lent to Aberdeen City Libraries by Bill Cheyne so that we could create and preserve a digital copy for public use. Treasure 79: Cosmo Mitchell Collection
290 Adam "Cosmo" Mitchell was born at Kennethmont in 1860. Raised on a croft, little is known of his early childhood but by the age of 21, he had become a dancing master teaching in several areas near his home.
By the end of 1881, Mitchell had brought his dance classes to Aberdeen. Using rooms in the Music Hall for instruction, he taught children and adults in increasingly popular classes.
His professional associations with local schools, as well as local, regional and international societies, also helped strengthen his professional reputation and furthered his integrity as an authority on dancing and, by 1895-6, he was creating his own dances.
Mitchell joined the newly-formed Imperial Society of Dance Teachers in 1904. By the following year, he had been elected as vice-president and continued to be re-elected in that post for many years.
In 1915, Mitchell published A Guide to Ballroom Dancing. In 1919, Mitchell's wife died. A key part of his business life, the loss of his wife led to the immediate cessation of his teaching in schools. By 1924, he had retired from teaching altogether. Mitchell died in 1932 and bequeathed his entire professional library of dance textbooks, notebooks and ephemera to Aberdeen City Libraries.
Our Treasure showcases some of the items from this collection. Patricia Ballantyne produced a thesis on the development of Scottish dance, utilising much of the Cosmo Mitchell collection. Her thesis Regulation and Reaction is available to view in the Information Centre. It is largely due to her research that we are able to explore the life of this little-known local celebrity.
Find out about the marketing ploys adopted by Mitchell, and the origins of his middle name, in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreens in Central, Airyhall, Tillydrone and Mastrick libraries. Treasure 101: Advice to Women
322 In recognition of International Women's Day (March 8th), we offer a selection of books for this month's treasure which highlight the role of women in society, and how attitudes and approaches have changed over time. One of our Treasures this month includes a work entitled "The Five Talents of Woman" in which the author (a male) proposes the five main talents as:
- Pleasing people
- Feeding them in dainty ways
- Clothing them
- Keeping them orderly
- Teaching them
With the exception of the final "talent", the author proposes a rather limited view of a woman's capabilities! However, this is from the same author who writes that "Shakespeare's mother could not have written Hamlet, but she - perhaps she alone - could and did produce Shakespeare".
Offered as a contrasting view for our Treasures, is another work: "Pearls for Young Ladies", in which the author (female) rightly comments that "we scarcely ever, in our study of education, ask this most essential of all questions about a man - What patience had his mother or sister with him?" Regardless of the viewpoints proposed, the truth remains that even at the close of the Victorian period, one key symbol of equality - that of the parliamentary franchise - was still denied to women. All later developments towards equality - including the Suffragette movement, and the right to vote - can trace their origins to the early Victorian writers who began to propose, argue and question how society should treat women. While it may be claimed that these writers did very little to progress the situation, it can also be proposed that the conversation they started is one that remains with us today.
Find out more about Victorian attitudes towards women in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreen. Treasure 111: Aberdeen Artists' Society
332 The celebration of art in Aberdeen can be traced through the collection of exhibition catalogues held in our Local Studies department, including those of the Aberdeen Artists' Society from its early years to the present, through to those produced by modern galleries, local art groups and societies, Gray's School of Art and more recently the directory produced for the North East Open Studios.
The origins of Aberdeen Artists' Society date back to 1827 when a group of artists resident in Aberdeen "resolved to associate themselves for the purpose of mutual improvement in Painting and the furtherance of the Art generally, in Aberdeen" and hold "An Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures and Designs". The artists in question included James Giles who was President, Alexander Fraser, Vice-President and James Troup, Secretary. Other members included Archibald Simpson.
The Aberdeen Artists' Society are working with Aberdeen Art Gallery on a new program of exhibitions after the Gallery re-opens in 2017 and the annual exhibition will return in 2018/19.
Check out our Treasures from our Collections interactive display to find out more about the history of Aberdeen Artists' Society. Wallace Tower
402 An illustration showing the Wallace Tower and the Netherkirkgate. The structure in the foreground is likely the Netherkirkgate Well. Some speculate that the origins of the name Wallace Tower may be in a corruption of "Well House".
This reproduction was included as a supplement to the Aberdeen Weekly Journal of Wednesday 28th March 1906. |