Quick Search
|
Search Results
You searched for: More Like: 'Medieval jug was discovered'
41 items
items as
Postcard of ruins of Huntly Castle
288 Located on the outskirts of Huntly, the castle stands on the south bank of the River Deveron. The castle dates from the late 12th century with a Norman Motte and Bailey , a medieval L-Plan tower house and defence earthworks of the Civil War nearby. The castle was the home of the Gordons, a powerful Catholic family who once ruled over much of the North-East. The main structure was begun by Lord Gordon in 1452, being built in the new 'Palace' style. The castle was not completed in its final form until 1597/1606. In 1650 it was visited briefly by Charles ll, on his way to Worcester, defeat and exile. After the Civil War, the castle fell into disuse and the Dukes of Gordon moved to Fochabers. Much of the impressive ruin still remains including the fine heraldic doorway. The castle is now the property of Historic Scotland, and is open to the public. The 1867 Aberdeen Joint Station
537 This photograph shows the eastern side of the original 1867 Aberdeen Joint Station. The railway buildings can be seen at the front with the roof rising behind.
The history of the station can be discovered in the Great North of Scotland Railway Association's publication The Joint Station: Aberdeen Station, 1867-1992 (c1992).
In reference to the 1867 station, on page 18 it states:
"Designed by the City Architect, Mr Smith, various offices and rooms occupied the east side of the station, extending in a symmetrical manner along the entire frontage, in front of which ran a macadamised roadway eighty feet broad. The building's facade was of dressed ashlar granite quarried from Kenmay, surrounded by a balustrade of dressed freestone. The arched doors were also faced with finely dressed ashlar granite, again surrounded by freestone. The remainder of the buildings was of rustic granite interlined with courses and belts of ashlar freestone from Bannockburn. The main walls, which were thirty feet high, were finished off at the ends by square turrets about twenty feet high 'built of granite rustic work which gave the whole structure a most imposing appearance'. At its highest point the roof, designed by Mr Willet the Civil Engineer for the project, was about seventy feet above ground level and was stated as being modelled on Victoria Station, London."
The cranes and construction work that can be seen on the left side of this image suggest that it might date from the beginning of the 1913-1916 construction of the new Joint Station, overseen by GNSR Chief Engineer J. A. Parker. Foundations for the new station were laid in the cab yard to the east of the old structure on 28th May, 1913. The Prince Regent Hotel
1115 The Prince Regent Hotel with the entrance to 'The Jug' pub on the right. The house was once owned by Tommy Scott Sutherland, the famed architect. The Town House under construction
1757 Discussions had been held in relation to the construction of new public buildings for the County and City of Aberdeen since the early 1860s.
Royal Assent was given to the Aberdeen County and Municipal Buildings Act 1866, which gave permission for a Court House for the County and City of Aberdeen; a hall for public meetings; a Town House for the City with offices for staff; a building for the accommodation of the Police Commissioners and their staff.
Plans were drawn up by the Edinburgh architects Peddie and Kinnear and work on the demolition of buildings on the site (including the old Town House) at the junction of Castle Street/Union Street and Broad Street began in 1867.
The offices in this section were occupied in January 1871. A lofty vestibule and broad circular stair led to the Town Hall and offices on the first and second storeys.
The architecture is of a medieval Flemish style which recalls Aberdeen's trading links with the Low Countries. The building was completed in 1874.
This image shows the partially completed building around 1869/70 when the 200-foot-high West Tower and one block had been completed - two more matching sections were still to be done. Dunnottar Castle
2232 A photograph of Dunnottar Castle taken from the mainland looking east. Dunnottar Castle is is a ruined medieval fortress located just under two miles south of Stonehaven. Torry and the River Dee
2245 This photograph by George Washington Wilson shows Old Torry from Balnagask, with Victoria Bridge in the distance.
In the early 19th century Old Torry developed out of the medieval settlement of Lower Torry. It was a centre of fishing industry and culture. Old Torry was eventually largely demolished in the 1970s to make way for support service buildings for the emerging oil and gas industry. Only one or two streets, such as Abbey Road, remain of Old Torry.
Victoria Bridge was erected following the Dee Ferry Boat Disaster, which claimed the lives of 32 people on 5 April 1876. The ferry had for centuries took people from Pocra Quay, near Fittie, to Torry and back again. The 5th April was a feast day so the ferry was particularly busy when it went down and 32 people lost their lives. There had long been plans to build a bridge here but the Ferry Boat disaster was the final impetus needed for the project.
When the bridge opened finally in 1881 it enabled direct access for carriages from Torry into the heart of Aberdeen via Market Street. The new bridge facilitated the rapid expansion that Torry would see in the following years. Edward Hall
2389 In March 1885, the City Librarian, A.W. Robertson, reported to the Free Public Library Committee that he had examined all the volumes that were to be transferred from the Mechanics' Institution, "and a note taken of any injury or imperfections, or both, that may have been found therein". He discovered that, while many were unsuitable due to their poor condition, others required repairs including fixing leaves and plates, re-attaching books to their covers and mending corners, and believed that this work "could be done most economically and conveniently on the library premises".
Edward Hall worked for the William Jackson bookbinders at the time and was sent by the company to carry out this work, including all the gilt lettering.
After the first six months of the new public library, and the wear and tear on the books "being already large and accumulating from day to day", the library committee were considering the appointment of a library binder to maintain the stock and repair minor faults before the volumes needed total rebinding. In August 1886, Mr Hall was appointed at a wage of twenty-three shillings weekly. Although other binding work was still undertaken by local firms William Jackson and John Avery, the Librarian was pleased to note in his annual report for 1885-86 that "The results of the experiment so far have been satisfactory, justifying the expectation that it would effect a saving both of time and of cost of rebinding".
The library bookbinders' wages and working hours were regulated by agreement with their trade union and in the 1890-91 Library Committee Minutes, it is noted that the Bookbinders and Machine Rulers' Consolidated Union had agreed a reduction in the bookbinders' working week from 54 to 51 hours.
After the Town Council made a resolution that all staff should retire when they reached the age of 65 years, the Library Committee had to ask Mr Hall to retire in May 1935. At this time his wages were £3.15. 6 per week.
In an interview with the People's Journal reporter, he expressed his disappointment that he was unable to complete his 50 years' service, even though he was then 72 years old. The Library Committee agreed that he would receive a weekly allowance of 16/8 (sixteen shillings and eight pence) in recognition of his long and efficient service.
At his retiral presentation, he was presented by the City Librarian, G.M. Fraser, with "a beautiful chiming clock with Westminster and the new Jubilee chimes". OTHER FACTS
2895 1. Bonnie Prince Charlie was half Polish. His mother was Maria Klementyna Sobieska.
2. Marie Curie was from Poland. She discovered the two elements - radium and polonium. These elements are used in treatment for Cancer. Curie is the ambassador for the 'Marie Curie Foundation' which provides aid for cancer patients.
3. A memorial for Jan Karski can be found in the Aberdeen University. Jan was a famous WW2 resistance hero.
4. Frederic Chopin (famous music composer) visited Scotland in 1849 and his short holiday in Edinburgh is marked by a plaque on the wall of a house in Warriston Crescent
5. Polish war veteran graves and memorials can be found all over Scotland
6. There was a Polish Medical School in Edinburgh University in February 1941; which trained soldiers to become doctors
7. Queen Mary's House in St. Andrews is made from timber from Gdansk
The image on the left is a portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet, oil on canvas, 1738 (NPG 5517) © National Portrait Gallery, London. It is used here with their Creative Commons image licence (CC BY-NC-ND). The image is available to view on the National Portrait Gallery website here. Treasure 41: Mary Garden Record Collection
210 We hold a number of original vinyl records in our collections, including those of Mary Garden, a local girl who found global fame as an opera singer in the early 20th Century.
Born at 35 Charlotte Street on 20 February 1874, Mary Garden left her native Aberdeen around the age of nine when the family moved to America in search of better opportunities and a new life.
After a period of uncertainty and several moves, a young Mary accepted a role as a childminder in Chicago, with payment taking the form of singing lessons to further her obvious interest. By 1896, Mary had shown sufficient progress that she accompanied her tutor to Paris in a quest to pursue a career in opera.
Mary's first big break came in 1900, when she performed in the new opera, Louise after the main star became unwell. A series of leading roles followed in 1901, including Thaïs, Manon and Madame Chrysanthème. For the next decade, Mary courted both limelight and controversy as she portrayed leading characters on stage, while being romantically linked to various composers and directors off-stage. Adding fuel to these fires of speculation, Claude Debussy chose Garden to create the title role of his new play, Mélisande, overruling the preference of his own librettist.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Mary attempted to enlist in the French army - but with her identity discovered, she instead turned to nursing at a hospital in Versailles. When she returned to America, she continued to raise funds for the French Red Cross. Her efforts during both war and peacetime generated awards from Serbia and France.
Mary appeared in two silent films - the first released in 1918 - but she found difficulty adapting to the new medium and this separate career never took off. She returned to her first passion and continued to perform in opera until the mid-1930s.
In 1921, Mary was offered the role of director of the Chicago Opera Association, and as she was still performing - undertook both roles with fervour. Under her tenure, the Association took on many new and exciting artists and works.
At the outbreak of war in 1939, Mary chose to remain in Paris, until the German invasion forced her to escape, leaving all of her possessions behind. In June 1940, she returned to Aberdeen but the lure of teaching the next operatic generation proved too strong and she once again travelled to America to coach young stars and give lectures in 1949-1950.
By this time, it appears that Mary's memory had started to suffer - evidenced by the 1951 autobiographical publication Mary Garden's Story which was riddled with factual errors. The book received disastrous reviews and possibly led to her decision to reside permanently in Aberdeen from 1954.
Mary died in 1967 in the House of Daviot, a country hospital near Inverurie, aged 92. Fifty friends attended a small ceremony. A small commemorative plaque is located at 41 Dee Street where the Garden family lived, and a small garden is dedicated to her memory in Craigie Loanings.
Although she remains relatively little known in her native Aberdeen, Mary's legacy is considerable in the United States - particularly in Chicago where her stewardship of the Opera Association is still remembered fondly.
Treasure 73: Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language, 1895
275 Our treasure for the month of September looks at the person responsible for collating the first dictionary of the Scottish language. Born in Glasgow in 1759, John Jamieson was the son of a Scottish minister. Following his father's path, Jamieson studied theology and became pastor of a congregation at Forfar, Angus in 1781.
Alongside his ecclesiastical work, Jamieson developed a passionate interest in the development and study of language - philology. In Forfar, Jamieson briefly met Grimur Thorkelin, the National Archivist of Denmark who was in Britain researching the links between Danish and English. Thorkelin's chief legacy was the transcription and publication of the epic medieval poem, Beowulf.
From conversation with Thorklein, Jamieson set himself upon the task of recording those words he felt were exclusive to Scotland. It would be twenty years before his lifetime's work, The Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language would be published.
Subsequent revisions, amendments and abridgements refined Jamieson's original work - refuting some claims of Gothic origin, and proposing others. Our treasure is one of the revised editions of Jamieson's original work - a later edition from 1895.
View the Treasures from our Collection interactive exhibition on the touchscreen in Central, Airyhall, Tillydrone and Mastrick libraries to find out more about John Jamieson and his work.
Treasure 100: Pugin books and the Gothic Revival
319 The Gothic Revival is a term used to describe a movement in art, architecture and design from the mid-18th century to the late 19th century that was heavily influenced by medieval gothic style. In its beginnings it was an architectural style adopted largely by the rich and powerful for their grand houses and follies, and coincided with the rise in gothic literature such as Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto (1764), and M.G. Lewis's The Monk (1796). However, towards the middle of the 19th century, the gothic style was beginning to filter into all aspects of private and public life, and one of the leading figures in this trend was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, son of the French born architect Auguste Pugin. In our collection we have two books by A.W.N. Pugin, and they are on display until the end of February. The first is a volume published in Edinburgh in the late 19th century that includes a number of publications by Pugin from the 1830s:
· Details of Antient Timber Houses of the 15th & 16th Centuries Selected from those existing at Rouen, Caen, Beauvais, Gisors, Abbeville, Strasbourg, etc. drawn on the spot [London, 1836]
· Gothic Furniture in the Style of the 15th Century designed and etched by A.W.N. Pugin [London 1835]
· Designs for Gold and Silversmiths [London 1836]
· Designs for Iron and Brass Work in the style of XV and XVI Centuries [London 1836]
The second is a very rare and highly detailed 1875 edition of floral designs intended for stencilling that was originally published in 1849; Floriated Ornament: A Series of Thirty-One Designs. Both books are rich in design and detail, and perfectly demonstrate the Victorian fervour for the application of gothic design in all aspects of their decoration, from architecture to interiors, tableware to jewellery.
View our Treasure exhibition on the interactive screen to see some more beautiful engravings from these unique publications. Treasure 106: The Art of Illuminating
327 To further help celebrate the year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, we have on display this month some beautifully illustrated Victorian guides to medieval manuscript illumination:
- "The Art of Illuminating As Practiced in Europe from the Earliest Times." Selected & Chromolithographed by W. R. Tymms. With an Essay and Instructions by M. D. Wyatt Architect. (1860)
- "The Art of Illumination and Missal Painting. A Guide to Modern Illuminators". By H. Noel Humphreys. (1849)
- "Lessons in the Art of Illuminating. With Practical Instructions, And a Sketch of the History of the Art". By W. J. Loftie, B.A, F.S.A (1895)
One of the most iconic of all "Victorian" styles is that of the Gothic Revival. The idealistic and romantic ideas of chivalry, courage, modesty and beauty appealed to Victorian sensibilities. Furthermore, the rose-tinted notion of the Middle Ages as being an age of pastoral charm with knights in shining armour and damsels in distress, all cocooned in a nicely packaged and organised feudal system, served as an antidote to the rapid expansion and technological advances brought on by the Industrial Revolution. The new found interest in the study of medieval illuminated manuscripts was a consequence of this feeling, and as such we see a number of guides to and facsimiles of medieval manuscripts in the latter half of the 19th century.
To see some more beautiful examples of illuminated manuscript illustration, have a look at our online exhibition on the interactive screens. Burgers Oath
474 A broadside reporting the solemn oath that the Craftsmen of the Burgh of Aberdeen were to pronounce when admitted to the Gild [Guild].
Since the burgers were to swear loyalty to Queen Anne, it can be assumed the document was created at the beginning of the 18th century, given that she Queen of Scotland from 1702 to her death in 1714.
Great importance is given to religion in this oath: only devoted Protestants - and absolutely no Catholics - were admitted in the Gild. A reference prohibiting Quakerism has been scored out.
The burgers also vowed support and allegiance to the magistrates and the Burgh and pledged themselves to act only for its profit. This, together with the commitment to pay the taxes and protect the Burgh from its enemies, is summarised with the medieval formula "Scot, Lot, Watch, Wake and Ward" in the IX article.
In a final note states that chirurgeons (surgeons), apothecaries, and barbers among others were not considered as members of the Gild but were only admitted "in sua arte", and therefore were not entitled to vote.
Aberdeen's coat of arms, or heraldic achievement, is prominently displayed at the top of the broadside. The Dying Confessions of William Gordon and Robert McIntosh
479 Five days before his execution, having murdered his wife, William Gordon recounts his crime. He recalls the evening of the murder. Both intoxicated, he and his wife went out. They had an amicable time. Gordon does not recall much from their return home, bar that he went for his pipe. He later discovered his wife dead. He declares having had no recollection of her death. Three weeks later, Gordon remembers having shoved her to the floor, to which she shouted 'Murder!'. Gordon also remembered having scissors in his hand, which leads him to believe that to have been the murder weapon.
This confession begins by citing the book of Hosea from the Christian Bible. Gordon then articulates the nature of his sin, confessing it to be the 'sin of drunkenness'. He compares the severity of his sin to the eternality of God's omnipotence. His confession warns its readers against sinning as he has. He does not apologise for the murder of his wife, instead expressing regret for becoming intoxicated. This marks the text particularly interesting for understanding perceptions of alcoholism and alcohol related crimes in nineteenth-century Scotland. Fascinatingly, though facing death, Gordon still devotes two paragraphs to acknowledging various people that supported him during his incarceration. Gordon concludes the main body of the text by imploring his audience to take up Christianity.
The confession is reprinted in Aberdeen's Journal, on 5th June 1822, five days after Gordon's execution. The paper confirms that Gordon authored this text, saying it was distributed by the Reverend Thom. The confession is well written and articulate, revealing the author's profound knowledge of Christian scripture. Gordon himself was from the parish of Cabrach, made a livelihood selling fishing tackle, and was aged around forty-five at the time of the murder.
The accompanying editorial declares that many had come to believe that the murder 'had been perpetrated by the unhappy man while under the influence of that most baneful of human vices, and, of course, a prey to all the evil passions which it naturally engenders.' The view that the death was caused by excessively drinking, and that the defendant had not consciously decided to murder her, was prevalent. Remarkably, 'many Gentlemen (including several of the Jury who tried him)' lobbied King George IV to commute Gordon's sentence. The judge, however, refused to capitulate.
Accompanying Gordon's confession is that of the twenty-two-year-old Robert McIntosh, on 29th May 1822. McIntosh describes the conditions of his imprisonment in the dungeon, expresses regret for the repercussions of his crime and prostrates himself before God. The Journal reports that McIntosh had murdered the forty-year-old Elizabeth Anderson of Crathie. The paper continues that McIntosh had slit Anderson's throat. At the time, Anderson had been promised marriage by him and was pregnant with his child.
The Journal reports the day of their execution. In the Old Court Room, Psalm 51 was sung. Gordon joined in loudly. As they went to the scaffold, both prayed. The paper reports McIntosh's nerves getting the better of him, and him being brought a glass of water. After Gordon finished praying, at twenty minutes past three, they were hung. Gordon passed very quickly. McIntosh, on the other hand, 'struggled considerably, and was convulsed for several minutes', due to the rope being improperly set up. The Journal reports that countless thousands witnessed their hanging, the first of its kind in seventy-years. |