Chambers Street, Edinburgh

In August 1561 Mary, Queen of Scots returned to Edinburgh from France as a Catholic queen in a newly reformed Protestant Scotland. Initially greeted with crowds curious to catch a glimpse of their new queen, Mary Stewart was regarded with suspicion and faced a volatile political situation from the fervent Protestant ascendancy.

450 years on, Mary has made a triumphant return to the Scottish capital in the form of an exclusive major exhibition currently on show at the National Museum of Scotland. Entitled Mary, Queen of Scots, the exhibition chronicles one of the most well-known and captivating royals of all time. It brings together jewels, furniture, tapestry, portraits and documents, providing an insightful view of a fascinating woman and the tumultuous era in which she lived.

Last week I attended a talk highlighting the exhibition’s star pieces by George Dalgliesh – Keeper of Scottish History and Archaeology at the National Museum for over 20 years. He explained that the 200+ items on display aim to present a slightly different view of Mary’s life, focusing on her personal rule in Scotland. He added that Mary still excites controversy to this day, with debates ensuing as to whether the Scottish queen was a Catholic martyr or a scheming adulteress.

Blairs Memorial Portrait of Mary

On entrance to the exhibition the giant Blairs Memorial portrait of Mary towers over you, providing a commanding view of Mary on her way to the executioners block. Commissioned by Elizabeth Curle, a companion to Mary in the final years of her life, the portrait was painted 10-15 years after Mary’s death and was used as a piece of Catholic propaganda to promote Mary’s martyrdom. The portrait also includes visual vignettes of Mary’s grieving ladies in waiting and a scene from the execution.

The exhibition is set out chronologically, with the pinnacle point her reign as Queen of Scotland. Amongst the 16th century artifacts, which include a handwritten letter from Mary to her mother Mary of Guise, an innovative 21st century video shows a 3D image of what Mary would have looked like during her reign. Costume sketches and models by Jasper Conran for a recent production of Donizetti’s tragic opera Maria Stuarda show her renowned regal fashion sense and striking figure that continues to inspire artists today. Even John Knox, the leading light of protestant reformation is said to have described her features as “pleasing”.

Among the most fascinating of the items on display are the documents in the concluding section of the exhibition which include a set of cipher codes, the death warrant issued by Mary’s second cousin Elizabeth I, and a letter from Mary’s son James VI pleading Elizabeth for mercy. The original death warrant disappeared during the legal accusations following the execution, however the surviving copy on display was made for court records and includes the signature of Elizabeth I. The warrant instructs Elizabeth’s commissioners to:

“…repaire to our Castle of Fotheringhaye where the said Queene of Scottes is in custodie of our right trustie servant and Counsellor Sir Amyas Poulet Knight, and then taking her into your charge to cause by your commandment execution to be done upon her person.”

 

 

The Penicuik Jewels

Today very little survives that belonged to Mary for a number of reasons. Following her death her belongings were burned to try and stop the creation of a cult of relics around a martyred Queen. Mary’s half-brother, James Stewart Earl of Moray, is also said to have sold his sister’s jewels following her abdication to pay for troops. A surviving relic on display are the Penicuik Jewels. Originally from a rosary, the jewels are now strung as a necklace and include a locket set with Scottish river pearls. Dalgleish thinks the jewels were probably commissioned by Mary to be given away, as they are not regal enough to be fit for a queen. Giving jewels as gifts was a common practice during the 16th Century as a way of binding a person to your cause.

To this day Mary continues to hold a place in Edinburgh’s heart, as buses make their way through the city’s streets with her face displayed on their sides. The exhibition provides a wondrous insight into the life of a controversial Queen whose legacy still lives on, almost 450 years after her death.

‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ runs until Sunday 17th November 2013. You can read more about the exhibition by clicking here.

The post Mary, Queen of Scots Returns to Edinburgh appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

The Scottish Reformation of the 17^th century was at times brutal, destructive and reactionary; and yet, for the most part it was liberating and enlightening. The new church, the Kirk, established poorhouses in every parish, engaged the local population in clerical affairs and brought the Bible and Sermon down to serve the people. The Church of Scotland has a Calvinist doctrine, and at the heart of this theology is the belief that faith is a personal covenant with the Almighty and an understanding of the gospels and laws of the Old Testament. Thus, education stood as a central pillar of the Kirk. It would have unforeseen consequences.

John Knox – Father of the Scottish Reformation

It was a key principal of the new regime that everyone could read the Bible, and so a school was established in virtually every parish in Scotland. As a result, children in Scotland would throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries receive a full education until the age of 14; something that was completely unheard off across Europe at that time. By 1800 over 75% of all Scots were literate, the highest rate on earth. What the Church hadn’t taken into account was that people would read books other than the Bible; they did, and they ate up literature, mathematics, philosophy, classical texts and humanities with a voracious appetite. Our unique universal education policy laid the foundation for the Scottish Enlightenment.

It took more than education to change Scotland though, it took money as well. Scotland was historically one of the poorest nations in Europe; a problem compounded by an unfavourable climate, and a dearth of good agricultural land. Yet, the Scots are hard working, and following the Treaty of Union with England in 1707 new agricultural techniques arrived into the country, and Lowland Scotland went through a rapid agrarian revolution. Like the Highland Clearances that followed a century later, there was a large population shift, as farming became less labour intensive and smaller units were merged into larger ones. But, for the farmers and the markets they served, it was boom time; and a new middle class began to emerge.

The money being generated, and the wealth flowing across the border also helped to finance new innovation and entrepreneurship. Opportunities in England’s overseas colonies was also breeding a burgeoning merchant class; slowly at first, but then like a hare out of the trap Scotland’s economy blossomed like the heathland being converted to farms across the nation. However, many of these farmers, especially in Ayrshire, around Glasgow and in Fife never realised the untapped wealth their fields covered – a new revolution was coming and like the Reformation before it, it would change the country forever.

The City of Glasgow was well placed on the Clyde to trade with the colonies of North America; and by the mid 1700s was the key tobacco and sugar port in the British Isles. This made the mercantile class very rich indeed, but more was to come. As well as trading with the world, it would be here on the Clyde the world’s shipping would be built. In addition huge coal reserves and iron deposits were discovered across the Central Belt. Forges, steelworks, factories, mills and all sorts of industries sprung up and thrived from Ayr in the south to Dundee in the east. By 1850 Scotland had become the Engine Room of the British Empire. It was a remarkable transformation.

The cities also provided a home for the many in the countryside who couldn’t find work at home, but conditions were grim. Places like the Gorbals in Glasgow or the Hilltown area of Dundee were among the worst slums in Europe – the Gorbals would be forever etched in the national psyche as the epitome of horrific housing and poverty. Still, they poured in, fuelling the Industrial Revolution as much as the coal, steel, ships or jute they were working with. Edinburgh too had its slums and industrial heart, but nothing like Glasgow; and the Scottish capital has long since drawn its wealth and employment opportunities from the service industry.

It was here that the new finance available was sown into something very different, and the ‘Athens of the North’ would become the fulcrum of the Enlightenment. Throughout the late 18^th and all of the 19^th centuries, it would be greatest intellectual seat in Europe; and as the money poured in on the back of all the philosophical advancements so a strong banking sector developed. It was here that Scotland’s special education system perhaps shone the brightest. Yet, across the nation, that great gift of learning was paying dividends: from Watt’s steam engine, and Adam Smith’s economic theories; from the poems of Robert Burns to the medical advancements pioneered by the likes of Joseph Lister. These were gifts that Scotland would export around the world as the British Empire grew to cover a quarter of the globe.

The River Clyde crashes over the Bonnington and Corra Linn waterfalls with an incredible force, a power that industrialists had long coveted. In 1786, one of them, David Dale and his son-in-law Robert Owen took the strength of the river and built a set of new mills in the valley bellow the old medieval town of Lanark. Unlike the slave drivers in Glasgow, these two had a more utopian vision of how a workforce should be treated. New Lanark was, from the very beginning, meant to be something different and more socially enlightened. Owen was the real driving force in this project, a man of real philanthropic ideals. He would take hundreds of families from the slums and bring them to the leafy Clyde valley, and give them a proper life, and from that good, hard workers. It was, and is a fantastic concept. The craziest part is that it worked. Owen even bought out his less enlightened partners to pursue his welfare programmes.

The Mills and Houses of New Lanark

It became a model village, and enterprise; and the great and good from rags to royalty came to see it in action. It was more often than not an eye-opening experience. When the Mills finally shut in 1968, a number of ventures worked to keep the essence of the site intact; and today both the village and the falls are among Scotland’s best kept secret attractions. It remains a fantastic testament to our nation’s industrial spirit and enlightened zeal.

Written by David McNicoll, owner of Highland Experience USA – and for anyone interested in our heritage. www.highlandexperience-usa.com

The post A Hidden Gem – New Lanark appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.