February: The Cruelest Month of Scotland's Stuart Dynasty

February was a cruel month if your name was Stewart or Stuart and you were part of that extraordinary dynasty which held the throne of Scotland for more than 340 years.

So why should they have feared February? It just happens to be the month of the year when a lot of untoward things happened to, or were caused to happen by, the royal descendants of the High Steward of Scotland.

Here is condensed timeline:

• 22nd February 1371 - the Stewarts gain the throne of Scotland with the end of the Bruce line with Robert Stewart (III) becoming King
• February 1406 - James I (son of Robert III) was sent into exile aged 12yo - it lasted 25 years, during which time he married Joan Beaufort (12th February 1424). 
• 21st February 1431 - James I is brutally murdered
• 22nd February 1452 - James II (heir of James I) in an attemtp to deal with the powerful Douglas clan, ended up brutally stabbing James, Earl of Douglas, which led to a long period of civil war
• 2nd February 1488 - James III (heir of James II) had has troubles with rebellious nobles - his son, future James IV, was handed over to the rebels - was was inevitable.
• 21st February 1507 - James IV's wife Margaret Tudor gives birth to a son James 
• 27th February 1508 - James IV's son, infant James died
• 10th February 1567 - death of Henry Darnely, husband of Mary Queen of Scots (granddaughter of James IV)
• 8th February 1587 - execution of Mary Queen of Scots - the order signed on 1st February.
• 5th February 1649 - Charles II was acclaimed King of Scotland following the execution of his father Charles I (the succession in Scotland was unbroken)
• 6th February 1685 - death of Charles II - he was succeeded by his brother James II
• February 1687 - Anne, sister & successor to Mary, lost her two daughters to illness
• 13th February 1689 - reign of James II officially over when William & Mary proclaimed
• 13th February 1693 - William I signs the order for what will be known as the Glencoe Massacre
• 5th February 1716 - the uprising to put James Stuart (the Old Pretender) back on the throne ended in failure - the Stuart claim to the throne was officially over.
• February 1687 - Queen Anne (born 6th February 1665)
  , sister & successor to Mary, lost her two daughters

Read a more detailed timeline in The National

Finding James I & Joan Beaufort

James I was 42 when he was killed by a gang of noblemen on February 21, 1437 while lodging at Blackfriars monastery in Perth, as part of a conspiracy to seize the throne of Scotland.

Now a major heritage project has been launched 580 years on from the king’s murder to locate and then recreate his final resting place.

James was buried at the Charterhouse in Perth, a religious institution he intended to become a royal tomb for the Stewart dynasty. But the priory was destroyed in the reformation a century after his death and now no-one is exactly sure where his grave is.

James’ queen, Joan Beaufort, survived the attack and wreaked a terrifying retribution upon the traitors in one of the most brutal reprisals Scotland had seen.

The couple were both buried at the Charterhouse, and a century later, the sister of Henry VIII of England, Margaret Tudor, consort of James IV, was also buried there.

A stone monument at the corner of Perth's King Street and Hospital Street marks the fact he is buried somewhere in the area.

Discovering the murdered King's exact location would be a major historical find - and a coup for the city of Perth.

Read More Here:

@ The Scotsman

@ International Business Times

@ The Scotsman

@ Phys Org

@ BBC News

Search for Stirling's lost Iron Age roundhouse

Search for Stirling's lost Iron Age roundhouse - BBC News

An archaeologist whose research was ignored because she was a woman is being honoured in a new project set up to rediscover one of her key finds.

Christian Maclagan investigated the remains of an Iron Age roundhouse in her home town of Stirling in the 1870s.  Attitudes towards women at the time meant her academic paper on the broch structure was only accepted after it was transcribed by a man.

A small team of enthusiasts plan to search for the 2,000-year-old house  They have dubbed their project as a search for "the broch sexism lost".

Since Maclagan's discovery of the Livilands broch the site is thought to have been buried during the landscaping of a garden in Wester Livilands in Stirling. There is also an Easter Livilands in Stirling, but the other location is thought to be the most likely site of the lost ruins.

Read More at BBC News: Search For Lost Iron Age Roundhouse

Discovery of Bronze Age Woman

Image from The Scotsman

From Past Horizons:

In March 2012, a GUARD Archaeology team, led by Maureen Kilpatrick, undertook a rescue excavation when a cist was inadvertently disturbed during landscaping works following the construction of an access track through Cullaird Wood in West Torbreck, south-west of Inverness in Scotland.

The cist, which was capped with a small cairn, contained the remains of a crouched inhumation burial, whose grave goods included seven fragments of flint and a plain Beaker vessel. The burial appeared consistent with a period of use in the early Bronze Age, which has recently been confirmed by radiocarbon dating of 1982-1889 cal BC provided by a sample of the human bones.

Maureen Kilpatrick, who is one of GUARD Archaeology’s Osteoarchaeologists, undertook post-excavation analysis of the human bones recovered from the cist and discovered that these were the remains of an adult female individual who had attained the age of 40 – 44 years at death.

From Herald Scotland:

THE remains of a physically active woman with poor dental hygiene, who died 4000 years ago, have been found.

The discovery, along with others, is said by experts to underline the archaeological significance of the area around Inverness, which was important for prehistoric groups from early times.

Two years ago, a team from GUARD Archaeology, which has bases in Glasgow and Edinburgh, was led by Maureen Kilpatrick to undertake a rescue excavation when a cist, or tomb-like box made of stone, was disturbed during landscaping works for an access track through Cullaird Wood.

The cist contained the remains of a crouched burial, whose grave goods included seven fragments of flint and a plain beaker vessel.

From The Scotsman:

A BRONZE Age grave uncovered in the Highlands has revealed the remains of a woman in her forties who was suffering from toothache before she died 4,000 years ago.

Osteoarchaeologist Maureen Kilpatrick analysed the bones and discovered that they belonged to a woman aged between 40 and 44.

She said: “As the radiocarbon date demonstrates, this occurred at some point between 1982BC and 1889BC.

Six Century Old Murder Hunt Begins In Fife

From Deadline News:

THE hunt is on to find the body of an heir to the Scottish throne who is believed to have been murdered and dumped in an unmarked grave more than six centuries ago.

David Stewart was the first Duke of Rothesay, the same title now used by Prince Charles when he is in Scotland.

The tragic Duke was just 24 when he was arrested by his ambitious uncle, imprisoned and – it is widely suspected – murdered.

The body was buried in an unmarked grave 1402 somewhere in the grounds of  Lindores Abbey, Fife, and has lain there for the past 611 years.

Now a team of historians and archaeologists plans to pinpoint the grave, exhume the body, and settle once and for all the mystery of how Prince Charles’ predecessor met his end.

Pictish Settlement Uncovered

From Past Horizons:

Earlier this year Dr Gordon Noble, from the University of Aberdeen, and Dr Meggen Gondek, from the University of Chester, led the Rhynie Environs Archaeological Project (REAP) in an excavation at the site where carved stones have been found south of the village.

Between AD400-900 it is understood that the kingdoms of the Picts became some of the most powerful political groups in the north of Britain, but there is very little documented history and archaeological record about these people.

Student Robert Lang with spindle whorl from the possible building site near the Craw Stane. Image: University of Aberdeen.

The symbol stones that the Picts left behind are acknowledged to provide a record of their identity, beliefs and lifestyle, although the elaborate carvings on the Rhynie stones have not been translated. In fact, very little direct work has been carried out in relation to the Rhynie stones, until now.

The REAP team’s excavation near the symbol stones – discovered between the 19th century and the 1970s – is one of the first large scale digs at this kind of site.

The Truth About The Picts

From an article by Ian Johnston of The Independent:

The Picts have long been regarded as enigmatic savages who fought off Rome's legions before mysteriously disappearing from history, wild tribesmen who refused to sacrifice their freedom in exchange for the benefits of civilisation. But far from the primitive warriors of popular imagination, they actually built a highly sophisticated culture in northern Scotland in the latter half of the first millennium AD, which surpassed their Anglo-Saxon rivals in many respects.  

A study of one the most important archaeological discoveries in Scotland for 30 years, a Pictish monastery at Portmahomack on the Tarbat peninsula in Easter Ross, has found that they were capable of great art, learning and the use of complex architectural principles.The monastery – an enclosure centred on a church thought to have housed about 150 monks and workers – was similar to St Columba's religious centre at Iona and there is evidence they would have made gospel books similar to the Book of Kells and religious artefacts such as chalices to supply numerous "daughter monasteries". 

"Secret" Jacobite Society

From BBC News:

A group that has its roots in a secret society which remained loyal to Bonnie Prince Charlie after the Battle of Culloden has opened up its membership.

Until now people have had to receive an invitation to join A Circle of Gentlemen.

Circle commodore Matthew Donnachie said by encouraging general membership, a fund could be created to support heritage and archaeology projects.

The move comes in the 265th anniversary year of the Battle of Culloden.

Established in Edinburgh in 1748, the original secret circle continued to back the prince after the Jacobites' defeat at Culloden, near Inverness, in 1746.

Its members continued to meet late into the 18th Century.

The modern version of the society followed discussions between Jacobite enthusiasts during the 1990s.

For the first time, the group has opened its membership to people living anywhere in the world.

New Memorial to the Lost 29

From the Evening Times:

A memorial to 29 women killed in one of Glasgow’s worst industrial disasters is to be fully restored.

As the 121st anniversary of the Templeton carpet factory collapse is commemorated today, it has been announced the granite memorial, erected in Bridgeton in September 1954, will be restored.

The memorial garden, on the corner of London Road and Tobago Street, in the East End, commemorates the women who lost their lives at the New Mill on November 1, 1889.

At about 5.15pm that day, unusually high winds caused a large section of the building to fall into the adjoining weaving shed, burying many of the 140-strong workforce, which was almost entirely made up of East End women.

The collapse killed 29 women at the factory in William Street, which was renamed Templeton Street.

Trial of Euphan McCalzeane - 1591

Witch Stories - Scotland

From “Witch Stories” by Elizabeth Lynn Linton (1861)

968 – King Duff pined away in mortal sickness, by reason of the waxen image which had been made to destroy him; but for the fortunate discovery of a young maiden who could not bear torture silently, he was enabled to find the witches – whom he burnt at Forres in Murray, the mother of the poor maiden who could not bear the torture among them: enabled, too, to save himself by breaking the waxen image roasting at the “soft” fire, when almost at its last turn.

1479 - 12 mean women and several wizards were burnt at Edinburgh for roasting the king in wax, and so endangering the life of the sovereign liege in a manner which no human aid could remedy; and the Earl of Mar was at their head, and very properly burnt too.

1480 – Lady Mar gave herself up to the embraces of an Incubus – a hideous monster, utterly loathsome and deadly to behold; and if young ladies of the nobility could do such thins, what might not be expected from the commonalty?

Criminal Trials In Scotland

A couple of interesting cases from “Narratives from Criminal Trials in Scotland” by John Hill Burton (Vol II – 1852).

1613 – Robert Erskine and his three sisters – Helen, Isobel and Anges were brought to trial for the murder of their nephews, Laird of Dun and his brother They were the direct descendants of John Erskine of Dun, one of the leaders of the Reformation (d.1591).

Robert was seemingly urged on by his sisters, who were charged with having hired on David Blewhouse to engage a witch to “take away the lives of the said two boys” – in exchange for this service, David would be well-rewarded with land and an payment of 500 merks of silver. David, however, was not inclined to do their bidding, so the sisters found one Janet Irving, “a witch and abuser of the people” – Robert himself also met with Janet. Janet gave them poisonous herbs, steeped in ale – no doubt to disguise their foulness.

At Montrose, the sisters induced the boys to drink the poison – the boys immediately began to convulse and vomit; the elder died first in most painful agony

Robert and two of his sisters were convicted and executed – one, who was deemed the “more penitent” was banished.

1720 – Nichol Mushet was convicted for the (eventual) murder of his wife Margaret

Mushet sold to his fellow accomplice “the honour of his wife”. When she repeatedly baffled their attempts, it was decided to sully her character. She was then drugged with opium and “caused a scene to be enacted and witnessed”. Mushet then attempted to obtain a divorce from his wife – however, his solicitor hinted that there was some suspicion which might lay him open to some awkward questions should the matter come to court.

Despite other attempts at poisoning and personal violence, a new plan was devised. A physician was persuaded to submit the poor woman to “mercurial salivation” and it was recommended that she be given a strong “empyric” as befitted her strong constitution. This course of “treatment” lasted a period of a month – and still she survived.

Finally, her husband dispatched Margaret by means of cutting her throat, nearly severing her head completely – this heinous crime was committed at a place now called Mushet’s Cairn.

Marriage Dispensation Granted to Robert Stewart

Reproduced from Andrew Stuart's "Genealogy of the Stewarts" (1798) - sourced from Papal Archives - and published in Origines Genealogicae, the marriage dispensation granted to Robert Stewart (King Robert II of Scotland) when he married Euphemia of Ross in 1352.

Jacobite Women

As the day approaches commemorating the march of the Jacobites to their doom on the battlefield of Culloden in 1745, I present this article from September 2008, on the women behind the men of the Jacobites.

From BBC News:
"The role of women during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and at the Battle of Culloden is to be explored during events later this month.

The National Trust for Scotland said it would be its first event to focus on women of the '45.

Author Maggie Craig will give a talk on the research for her book, Damn Rebel Bitches.

Nicole Deufel, learning manager at Culloden, said further events would look at women on the government side.

Strong Women - A Tribute to Heroines will be held at the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre on 27 and 28 September.

Government spies:
Ms Craig studied letters and records from the 1700s in her research.

She said: "The research was quite difficult. I had to look for the men and then the women attached to them."

What she found were women playing key roles in raising men to fight for the Jacobite cause and going on to the battlefield at Culloden to tend to dying and injured men.

A follow-up book - Bare-arsed Banditti - looking at some of the rising's less well-known male characters will be published next year.

Ms Deufel said the two days follow the trust's efforts to recognise the roles of women in an exhibition at the new visitor centre.

She said a future event would investigate women on the government side, some of which she said put their lives at risk as spies."


Web Links:
Author: Maggie Craig
BBC News: Jacobites March Recreated