A very quick look around Canongate Kirkyard, with two kids in tow
We ended up here one afternoon last week, when (astonishingly) it wasn't raining, and we'd found ourselves at a loose end on the Royal Mile.
Posts from the ‘Scotland’ Category
Jul 14
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Stones: South Leith churchyard, part two
Maltmen, and lots of them: that’s what you’re getting in this post. I didn’t seek them out, but most of the interestingly carved stones I saw on the day I took these photos happened to belong to maltmen.
The website of the Trades House of Glasgow suggests that, historically, there may have been some women working as maltsters in Scotland:
Unlike most other crafts, some members were probably women, as there were many female tavern-keepers or publicans.
Not, in itself, a completely convincing bit of reasoning, but it got me interested enough to look for more information. Read more
Stones: South Leith churchyard, part one
Commonwealth War Graves Commission employees in South Leith churchyard
There’s a well-used shortcut through the kirkyard of South Leith Parish Church from the Kirkgate, a busy pedestrian area, to Constitution Street. It’s a pleasant place to be on a sunny afternoon when there are people about. I passed through one day last autumn on my way to nursery pickup, had a short chat with a couple of men from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who were doing some maintenance work, and took a few minutes to wander around with my camera.
These photos are a slightly random selection of whatever caught my eye. There are lots of Victorian stones in the churchyard, but I’m not so keen on those as I am on the earlier ones, with their carved imagery relating to trade guilds and 18th-century symbols of mortality. South Leith has a lower proportion of mariners’ graves than the nearby North Leith burial ground, but there are sundry prosperous merchants, maltmen, fleshers, printers, booksellers and so on, along with their families. Read more
Stones: North Leith burial ground
I recently found Vast Public Indifference via a link from Boston 1775 (it was a bumper day for finding blogs that make me realize how far I have to go), and this post reminded me that I own a copy of Stones by Betty Willsher and Doreen Hunter. Read more
Sparkly tiaras and top hats, 1934
Molly (on the right) with (l-r) Babs, Janette and Ella, 1934
What sort of uniform is this woman wearing?
Just a quick post, as I’m feeling blogging withdrawal on account of MASSIVE quantity of copy-editing needing done, deadline looming, and exciting visit from my dad coming up this weekend. I am working on a proper post, but for now, I genuinely do want to work out who this woman is (she’s not related to me). I’d really appreciate any ideas about her uniform. Read more
